I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4012
To assure quality construction and prevent certain abusive contracting prac-
tices by requiring each bidder for a Federal construction contract to
identify the subcontractors that the contractor intends to use to perform
the contract, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 16, 2000
Mr. KANJORSKI (for himself, Mr. HORN, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr.
KUCINICH, and Mr. HINCHEY) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Government Reform
A BILL
To assure quality construction and prevent certain abusive
contracting practices by requiring each bidder for a Fed-
eral construction contract to identify the subcontractors
that the contractor intends to use to perform the con-
tract, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Construction Quality
Assurance Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) In the construction industry, specialty sub-
contractors now perform the majority of construc-
tion work, in certain cases 100 percent of the work,
under the management of a prime contractor, mak-
ing the subcontractors’ price and performance the
key determinant in the overall cost of construction
projects, including those performed for the Federal
Government.
(2) Detrimental practices known as ‘‘bid shop-
ping’’ and ‘‘bid peddling’’ exist in the construction
industry, including construction projects for the
Federal Government.
(3) ‘‘Bid shopping’’ occurs when a contractor,
after award of a contract, contracts with subcontrac-
tors at a price less than the quoted price of the sub-
contractor upon which the contractor’s fixed bid
price was based, in order to increase the contractor’s
profit on the project without any benefit to the enti-
ty for which the contract is being performed.
(4) ‘‘Bid peddling’’ occurs when a subcontractor
that is not selected for inclusion in a contractor’s
team seeks to induce the contractor, after award of
the contract, to substitute the subcontractor for an-
other subcontractor whose bid price was reflected in
the successful bid of the contractor by offering to re-
duce its price for performance of the specified work,
suggesting that the previous offer of the subcon-
tractor was padded or incorrect.
(5) Bid shopping and bid peddling—
(A) threaten the integrity of the competi-
tive bid system for construction that benefits
the Federal Government, the construction in-
dustry, and the economy of the United States
as a whole;
(B) deprive taxpayers of the benefits of full
and open competition among prospective con-
tractors and subcontractors for the performance
of Federal construction projects;
(C) expose Federal construction projects to
the dangers of substandard performance, sub-
stitution of lower quality materials, and other
detrimental cost-cutting practices by an unscru-
pulous substituted subcontractor; and
(D) can be effectively deterred in Federal
construction by modifying the Federal Acquisi-
tion Regulation to require bid listing, which is
the practice of requiring each offeror for a Fed-
eral construction contract to list the sub-
contractors whose performance is reflected in
the bid price, procedures for the substitution of
listed subcontractors for good cause, and other
deterrents to abuse.
SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION THROUGH THE GOVERNMENT-
WIDE PROCUREMENT REGULATIONS.
(a) PROPOSED REVISIONS.—Proposed revisions to
the Government-wide Federal Acquisition Regulation to
implement the provisions in this Act shall be published not
later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act and provide not less than 60 days for public com-
ment.
(b) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Final regulations shall be
published not less than 180 days after the date of enact-
ment of this Act and shall be effective on the date that
is 30 days after the date of publication.
SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS REGARDING SUBCONTRACTORS
FOR FEDERAL CONTRACTORS ON CONSTRUC-
TION PROJECTS.
(a) REQUIREMENT TO LIST SUBCONTRACTORS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—(A) Each solicitation by an
executive agency for the procurement of construction
in an amount in excess of $1,000,000 shall require
each bidder to submit as part of its bid the name,
location of the place of business, and nature of the
work of each subcontractor with whom the bidder,
if awarded the contract, will subcontract for work
in an amount in excess of $100,000 on the contract.
(2) 
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
SPECIFIC
CAT-
EGORIES.—(A) Except as provided in subparagraphs
(B) and (C), the bidder shall list only one subcon-
tractor for each category of work as defined by the
bidder in its bid or proposal.
(B) A bidder may list multiple subcontractors
for a category of work if each such subcontractor is
listed to perform a discreet portion of the work with-
in a category.
(C) A bidder may list itself for any portion of
work under the contract, which shall be deemed a
representation by the bidder that it is fully qualified
to perform that portion of the work itself and that
the bidder will perform that portion itself.
(3) RESULT OF FAILURE TO LIST SUBCONTRAC-
TORS.—An executive agency shall consider any bid-
der that fails to list subcontractors in accordance
with this Act and the regulations promulgated pur-
suant to section 3 of this Act to be non responsible.
(b) PROCEDURES FOR SUBSTITUTION OF A LISTED
SUBCONTRACTOR.—
(1) CONSENT AND GOOD CAUSE REQUIRED.—
No contractor shall substitute a subcontractor in