$4 million projects would face a new Ohio contract check

Ohio is trying to make construction contracts a little harder to game. Under the proposal, a public authority or other party to a construction contract would have to note when a deal departs from an industry standard form, so custom language does not disappear inside familiar-looking paperwork.

That matters because construction disputes often turn on the fine print. If a standard form has been edited to shift risk, liability or other terms, those changes would have to be identified instead of blending into the rest of the document.

The red-ink test

The point is not to rewrite every contract from scratch. It is to make the departures visible, so owners, contractors and public entities can see where a supposedly routine form has been tailored in a way that changes the deal.

That kind of clarity can matter long before anyone ends up in a dispute. The more obvious the edits are, the harder it is for an unusual clause to hide inside a packet that looks standard at first glance.

How public projects would be scored

The bill also adds procurement rules for construction management services with a construction manager at risk. Ohio public authorities would have to select and rank not fewer than three of the most qualified firms unless they make a written finding that fewer than three qualified firms are available.

For projects valued at less than four million dollars, the authority could require a pricing proposal to be submitted with the main proposal. Even then, the ranking would still start with qualifications, and the authority would have to hold a pre-proposal meeting that lays out the project, the services and the technical approaches under consideration.

Available vote records show the bill advanced without recorded no votes.