The California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission’s decision to uphold CIFAC’s complaint against the Lompoc Unified School District (LUSD) marks an important win for fair competition, transparency, and accountability in public works contracting. At issue was LUSD’s use of an OMNIA–TREMCO cooperative purchasing arrangement for its 2025 Summer Roofing Projects, a seven-site package valued at $6,437,457. CIFAC’s position was straightforward: because LUSD is subject to the Act, the District was required to follow the Act’s formal advertising and bidding procedures for this public project.
CIFAC’s investigation found that the roofing work was not formally advertised within the District’s jurisdiction as required under Public Contract Code sections 22036 and 22037. According to the complaint and supporting summary, no project-specific notice inviting bids was published in a newspaper of general circulation within LUSD’s jurisdiction, and no documentation was produced showing that notice was sent electronically or by mail to construction trade journals. CIFAC’s Public Records Act requests further underscored that point when the District did not provide records showing the required project advertising or executed contracts responsive to the request.
The District took the position that it could rely on the OMNIA contract because it had been procured through Region 4 Education Service Center in Texas, which is not a California agency subject to the Act. CIFAC challenged that reasoning and pointed to prior Commission discussion and the State Controller’s Office legal opinion stating that a third-party procurement agent stands in the shoes of the principal and cannot be used to circumvent the Act’s requirements. In other words, a participating California public agency cannot avoid its own statutory bidding obligations by outsourcing the procurement pathway.
The attached materials also show why this case matters beyond a single district. CIFAC found that the only advertisement it could locate was a 2023 San Bernardino County Sun notice tied to the broader OMNIA solicitation, not a project-specific notice within LUSD’s jurisdiction. CIFAC further noted that local contractors were effectively shut out of the opportunity to compete, despite the presence of numerous qualified roofing contractors in the surrounding region. That exclusion undermines the very purpose of competitive bidding laws: protecting taxpayer dollars, expanding competition, and maintaining a level playing field for the contracting community.
This outcome sends a clear message to public agencies that participate in the Act: cooperative purchasing and third-party procurement models do not override California’s public works bidding requirements for covered public projects. CIFAC remains committed to ensuring that agencies follow the law, that local contractors have a fair opportunity to compete, and that public construction dollars are spent through transparent and lawful processes. The Commission’s decision reinforces those principles and strengthens the integrity of public contracting statewide.
