Most federal agencies have drawn up long lists of small to medium-sized projects that are prime for design and construction firms that already have indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts with the government.

IDIQ is a federal procurement method for a range of architecture, engineering and contracting services. Unlike a stand-alone contract for a single project, an IDIQ approach allows the contract holder to perform specific services within the limits of the contract, which include the location where the tasks can be performed and a limit on the total value of work that can be awarded within a specific contract period.

Agencies often use these contracts for easily defined, low-risk projects that they need to mobilize quickly. Contract holders are essentially pre-approved to execute the task.

Although some in the industry are concerned this may limit competitiveness, agencies vow there are many opportunities ahead. The stimulus law is providing such unprecedented levels of funding that it will push existing IDIQ capacity to the limit. The US Forest Service and the Department of Defense both expect to exceed their IDIQ capacities. DOD won’t increase limits on existing IDIQ contracts and expects to advertise for new IDIQ contracts.

Source: ENR

Source: ENR

Michael Feldmann, assistant chief of engineering and construction for the St. Louis District Corps of Engineers, and Stephanie Witt, contracting officer for the General Services Administration, will give an overview of what contractors and specialty contractors need to know to navigate the public sector.

The seminar will be held just prior to the AGC Annual Reception. For details, visit AGC St. Louis  or contact Katie Mason at (314) 480-3178 or kmason@agcstl.org.

In the Midwest, Missouri was one of the first ready-to-go states, starting four projects on the day President Obama signed ARRA into law. Missouri DOT says more than 200 other projects are shovel-ready. Illinois also is moving rapidly, letting almost $700 million of projects in April, with work expected to start in May or June.

MoDOT says construction on three other recovery act projects also started immediately:

New passing lanes on Route 60 in Barry, Lawrence, Christian and Greene counties

Resurfacing on Interstate 35 in Clinton County

Improving pavement on Interstate 55 in Pemiscot and New Madrid counties

Additional Missouri road, bridge, air, rail, transit, pedestrian and bicycle projects will be under way in the coming weeks and months. For details, visit the MoDOT website.

Donna, marketing director at the Lawrence Group, is providing a great service to the local architecture/design community with her very timely and interesting blog. She writes about networking, job hunting, leads, tips and hints, and fun ways to keep up your good humor in tough times.

Be sure to check it out! You can subscribe through RSS or FeedBlitz. You won’t want to miss a post!

As we reported last month, $20 billion was cut from the final version of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Although the legislation does not include a specific line item for school construction, $39.5 billion of the act’s $53.6-billion state fiscal stabilization fund would go to local school districts, and school modernization would be one of several eligible uses for those funds.

SB 291 would create a new state fund for new construction or repairs to school buildings. The state would distribute the stimulus money to districts based on their average daily attendance.

Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields said he hopes to put roughly $500 million from the stimulus package into the fund. He estimated that Missouri schools have roughly $4 billion in infrastructure needs.

Also, Missouri House  Budget Chairman Allen Icet will propose a special stimulus spending package that likely will include money for repairs, maintenance or construction at state-owned buildings and public universities.

Source: Associated Press

According to the article by Kelly Spors, the small companies best-positioned to take advantage of the stimulus money are those that already have established relationships with government officials and have experience doing government contracting work.

Walton, a construction firm with about 550 employees, currently gets about 60% of its revenue from public and government projects such as constructing military barracks. Dan Frisbee says his company has seen the number of inquiries from prospective subcontractors double to more than 300 in the past six months.

But even with his experience, Mr. Frisbee says the process isn’t easy. “The government has a lot of regulations you have to be aware of,” he says.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Right now, the site offers an overview of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and an explanation of what it hopes to accomplish. Eventually, you’ll have access to data on how Federal Agencies plan to allocate the money — which states and sectors of the economy are due to receive what proportion of the funds. As money starts to flow, more data will become available.