(a) On or before October 1, 2005, the Commissioner of Administrative Services shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to establish a standard contractor evaluation form. Such form shall include, at a minimum, the following evaluation criteria: (1) Timeliness of performance; (2) quality of performance; (3) cost containment, including, but not limited to, the contractor's ability to work within the contract's allotted cost, the accuracy of the contractor's billing, and the number and cause of change orders and the manner in which the contractor determined the price on the change orders; (4) safety; (5) the quality of the contractor's working relationship with the agency and the quality of the contractor's supervision of the work area; (6) communication with the agency; (7) the quality of the contractor's required documentation; (8) the performance of the contractor's subcontractors and substantial subcontractors, to the extent known by the official who completes the evaluation; and (9) the contractor's and any subcontractor's compliance with part III of chapter 557, or chapter 558, or the provisions of the federal Davis-Bacon Act, 40 USC, Sections 276a to 276a-5, inclusive, as from time to time amended, to the extent known by the official who completes the evaluation.

(b) Each public agency shall compile evaluation information during the performance of the contract and complete and submit the evaluation form to the commissioner after completion of a building project under the agency's control if the building project is funded, in whole or in part, by state funds. Such evaluation information shall be available to any public agency for purposes of assessing the responsibility of the contractor during a bid selection and evaluation process. The designated official from such agency shall certify that the information contained in the evaluation form represents, to the best of the certifying official's knowledge, a true and accurate analysis of the contractor's performance record on the contract. The commissioner shall include the evaluation in the contractor's prequalification file. The official shall mail a copy of the completed evaluation form to the contractor. Any contractor who wishes to contest any information contained in the evaluation form may submit a written response to the commissioner not later than thirty days after the date the form was mailed as indicated by the postmark on the envelope. Such response shall set forth any additional information concerning the building project or the oversight of the contract by the public agency that may be relevant in the evaluation of the contractor's performance on the project. The commissioner shall include any such response in the contractor's prequalification file.

(c) As used in this section, “public agency” means a public agency, as defined in section 1-200, “contract” means an agreement for work for the state or a municipality that is estimated to cost more than five hundred thousand dollars and is funded, in whole or in part, by state funds, “subcontractor” means a person who performs work with a value in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars for a contractor pursuant to a contract and “substantial subcontractor” means a substantial subcontractor, as defined in section 4a-100.

(d) Upon fifty per cent completion of any building project under a public agency's control, the agency shall advise the contractor in writing of the agency's preliminary evaluation of the contractor's performance on the project.

(e) No person, public agency, employee of a public agency or certifying official of a public agency shall be held liable to any contractor or subcontractor for any loss or injury sustained by such contractor or subcontractor as the result of the completion of an evaluation form, as required by this section or section 4a-100, unless such person, agency, employee or official is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to have acted in a wilful, wanton or reckless manner.

(f) Any public agency that fails to submit a completed evaluation form, as required by this section, not later than seventy days after the completion of a project, shall be ineligible for the receipt of any public funds disbursed by the state for the purposes of the construction, reconstruction, alteration, remodeling, repair or demolition of any public building or any public works project until such completed evaluation form is submitted.

(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, any public agency of the state, when evaluating the performance of a contractor's subcontractors or substantial subcontractors, to the extent known, may rely on an evaluation of such subcontractors or substantial subcontractors that is conducted by the contractor. No contractor shall be held liable to any subcontractor or substantial subcontractor for any loss or injury sustained by such subcontractor or substantial subcontractor as the result of such evaluation provided to a public agency, unless such contractor is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to have acted in a wilful, wanton or reckless manner.

(P.A. 03-215, S. 4; 03-278, S. 130; P.A. 04-141, S. 3; P.A. 06-134, S. 17, 23; P.A. 07-202, S. 5, 6; Sept. Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-7, S. 160; P.A. 11-229, S. 8.)

History: P.A. 03-215 effective October 1, 2004; P.A. 03-278 amended Subsec. (c) by redefining “subcontractor”, effective October 1, 2004; P.A. 04-141 amended Subsec. (a) to require adoption of regulations re contractor evaluation form by October 1, 2005, amended Subsec. (b) to add requirements that public agency compile evaluation information during performance of contract, that evaluation information be available to any public agency for purposes of assessing the contractor during a bid process and that the information in the evaluation form be certified by the agency, added Subsec. (e) re liability to contractor for loss or injury sustained by the contractor as a result of the evaluation form and added Subsec. (f) re penalty for failure of an agency to file evaluation forms; P.A. 06-134 amended Subsec. (c) to redefine “public agency” to eliminate exception for The University of Connecticut, effective January 1, 2007, and also amended Subsec. (a)(8) to include reference to the performance of substantial subcontractors, amended Subsec. (c) to define “substantial subcontractor”, and added Subsec. (g) re municipal reliance on evaluations of substantial subcontractors performed by contractors, effective October 1, 2007; P.A. 07-202 amended Subsec. (c) to define “contract” and redefine “subcontractor”, effective July 10, 2007; Sept. Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-7 amended Subsec. (g) to delete reference to Subsec. (a), replace reference to political subdivision with reference to public agency and add provision re contractors not being liable to subcontractors and substantial subcontractors for loss or injury sustained as result of evaluation unless a court finds contractor to have acted in a wilful, wanton or reckless manner, effective October 5, 2009; P.A. 11-229 amended Subsec. (e) to add “person” to entities exempted from liability and to add references to “subcontractor” and reference to Sec. 4a-100.