White women-owned business waiver comes to an end

In 2016, the U.S. Department of Transportation granted a waiver that removed white-women-owned businesses from the race-conscious portion of the Washington State Department of Transportation’s disadvantaged business enterprise program. After the waiver was approved, a disparity study was completed that demonstrated white-women-owned businesses face significant challenges while contracting.

On Oct. 1, the white-women-owned business waiver expired. As a result, WSDOT is adding white-women-owned businesses back into the Federal Highway Administration’s race-conscious, or goals, portion of the DBE program. Going forward, all Condition of Award goals set will be DBE, inclusive of white-women-owned businesses, or Federal Small Business Enterprise. All existing contracts with FSBE or UDBE goals will remain the same, and the implementation of the waiver is not retroactive.

If you are currently working on an existing project advertised with the UDBE goal, the prime will still be required to use UDBE certified firms in meeting with COA requirements. This includes substitution and good-faith efforts when required. Certain projects advertised after the Oct. 1 waiver deadline will include a UDBE goal. This is because the goal type depends on when the goal was set for the project.

WSDOT will now set DBE goals, inclusive of white-women-owned businesses. That means, for a few weeks, some contracts will have UDBE goals and others will have DBE goals. Therefore, it’s crucial you pay special attention to the type of goal listed in your contract provisions as well as the certification each firm has when monitoring for compliance (i.e., UDBE or DBE).

Admittedly, this is a lot to take in. If you want to make sure your firm properly adheres to the new guidelines, watch this live training session that WSDOT recorded on Sept. 22. You can also access The Construction Bulletin for this change by clicking here.

Do you have additional questions about the waiver? If so, reach out to WSDOT at any time by calling (360) 705-7090.

Source: AGCWa.Com