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Learn more about the House legislation

PA Representative Garth D. Everett

"I am preparing to introduce legislation that would modernize Pennsylvania's Separations Act. The current law forces construction projects on public buildings to have separate contracts for each portion of the project, including plumbing, heating, ventilating, and electrical work, as you can imagine this can lead to finger pointing, claims, delays, and overpaying for construction."

Learn more about the Senate legislation

PA Senator John DiSanto

"I will soon introduce legislation to give the Commonwealth, its municipalities, and school districts flexibility in how they manage and bid construction projects. Pennsylvania is the only remaining state that mandates separate contracts for each portion of a public building contract (general construction, plumbing, heating and ventilating, and electrical work)."
Pennsylvania Separations Act

House Bill 163, whose prime sponsor is Representative Garth D. Everett, proposes to fully repeal the Separations Act and further amend the Pa. Procurement Code to allow for public projects to be completed by one of four different project delivery methods: (1) construction management at-risk; (2) design-bid-build with multiple prime contractors; (3) design-bid-build with a single prime contractor; or (4) design-build. Each of these delivery methods is defined in the HB 163.

The memorandum for HB 163 describes the Separations Act as “an entirely outdated law costing the taxpayers of Pennsylvania money unnecessarily.” The Separations Act was enacted in 1913 and requires public entities to solicit and award separate contracts for plumbing, heating, electrical, and ventilating work that is part of a public construction project where the cost of construction exceeds $4,000