Chapter 27.04
San Jose Zoning Code · 2026-06 edition · ingested 2026-07-07 · San Jose
ADMINISTRATIVE
trol over the California Public Contract Code except where it expressly incorporates the California Public Contract Code.
B. Nothing herein is intended to limit the City's plenary authority over municipal affairs under the charter city home-rule doctrine in Section 5(a) of Article XI of the California Constitution.
(Ord. 30308.)
27.04.020 Administrative implementation. ¶
The Director of the Department of Public Works, in coordination with the City Manager's Office and the City Attorney's Office, is responsible for promulgating, developing, maintaining and updating the following:
A. Administrative rules and procedures implementing this Title 27; and
B. Standardized procurement documents, contract documents, plans and specifications implementing this Title 27.
(Ord. 30308.)
Sections:
27.04.030 Subdivision improvement agreements. ¶
27.04.010 Relationship with state law. ¶
27.04.020 Administrative implementation. ¶
- 27.04.030 Subdivision improvement agreements.
Nothing in this Title applies to any improvement agreement governed by the requirements of Title 19 of the San José Municipal Code. (Ord. 30308.)
27.04.040 Permit/utility work authority. ¶
27.04.050 Contingency amount.
27.04.060 Award authority.
27.04.070 Design approval authority.
27.04.080 Calculating time.
27.04.090 Computer mapping program licenses.
27.04.100 Inflation adjustment. ¶
27.04.010 Relationship with state law. ¶
- A. The City intends the ordinance adopting Title 27 to be an ordinance that conflicts with the California Public Contract Code as provided in Section 1100.7 of the California Public Contract Code. The City intends this Title to con-
27.04.040 Permit/utility work authority. ¶
The Director is authorized to execute a permit or a contract for utility work if:
A. The permit is issued by a Federal, State or local public agency, or any other entity with regulatory jurisdiction over the Public Works Project;
B. The permit or utility work is needed to perform the work required by the Public Works Contract; and
C. The costs associated with the permit or contract for utility work have been appropriated as part of funding for the Public Works Project.
(Ord. 30308.)
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§ 27.04.070
27.04.050 Contingency amount. ¶
A. Except for a contract in which the Council approves a different amount, the contingency amount established when a Public Works Contract is awarded will be as follows:
No more than 10 percent of the total contract amount for all Public Works Projects except those involving the renovation of a building or buildings; and
No more than 15 percent of the total contract amount for all Public Works Projects involving the renovation of a building or buildings.
B. Following the award of a Public Works Contract, only the Council can approve an increase in the contingency amount.
(Ord. 30308.)
27.04.060 Award authority. ¶
The following applies whenever the Council reserves to itself the authority to award and execute a Major Public Works Contract:
A. The City Clerk will execute, on behalf of the Council, the Major Public Works Contract that the Council awards in accordance with such reserved authority; and
B. The Council may delegate, by resolution, to the City Manager or a director of a City department, any such reserved authority to award and execute the Major Public Works Contract.
(Ord. 30308.)
27.04.070 Design approval authority. ¶
This Section 27.04.070 sets forth the City Council's delegation of authority to approve a plan or design on behalf of the City for the purpose of establishing design immunity. It does not refer to the technical design approval of a licensed design professional who is in responsible charge or control of the preparation of the plans and specifications for a Public Works Project.
- A. The award of a Public Works Contract by the Council, or the approval of an amendment, change order, work order or
other similar document by the Council, is the City's approval of the plan or design associated with such contract, amendment, change order, work order or document.
B. Whenever the Director is authorized in this Title 27 to execute a Public Works Contract, contract, work order, change order, amendment or other similar document described in this Title 27, such authority includes the authority to approve, in the Director's discretion, the plan or design associated with such document. The Director's execution of such document constitutes the City's approval of the plan or design associated with such document.
C. Whenever a City employee is deputized in accordance with San José Municipal Code Section 2.06.010 to execute an official document on the City's behalf, including a Public Works Contract, contract, work order, change order, amendment or other similar document described in this Title 27, such authority includes the authority to approve, in the employee's discretion, the plan or design associated with such document. The City employee's execution of such document constitutes the City's approval of the plan or design associated with such document.
D. The authority of the Director or a City employee to direct other City employees to implement a Public Works Project includes the authority, in the Director or employee's discretion, to approve the plan or design associated with the project. Authorization by the Director or City employee for other City employees to precede with a Public Works Project constitutes the City's approval of the plan or design pursuant to which such work will be completed.
(Ord. 30308.)
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§ 27.04.080
27.04.080 Calculating time. ¶
Whenever this Title 27 requires an action to be taken within a specified number of days following an event, such as the giving of notice, the day such event occurs is not included in calculating the number of days within which to take the action. (Ord. 30308.)
27.04.090 Computer mapping program licenses. ¶
A. The Director of the Department of Public Works is authorized to negotiate and execute all license agreements for any computer mapping program or system developed by the City. The license agreements must, at a minimum, include the following terms and conditions:
The initial term of each license agreement must be one year, renewable for additional periods of one year;
The City must have the right to terminate the license agreement with thirty days' notice to the licensee; and
If the license agreement authorizes the transfer, resale, or relicense of the program or system, or any portion thereof, it must provide for royalty payment to the City.
B. The Director of the Department of Public Works is authorized to negotiate and execute agreements with other public agencies for the use by the other public agency of the computer mapping system developed by the City.
The agreements must contain the provision set forth in Subsection A of this Section, as applicable.
The agreements may authorize the use of the computer mapping system by a public agency without payment of any fees or charges, other than reimbursement to the City for direct costs incurred in providing the system to the public agency, if the Director of Public Works finds that the use furthers a joint project between the City and the public agency or that the use will otherwise benefit the City.
(Ord. 30308.)
27.04.100 Inflation adjustment. ¶
A. This Section sets forth the manner in which the City will adjust the following amounts for inflation:
The threshold amount used to define a Major Public Works Contract, as required by Section 1217(b) of the Charter of the City of San José; and
All other amounts in this Title 27 that are to be adjusted for inflation, including the micro contract amount in Section 27.06.080 and the award authority amount in Section 27.10.560.
B. For the purposes of this Section, "CCI" means one of the following:
The Construction Cost Index published by the Engineering News Record for the geographical area that includes the City of San José; or
If the Engineering News Record stops publishing CCI, such other index - as is selected by the Director of Public Works - that is publicly-published and measures the cost of construction in the geographical area that includes the City of San José.
C. Every July 1, the Director of Public Works will adjust the threshold amount used to define a Major Public Works Contract in accordance with the following:
The Director of Public Works will determine the percentage increase or decrease in the CCI over the past year using the indices published most immediately preceding each July 1.
The Director of Public Works will multiply the threshold amount that is being adjusted by the percentage change calculated above in Section 27.04.100 C.1. Except for the threshold amount of micro contracts, the Director will round the resulting number up or down to the nearest ten thousand, and then adjust, if necessary, the threshold amount accordingly. For micro contracts, the Director will
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§ 27.06.050
round the resulting number up or down to the nearest on one thousand, and then adjust, if necessary, the threshold amount accordingly.
D. Each July 1, the Director of Public Works will post on the City's web site on a web page designated for such postings the applicable threshold amount used to define a Major Public Works Contract for the upcoming year.
(Ords. 30474, 30540.)