Practice Areas > Water Projects
Public construction projects are important elements in the operation, maintenance and expansion of any public water system. State and federal laws impact almost every element of a public works project. From design to award of the contract to payment of the labor force and beyond, water agencies must navigate a sea of ever-changing laws that govern how projects must proceed. MKB works with its water clients to aggressively and efficiently manage all aspects of planning, design and construction. Any other approach exposes water agencies to unexpected and sometimes uncontrollable costs.
Public Contracting
State law dictates many standard elements for every public works contracts; good sense dictates others. To ensure consistency, MKB advises its general counsel clients to adopt standard contract forms for professional services, maintenance, supply and public works construction contracts. MKB has developed forms for all of these contracts based on years of experience, and is particularly proud of it construction bid set, which has evolved continuously over more than 20 years and is reviewed and updated annually. The contract documents developed by MKB and our experience working with them under a wide variety of conditions give our clients a significant advantage.
Competitive Bidding
Most water agencies are required by law to competitively bid public works projects, and even agencies exempt from the requirement often elect to proceed in accordance with public bidding statutes as a matter of policy. MKB’s role in the public bidding process starts with preparation of a reliable set of bid documents during the design phase and continues through the bid opening, award, and execution of the construction agreement. It can involve the resolution of any number of issues and disputes that commonly arise in connection with awarding a public contract. The public bidding process is designed to preserve the public fisc, not to improve the project, and a successful project requires vigilance, experience and cooperation by staff and legal counsel at every stage of the project.
Risk Management and Insurance
The insurance provisions in every type of public contract are critical, and due to constant changes in the insurance and surety bond industry, they cannot be treated as mere boilerplate. MKB works closely with agency staff to manage risk sensibly and to tailor insurance requirements to particular projects and to particular types of work. MKB keeps clients abreast of changes in the insurance industry through the efforts of its own attorneys and through the services of an insurance industry expert with whom we have an ongoing engagement and a longstanding record of success. As consultant to a large number of public entities, including ACWA/JPIA, his perspectives on the insurance industry and his familiarity with ISO and other insurance forms are invaluable to our clients.
Real Property, Easements and Licenses
Every public works project requires some assemblage of real property rights that allows it to be constructed in a particular place and time. Public water agencies have a variety of powers that assist them in acquiring real property rights, but generally speaking a public agency acquiring such interests faces an involved and often long process beyond anything required of a private purchaser. MKB assists its clients in evaluating, negotiating, obtaining and documenting property and property rights that are needed for any number of agency purposes. This can range from an outright negotiated purchase to an acquisition by eminent domain to a delicate negotiation of an easement or license in an area already congested with other interests. In recent years this has included leases with telecommunication companies wanting access to the higher ground on which so many water storage facilities are constructed.
Interagency Relations
For a multitude of reasons, public water agencies frequently need to interact with other public agencies. Whether it is because cooperation is required to complete a project or collaboration is required to undertake a project, inevitably agencies will need to interact with other agencies and these interactions are often critical to the success of a project. MKB works with clients to identify the need for such interactions, to schedule and prepare for them, and to engage in them with the appropriate amount of finesse or force needed to succeed. On behalf of its clients, MKB deals knowledgeably and practically with governing bodies and their staffs to get projects done in a timely fashion.