PUBLISHED: December 20, 2022
Contractors must now meet specific qualifications in order to work on public construction and maintenance projects in the city.
Reading City Council voted 6-1 Monday to adopt a responsible contractor ordinance setting forth certification requirements for contractors bidding on projects over $250,000.
Councilman O. Christopher Miller voted no.
The new law requires contractors to maintain the capacity, expertise, personnel and other resources necessary to successfully complete public projects in a timely, reliable and cost-effective manner.
It also requires contractors to pay their workers prevailing wages and offer state-approved apprenticeship programs. …
“This bill will require a responsible bidder seeking award of a contract to now submit a contractor’s responsibility certification,” he said. “This is exactly what we already do.”
Although some critics have said the legislation is pro-union, William Dorward, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Reading and Vicinity, disagreed.
“This is not non-union against union; union against non-union,” he said. “It’s about good actors and bad actors.”
Dorward also said the ordinance helps secure training for the upcoming generation of skilled trades workers.
“It’s about keeping those skill sets to the peak level of education,” he said.