Guides

The IIJA expiration on September 30, 2026 affects every contractor bidding federally funded work. Short answer: The federal surface transportation authority created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) expires on September 30, 2026. Congress has a replacement in progress but not yet enacted, and a short-term extension is widely expected. At the same

SB-PW vs DBE: both certifications help contractors, but only one pays on Department of General Services bids right now. Short answer: For most California contractors in 2026, SB-PW certification is the one that pays right now. It gives a 5% bid preference on state solicitations (capped at $50,000 per bid), it counts toward the state’s

Here is how to bid on public works projects in California, step by step, starting with DIR registration. Short answer: To bid public works in California you need a CSLB license, an active DIR public works contractor registration, workers’ comp coverage, and a vendor profile on each agency’s bid portal. Then you find the solicitation,

Below is a DBE personal narrative example and a template you can adapt. Short answer: A DBE personal narrative is the owner’s signed, written account of specific social and economic disadvantage they personally experienced. Since the federal rule of October 3, 2025, Caltrans requires one from every disadvantaged owner of a certified DBE, together with

DBE certification in California runs through Caltrans and the California Unified Certification Program. 2026 update: The DBE programme changed under a USDOT rule issued on October 3, 2025. Every certified DBE in California is being reevaluated and must now show individual disadvantage through a personal narrative and a Personal Net Worth statement. Caltrans’ deadline was

Every contractor and subcontractor intending to bid or perform public works in California must register with the Department of Industrial Relations. It costs $400 a year, it is non-refundable, and an awarding body cannot legally accept a bid that lists an unregistered contractor or subcontractor. Registration is separate from your contractor licence and from DGS

Quick answer How to find bids on Cal eProcure Go to caleprocure.ca.gov, open Find Bids, and search events by keyword, department or UNSPSC code. You do not need to log in to search, but you must be registered to respond. The full search walkthrough is below. Rather have it done for you? GERC monitors Cal

Commodity codes are the single most under-considered part of a Cal eProcure registration, and the one that most determines whether it produces anything. They are UNSPSC codes, you need at least one to submit, and state buyers use them to find suppliers. A registration with four narrowly chosen codes hears about a fraction of what

Most Cal eProcure login failures come down to one of five things: the temporary password never arrived, the account was created under a different Tax ID, the browser is unsupported, the wrong support desk was contacted, or the account was never actually completed. Here is how to tell which one you have and what to

Cal eProcure registration is free and takes most businesses under an hour if the paperwork is ready. The system asks for a Federal Employer Identification Number, your legal business name, a primary address, at least one contact, and at least one commodity code. What follows is each screen in order, and the points where registrations