Blogs

By: @Aleks Giragosian, JD, MPP, Senior Counsel Colantuono Highsmith Whatley, PC

The California Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act or UPCCAA was enacted in 1983 to allow public agencies to lift the relatively low bidding threshold for public works projects. Under the general rules, public works projects valued at over $5,000 for cities or $15,000 for sanitary districts, for example, must be competitively bid. These low thresholds may be onerous, as the public bidding process can requires a lot of administrative effort.

UPCCAA allows higher bidding thresholds. As originally adopted, it allowed projects of:

• $15,000 or less to be performed by force account (i.e., an agency’s own employees), negotiated contract, or purchase order;
• $15,000+ to $50,000 to be let by informal bidding; and
• $50,000+ or more to be let by formal bidding.

Those thresholds have increased over time.

Effective January 1, 2025, Assembly Bill No. 2192 establishing these bidding thresholds:

• $75,000 or less to be performed by force account, negotiated contract, or purchase order;
• $75,000+ to $220,000 to be let by informal bidding; and
• $220,000+ or more to be let by formal bidding. 

But a local public agency cannot simply rely on these new thresholds!

An agency must first confirm it adopted an ordinance opting into UPCCAA and provided a copy of that ordinance with the State. If you’re not on the Controller’s list, you’re not eligible to use UPCCAA. Check here: https://www.sco.ca.gov/Files-ARD-Local/participating_agencies_-_general.pdf .

Second, an agency must confirm its ordinance provides for automatic adjustment of bidding thresholds when the statute changes. Often, agencies that opt into UPCCAA adopt fixed thresholds. If an ordinance does not authorize automatic adjustment, an agency must amend its ordinance or purchasing policy either to adopt UPCCAA’s new bidding thresholds or to automatically adjust as that statute is amended.

UPCCAA provides great flexibility to local governments. If your agency has not invoked it, you may wish to. If you have, make sure your ordinance is current and you have filed it with the State Controller.

For more information, contact Aleks at AGiragosian@chwlaw.us or 213.542.5734