AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 12, 2026
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 22, 2026
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 24, 2026
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
96
Introduced by Senator Weber Pierson
February 5, 2026
An act to add and repeal Article 48.5 (commencing with Section 20755) of Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, relating to public contracts.
Vote: majority Appropriation: no Fiscal committee: no Local program: no
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
Existing law, the Local Agency Public Construction Act, sets forth procedures that a local agency is required to follow when procuring certain services or work. Existing law also sets forth specific public contracting requirements for port districts. Existing law establishes the San Diego Unified Port District for the acquisition, construction, maintenance, operation, development, and regulation of harbor works and improvements for the harbor of San Diego and for the promotion of commerce, navigation, fisheries, and recreation and requires the San Diego Unified Port District to comply with the specific public contracting requirements for port districts. Existing law authorizes certain local agencies to engage in job order contracting, as prescribed.
This bill would establish a pilot program to authorize the San Diego Unified Port District to use job order contracting as a procurement method, notwithstanding the specific public contracting requirements for port districts, as provided. The bill would impose various requirements on the job order contracting related to the San Diego Unified Port District, including a $5,000,000 cap on awards under a single job order contract and a $1,000,000 cap on any single job order. The bill would limit the term of an initial contract to a maximum of 12 months, with extensions, as prescribed. The bill would establish various additional procedures and requirements for the use of job order contracting under this authorization. The bill would require the San Diego Unified Port District, on or before January 1, 2035, to submit to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a report on the use of job order contracting under these provisions. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2037.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the San Diego Unified Port District.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Article 48.5 (commencing with Section 20755) is added to Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, to read:
Article 48.5. Job Order Contracting by the San Diego Unified Port District
As used in this article:
(a) “District” means the San Diego Unified Port District. District also includes facilities at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal, National City Marine Terminal, B St. Cruise Ship Terminal, Broadway Cruise Ship Terminal, and any future cargo or cruise terminals.
(b) (1) “Longshore and “District maritime
and longshore operations” includes all of the following:
(1) The loading and unloading of cargo or materials to and from vessels, or the movement of cargo or materials to and from vessels, or other directly related functions, at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal, National City Marine Terminal, B St. Cruise Ship Terminal, Broadway Cruise Ship Terminal, or any future cargo or cruise terminal
district’s facilities to the cargo’s or material’s materials’ point of rest, except
for the movement of construction materials on a barge, construction staging area, or construction area when used as a construction work platform, rigging and hoisting of construction materials directly from a barge, construction staging area, or construction area when being used as a construction work platform into the construction process, the removal of construction materials directly from the project to a barge, construction staging area, or construction area when being used as a construction work platform, and the movement of construction materials and construction equipment within the construction staging area, from the construction staging area to the construction site, and on the construction site.
(2) Maintenance and repair work on nondistrict-owned containers, infrastructure, containers and equipment used in cargo or cruise operations. to load or unload vessels at the district’s facilities.
(3) Maintenance and repair work necessary to facilitate the movement of cargo or materials to and from vessels at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal, National City Marine Terminal, B St. Cruise Ship Terminal, Broadway Cruise Ship Terminal, or any future cargo or cruise terminal district’s facilities to the cargo’s or material’s materials’ point of rest. This does not include maintenance and repair
repair, remodeling, or other repetitive work on district-owned property.
(c) (1) “Repair, remodeling, or other repetitive work” includes
renovation, maintenance, or improvement of buildings, wharfs, berths, facilities, utilities, infrastructure, and related systems performed by licensed contractors. according to unit prices.
(2) “Repair, remodeling, or other repetitive work” does not include longshore and district maritime or cruise operations. and longshore operations.
(d) “Vessel” includes, but is not limited to, a ship, boat, barge, or other related maritime craft.
(a) (1) Notwithstanding Article 48 (commencing with Section 20750), the district may use the procurement method outlined in this article for a job order contract that does not include longshore and district maritime and longshore operations, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 20755.
(2) The district shall not contract for work that is protected by any collective
bargaining agreements.
agreements or memoranda of understanding. All job order contracts shall comply with all collective bargaining agreements. agreements and memoranda of understanding. This article shall not expand or minimize existing and established collective bargaining agreements. agreements or memoranda of understanding.
(3) Job order contracts of the district shall be competitively bid and awarded to bidders providing qualified responsive bids.
(4) Job order contracts shall be for repair, remodeling, or other repetitive work, which shall not include longshore and district maritime
and longshore operations, to be done according to unit prices. No annual contracts may be awarded for any large-scale capital development projects exceeding the monetary limits established in Section 20755.2. new construction.
(5) A job order contract shall be subject to a project labor agreement between the district and the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council, or an amendment or extension of that agreement.
(b) Solicitations for job order contracts shall progress pursuant to the following:
(1) The district shall prepare a set of solicitation documents for job order contracts. The documents shall include a unit price catalog or other established unit prices, job order contract terms, job order contract technical specifications, and any other information the district deems necessary to adequately describe the district’s needs.
