General Construction Contracting Information

The following is general information about construction contracting with the County of Sacramento. For information about plans and specifications,  current bids available, and bids received go to: OpenGov Procurement.

Construction Contracting Methods:

The County utilizes the following methods of contracting for construction. Except as noted below, all current construction bid opportunities will be posted on the above website.

  1. Design, Bid, Build, over $200,000. These are also known as formally bid projects. The County either designs or contracts for the design of a project, prepares plans, specif ications, and estimate, then advertises the project for bid, receives sealed bids, and awards a contract for construction to the lowest responsive responsible bidder.
  2. CUPCCAA $60,000 - $200,000. These are bids under e California Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act (CUPCCAA) (Public Contract Code Sections 22000 et seq). The County either designs or contracts for the design of a project, prepares less formal plans, specifications and estimate, then informally notices the project for bid, receives sealed bids, and awards a contract for construction to the lowest responsive responsible bidder. For a project to proceed via CUPCCAA, the engineer's estimate for construction may not exceed $200,000. Bidders may sign-up to be added to the County's CUPCCAA mailing list to receive e-mail notice of projects requiring your class of contractor's license: ​ Annual InvitationToContractors-CUPCCAA.pdf.
  3. CUPCCAA $60,000 and Less. Projects with cost estimates of $60,000 or less may proceed via direct solicitation of estimates and award. These projects may not appear on this website—please sign-up to be added to the County's CUPCCAA mailing list to assure project managers will be aware of your interest in contracting for these smaller projects:
     Annual Invitation to Contractors - CUPCCAA​ .
  4. Job Order Contracting (JOC). Job order contracting is another term for unit price contracting, and is governed by Public Contract Code section 20128.5. When job order contracts are bid, mandatory pre-bid meetings are held for the purpose of the County's presenting the concept, bidding process, and task authorization practices to prospective bidders.
  5. Design-Build. Design-Build projects are governed by Public Contract Code section 20133. This method of contracting for construction is used for large and complex projects.
  6. Emergency. Emergency contracting is governed by Public Contract Code section 22050 and is used only in case of emergency. Notice is not given to bid the project—the emergency repair or replacement is directly negotiated for award of a contract which remains in effect only until resolution of the emergency action.