N.Y. Public Buildings Law § 9: Construction emergencies

§ 9. Construction emergencies. 1. A "construction emergency" is damage

to or a malfunction in buildings or property of the state of New York

caused by an unanticipated, sudden and unexpected occurrence which

involves a pressing necessity for immediate repair, reconstruction or

maintenance in order to permit the safe continuation of a necessary

public use or function, or to protect the property of the state of New

York, or the life, health or safety of any person.

* 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this law or any general or

special law, where there is a construction emergency, as defined by

subdivision one of this section, the commissioner of general services

may, upon written notice of such construction emergency from an

authorized officer of the department or agency having jurisdiction of

the property, let emergency contracts for public work or the purchase of

supplies, materials or equipment without complying with formal

competitive bidding requirements, provided that all such contracts shall

be subject to the approval of the attorney general and the comptroller

and that no such contract shall exceed one million five hundred thousand

dollars. Such emergency contracts shall be let only for work necessary

to remedy or ameliorate a construction emergency.

* NB Effective until June 30, 2028

* 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this law or any general or

special law, where there is a construction emergency, as defined by

subdivision one of this section, the commissioner of general services

may, upon written notice of such construction emergency from an

authorized officer of the department or agency having jurisdiction of

the property, let contracts for public work or the purchase of supplies,

materials or equipment without complying with formal competitive bidding

requirements, provided that all such contracts shall be subject to the

approval of the attorney general and the comptroller and that no such

contract shall exceed one million five hundred thousand dollars.

* NB Effective June 30, 2028

3. The office of general services shall prepare and maintain a written

record of each transaction entered into, pursuant to the provisions of

this section, setting forth (a) the nature of such emergency, (b) the

effect thereof on public property, on the operation of government or on

life, health or safety of any person, (c) a detailed description of the

work to be performed and the cost of such work, (d) engineering and

architectural evaluation showing the need for immediate action, and (e)

the notice of construction emergency from the department or agency

requesting such work. At least three oral competitive bids shall be

solicited and written confirmation of each solicitation shall be

furnished within a reasonable time and maintained as an official record.

* 4. Bidders for such construction emergency contracts shall be

solicited from a list of bidders, which shall be regional in scope,

established by the office of general services based on an invitation to

contractors including certified minority and women-owned contractors to

be so listed, subject to approval by the office of general services,

advertised annually in the procurement opportunities newsletter

published by the department of economic development, in the public

notification service of the office of general services and by newspaper

advertisement as provided in section eight of this article. The office

of general services shall seek to provide prime contract bidding

opportunities for minority and women-owned contractors in the letting of

such emergency contracts. From such list of bidders, the office of

general services shall solicit bidders sequentially or by rotation in

such manner that the listed potential bidders shall be solicited

consecutively, to the extent practicable, and thereby given fair

opportunity to bid in the course of successive needs for emergency

contracts. The office of general services may remove any bidder from

such lists for nonresponsibility or nonreliability. The emergency

contracts let under this section in each month shall be published by the

office of general services in the public notification service.

The department or agency having jurisdiction of the property shall

promptly and diligently take all actions and prepare and submit the

required documentation relating to the contract award for the repair and

remediation of the construction emergency, as necessary to deliver to

the office of the state comptroller as early as practicable prior to the

thirtieth day following the commencement of the work all such

documentation required for the comptroller's approval of the contract.

* NB Expires June 30, 2028