Job Order Contracting (JOC) Program

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

In many counties, the procurement and contracting process can be very inefficient and arduous. Often, there is a backlog of funded, but unexecuted projects including maintenance, capital improvement, and facility assessment projects. These projects are vital to the community but may not be completed due to the limited staff resources and the time required for traditional bid procurement. In Lake County, IL, traditional bid procurement stipulates that every construction project greater than a bid threshold of $30,000 follow the exact same process. This inefficient method of procurement means that even the most simple of projects must undergo a long process of red tape and backlog. As a response, Lake County initiated its Job Order Contracting (JOC) program in an attempt to move projects through the procurement process more quickly. The program is a fixed priced and competitively bid delivery method for the efficient completion of a large number of multi-traded repair and rehabilitation projects. Included with this program is the JOC Construction Task Catalog (CTC) which contains thousands of material and labor construction assemblies, customized to Lake County’s Standards to compete with unit prices. JOC candidate contractors bid an adjustment factor on the unit assemblies, which then become the basis for all future project pricing. The company with the lowest total combined adjustment factor is demed the “County’s JOC Contractor” and enters into a maximum value, fixed term contract with Lake County. This organization becomes the preferred source for all JOC appropriate projects. This indefinite delivery / indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) procurement tool has allowed for work to be completed effectively, efficiently, and economically resulting in a high quality finished product for Lake County government and Lake County taxpayers. Between November of 2010 and April of 2011, Lake County retrofitted more than $1.2 million in energy efficient lighting and controls throughout County facilities.