Pennsylvania’s Separations Act provides:
Hereafter in the preparation of specifications for the erection, construction, and
alteration of any public building, when the entire cost of such work shall exceed bidding thresholds updated periodically by
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry under Act 90 of 2011 where the bidding thresholds provide for an annual inflation adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers., it shall be the duty of the architect, engineer, or other person
preparing such specifications, to prepare separate specifications for the plumbing,
heating, ventilating, and electrical work; and it shall be the duty of the person or
persons authorized to enter into contracts for the erection, construction, or alteration
of such public buildings to receive separate bids upon each of the said branches of
work, and to award the contract for the same to the lowest responsible bidder for
each of said branches.
The Act of May1, 1913 (P.L. 155, No. 104), 53 P.S. §1003 (Municipal) and 71 P.S.
§1618 (State).
Since the Separations Act became law in 1913, except for a limited number of exceptions,
Pennsylvania’s public projects have been constructed utilizing a multiple-prime delivery
system; which necessarily means a system without a General Contractor. In essence, the
Separations Act compels the Owner to serve as its own General Contractor.
As of this posting the bid threshold is contracts over $21,000 require formal bidding.
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