The House concurred with the Senate’s amendments to HB 1633 and adopted the bill by a unanimous vote. The bill now awaits final signature by the Governor. If signed and no other action is taken, the bill will go into effect July 27 this year.

Subcontractors must be licensed at the time of bid in public works contracting bill

April 6, 2025

HB 1633, from Rep. Natasha Hill (D–Spokane), seeks to increase transparency and efficiency in public works project bidding practices related to contractor licensing.

The bill requires that prime contractors, at the time that they bid on a project costing $1 million or more, verify in the bidding documents that any subcontractor they’ve subcontracted to perform HVAC, plumbing, or electrical work on the project are licensed for that work. The contractor may also name itself to do that work if it is licensed to do so.

Prime contractors are given 48 hours to correct errors identified by the project owner regarding license information submitted in the bidding documents.

HB 1633 passed out of its house of origin by a unanimous vote and has successfully moved through its Senate policy committee where it was amended. It now awaits consent from the House on the Senate’s amendment.