AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES AND PREQUALIFICATION AND EVALUATION OF CONTRACTORS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (i) of section 4a-100 of the 2010 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2010):

(i) The commissioner may [not issue or renew] deny a prequalification certificate to any contractor or substantial subcontractor (1) who is disqualified pursuant to section 31-57c or 31-57d, [or] (2) who has a principal or key personnel who, within the past five years, has a conviction or has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere for or has admitted to commission of an act or omission that reasonably could have resulted in disqualification pursuant to any provision of subdivisions (1) to (3), inclusive, of subsection (d) of section 31-57c or subdivisions (1) to (3), inclusive, of subsection (d) of section 31-57d, as determined by the commissioner, or (3) who, within the past three years, has received four or more unsatisfactory written evaluations.

Sec. 2. Subsection (o) of section 4a-100 of the 2010 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2010):

(o) Any contractor or substantial subcontractor aggrieved by the commissioner's final determination concerning a preliminary determination, a denial of certification, a reduction in prequalification classification or aggregate work capacity rating or a revocation [or nonrenewal] of certification may appeal to the Superior Court in accordance with section 4-183.

Sec. 3. Subsection (e) of section 4a-101 of the 2010 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2010):

(e) No person, public agency, employee of a public agency or certifying official of a public agency shall be held liable to any contractor, substantial subcontractor or subcontractor for any loss or injury sustained by such contractor, substantial contractor or subcontractor as the result of the completion of an evaluation form, as required by this section or by section 4a-100, as amended by this act, unless such person, agency, employee or official is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to have acted in a wilful, wanton or reckless manner.

Statement of Purpose:

To modify the contractor prequalification statutes so the Department of Administrative Services may more effectively identify contractors with past unsatisfactory contract performances.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]