(2) An architect, engineer, consultant, or contractor retained by the district to assist in the development of the job order contract solicitation documents shall not be eligible to bid or to participate in the preparation of a job order contract bid.
(3) The district may award multiple job order contracts in response to a single job order contract solicitation.
(c) The district shall develop a system for evaluating job order contract bids for awarding job order contracts.
(d) The award of a job order contract shall progress pursuant to the following:
(1) The district shall prepare a request for bids for job order contracts based on the solicitation documents prepared under paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) that invites job order contractors to submit sealed bids in the manner prescribed by the district.
(2) Each bidding job order contractor shall include in its bid one or more adjustment factors to the established unit prices provided in the request for bids based on the contract’s technical specifications.
(3) Each bidding job order contractor shall agree to identify any subcontractors to be used for the job orders performed pursuant to the job order contract.
(4) The award of job order contracts, if any, shall be made to a job order contractor or to job order contractors that the district determines to be qualified and responsive based upon preestablished criteria to be determined by the district.
(5) A job order contractor and subcontractors at every tier shall comply with the district’s project labor agreements, as applicable.
(6) Notwithstanding paragraph (4), the district, by a process determined by the district, may award any job order for repair or renovation work
repair, remodeling, or other repetitive work with a value equal to or less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) to a job order contractor that is also a certified small business enterprise, as established by the district’s small business enterprise certification process or any similar certification process acceptable to the district, or to a job order contractor that is also a disabled veterans business enterprise, as certified by the Department of General Services.
(a) The maximum total dollar amount that may be awarded under a single job order contract shall not exceed five million dollars ($5,000,000) in the initial contract term of the job order contract. Any single job order shall not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000).
(b) Job order contracts may be executed for an initial contract term of no more than 12 months and may be extended or renewed for two subsequent annual terms and a maximum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) over the subsequent two terms of the contract.
(c) (1) Work shall not be split or separated into smaller job orders for the purpose of evading the cost limits of this article.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the district may award phased job orders when necessary to comply with environmental regulations, permitting requirements, tidal or seasonal construction windows, or other operational constraints, provided that the phasing is not used to circumvent the monetary limitations established in this section.
(d) Dollar amounts specified in this section may be adjusted annually to reflect the percentage change in the California Consumer Price Index.
(a) All work bid under job order contracts shall comply with Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 4100) of Part 1 and is subject to all of the penalties and provisions set forth in that chapter.
(b) For purposes of this article, if a job order contractor chooses to use a subcontractor, the job order contractor shall verify that the subcontractor possesses and maintains the appropriate licenses and credentials required.
(c) If the district, after conducting an administrative due process review, determines that there has been a violation of Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 4100) of Part 1, including, but not limited to, bid shopping by the job order contractor, the district may terminate the job order contract, declare the contractor ineligible for future job order contracts for a period of time to be determined by the district, or withdraw authorization for the contractor to proceed with awarded work.
(a) A job order contract shall set forth in the general conditions of the job order contract the party or parties responsible for ensuring compliance with the requirements specified in Article 2 (commencing with Section 1770) of Chapter 1 of Part 7 of Division 2 of the Labor Code.
(b) For purposes of job order contracting, a prevailing wage shall apply to all work ordered under the job order contract regardless of thresholds set forth in Section 1771.5 of the Labor Code.
(c) The job order contractor shall pay the prevailing wage in effect at the time the job order contract is issued by the district and all increases as published by the Department of Industrial Relations for the term of the job order contract, including all overtime, holiday, and shift provisions published by the Department of Industrial Relations.
(d) The district shall designate one individual to act as a monitor to inspect job sites for labor compliance violations at the request of the designated labor representative in its project labor agreement.
In order to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse, the district shall prepare for each individual job order developed under a job order contract an independent cost estimate. The estimate shall be prepared before the receipt of any job order contractor’s estimate for the work and shall be compared to the job order contractor’s estimate to determine the reasonableness of that estimate before issuance of any job order. If the district finds the job order contractor’s estimate to perform work for a given job order to be unreasonable, not cost effective, or undesirable, the district may elect not to issue the job order to the job order contractor.
(a) The district shall submit to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2035, a report on the use of job order contracting under this article. The report shall include, but shall not be limited to, all of the following information:
(1) A description of the district’s system for evaluating job order contract bids for award of job order contracts, including, but not limited to, the criteria used by the district to determine a qualified and responsive job order contractor.
(2) A description of each job order contract awarded and the contractor awarded the contract.
(3) An assessment of the use of job order contracting under this article.
(b) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
This article shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2037, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 2.
The Legislature finds and declares that a special statute is necessary and that a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the need for a pilot program to determine the potential benefits of job order contracting for the San Diego Unified Port District because it is a unique California port that spans five cities and has a nearly $14,000,000,000 economic impact in the County of San Diego.