Attachment 1
Sample Definitions
The following definitions are provided for example purposes. If the Council decides to move forward with a PLA policy or PLA, it may wish to structure the application of the policy or PLA based on one or more of these examples. For instance, a PLA policy or PLA could apply to “public works construction projects” and that term could be defined in a manner similar to one of the following examples.
Public Contract Code § 1101 defines a “public works contract” as follows:
“Public works contract,” as used in this part, means an agreement for the erection, construction, alteration, repair, or improvement of any public structure, building, road, or other public improvement of any kind.
Public Contract Code § 22002 defines “public project” as follows:
“Public project” means any of the following:
(1) Construction, reconstruction, erection, alteration, renovation, improvement, demolition, and repair work involving any publicly owned, leased, or operated facility. (2) Painting or repainting of any publicly owned, leased, or operated facility. (3) In the case of a publicly owned utility system, “public project” shall include only the construction, erection, improvement, or repair of dams, reservoirs, powerplants, and electrical transmission lines of 230,000 volts and higher.
Labor Code § 1720 defines “public works” as follows:
(1) Construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for in whole or in part out of public funds, except work done directly by a public utility company pursuant to order of the Public Utilities Commission or other public authority. For purposes of this paragraph, “construction” includes work performed during the design, site assessment, feasibility study, and other preconstruction phases of construction, including, but not limited to, inspection and land surveying work, regardless of whether any further construction work is conducted, and work performed during the postconstruction phases of construction, including, but not limited to, all cleanup work at the jobsite. For purposes of this paragraph, “installation” includes, but is not limited to, the assembly and disassembly of freestanding and affixed modular office systems. (2) Work done for irrigation, utility, reclamation, and improvement districts, and other districts of this type. “Public works” does not include the operation of the irrigation or drainage system of an irrigation or reclamation district, except as used in Section 1778 relating to retaining wages. (3) Street, sewer, or other improvement work done under the direction and supervision or by the authority of an officer or public body of the state, or of a political subdivision or district thereof, whether the political subdivision or district operates under a freeholder’s charter or not. (4) The laying of carpet done under a building lease-maintenance contract and paid for out of public funds. (5) The laying of carpet in a public building done under contract and paid for in whole or in part out of public funds. (6) Public transportation demonstration projects authorized pursuant to Section 143 of the Streets and Highways Code. (7) (A) Infrastructure project grants from the California Advanced Services Fund pursuant to Section 281 of the Public Utilities Code. (B) For purposes of this paragraph, the Public Utilities Commission is not the awarding body or the body awarding the contract, as defined in Section 1722. (8) Tree removal work done in the execution of a project under paragraph (1).