Simplified procurement offered for public-sector work

Mike Reyman, the president of Sparks-based Reyman Bros. Construction, acknowledges that it's never easy to introduce a new way of doing business into the rule-bound world of public-sector contracting.

But he says a program rolled out by the firm this spring that promises to save money and time upfront on small and mid-sized government work is getting the attention of purchasing departments at school districts, city governments and specialized districts such as those that operate hospitals and water systems in Nevada.

"This is a new thing for Nevada, and people aren't used to the concept," Reyman says.

Lee Johnson, a principal in Reyman Bros., explains the program known as "simplified construction procurement" this way:

Nearly anything that's purchased by local, state or federal governments is required to go through a competitive bidding process to ensure the best prices and elimination of favoritism.

But government agencies long have had the legal power to piggyback on the competitive bids of one another. If, for instance, the City of Reno calls for bids for the purchase of new police cars, the City of Sparks can piggyback its own purchases on the contract awarded by Reno.

The ability to piggyback on contracts extends beyond state lines.

And that's how Reyman Bros. Construction is offering simplified construction procurement under the umbrella of the National Joint Powers Alliance, a government-purchasing cooperative that got its start in Minnesota. The Gordian Group, which is headquartered at Mauldin, S.C., administers the Reyman Bros. contract with the cooperative.

Reyman Bros. is contracted to provide construction and renovation work at prices that previously have been set under bid prices developed by the National Joint Powers Alliance. A 2,800-page book details pre-established prices for all sort of work installation of a linear foot of baseboard, for instance that might be included in a public-sector construction job.

When a client chooses to work through the National Joint Powers Alliance, the staff of Reyman Brothers compiles a bid based on the pre-established prices that already have been competitively bid.

The process was developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and it's used by the U.S. Postal Service, the cities of San Francisco, Chicago and New York and other public agencies nationwide.

The primary benefit to owners, Johnson says, is the ability to handle smaller construction jobs and routine maintenance without the cost and time that's required to develop plans and specifications, advertise and gather bids and hammer out a final contract.

"They sometimes end up spending more on the process than the job is worth," he says. "This works well for smaller jobs."

Reyman says simplified construction procurement is most likely to be used on jobs amounting to $500,000 or less.

He says The Gordian Group, the contract administrator, ensures that his firm's work meets standards. And because the Sparks company's opportunity to win further work through the joint-powers alliance depends on its performance on current jobs, the company gets further motivation to do good work.

Reyman Bros. is one of two builders to win contracts through the National Joint Powers Alliance to handle work in northern Nevada. The other is Weatherproofing Technologies Inc. of Beachwood, Ohio.

Since Reyman Bros. landed the deal this spring, it's been making calls on public-sector agencies large and small. Johnson says smaller agencies, particularly those in the rural areas of northern Nevada, are likely to be a good market for simplified construction procurement.

While it will speed the process and reduce costs for public agencies, Reyman says the 34-year-old construction firm is looking to simplified construction procurement as yet another way to generate a new stream of revenue.