New Jersey Gov. Dick Codey signed legislation that amends the State Local Public Contracts Law and required that a value engineering provision be included in all non-building local public work contract documents. The provision applies to all non-building contracts with a value more than $5 million and will be effective Aug. 1, 2005.

Under the new legislation, when a value engineering proposal is presented by the contractor and accepted by the public owner, cost savings will be shared equally by each party to the contract.

Prior to Utility and Transportation Contractors Association (UTCA) developing the legislation, only certain state agencies and the federal government utilized contract provisions for value engineering. With the new law, all public owners in New Jersey may now utilize this process, which produced approximately $1 billion in savings in 2003 for state highway agencies.

To assist in the education of public works officials about the new law, UTCA staff member Kevin Monaco addressed the provisions of the legislation at the annual conference of the Government Officials Purchasing Association of New Jersey, which was held in Atlantic City on May 4, 2005. The purchasing officials represent local and county government throughout New Jersey.

For more information, call 732/292-4300 or visit www.utcanj.org.