Sec. 1.5. (a) The governing board of any state educational institution, acting on behalf of said institution, may purchase materials in the manner provided by law and perform any work by means of its own employees and owned or leased equipment in the construction, rehabilitation, extension, maintenance or repair of any building, structure, improvement, or facility, of said institutions, without awarding a contract therefor, whenever the cost of such work shall be estimated to be less than three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000).

(b) The workforce of a state educational institution may perform a public work described in subsection (a) only if:

(1) the workforce, through demonstrated skills, training, or expertise, is capable of performing the public work; and

(2) for a public work project under subsection (a) whose cost is estimated to be more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), the state educational institution:

(A) publishes a notice under IC 5-3-1 that:

(i) describes the public work that the state educational institution intends to perform with its own workforce; and

(ii) sets forth the projected cost of each component of the public work as described in subsection (a); and

(B) determines at a public meeting that it is in the public interest to perform the public work with the state educational institution's own workforce.

A public work project performed by a state educational institution's own workforce must be inspected and accepted as complete in the same manner as a public work project performed under a contract awarded after receiving bids.

(c) If a public work project involves a structure, an improvement, or a facility under the control of a state educational institution, the state educational institution may not artificially divide the project to bring any part of the project under this section.

As added by Acts 1981, P.L.57, SEC.5. Amended by P.L.229-2011, SEC.77; P.L.172-2011, SEC.19; P.L.6-2012, SEC.35; P.L.252-2015, SEC.8.