California has become the latest state to strengthen design-build authority after the passage of Senate Bill 935, which removes a design-build sunset for local agencies’ design-build authority.
The bill eliminates the previous Jan. 1, 2031, sunset on local agencies’ authority to use design-build for public works projects exceeding $1,000,000. The change allows the current provisions to continue indefinitely, giving local agencies permanent authority to commission qualifying public works projects that use design-build.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 935 on July 16, 2026; it will take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
Continuous DBIA Western Pacific Region Involvement
DBIA’s Western Pacific Region (DBIA-WPR) played a central role in advancing the legislation, sponsoring the bill and supporting it throughout the legislative process.
“DBIA-WPR applauds Gov. Newsom for signing SB 935 into law,” DBIA-WPR President Girish Kripalani said. “By making California’s design-build authority permanent, this legislation provides certainty for public agencies while ensuring they can continue using one of the most effective project delivery methods available.”
The Western Pacific Region’s work on SB 935 reflects DBIA’s broader efforts to expand and strengthen design-build authority across the country.
Building on Previous State Legislation
Sen. Steven Choi authored SB 935, and it received bipartisan support all the way through the legislative process.
“SB 935 ensures that local agencies can continue using the design-build procurement method, which has streamlined project delivery, reduced costs and encouraged innovation in public works for decades,” Choi said during an Assembly Local Government Committee hearing on the bill. “By removing the existing 2031 sunset date, this bill provides long-term certainty for agencies planning critical infrastructure projects and avoids unnecessary disruptions to an effective contracting process and ultimately helps local governments deliver projects faster and more responsibly for the communities they serve.”
Senate Bill 935 builds on decades of California legislation expanding design-build and Progressive Design-Build (PDB) authority in the public sector.
“We will look back on the passage of SB 935 as one of the most important public procurement bills of this century,” said DBIA’s Director of Advocacy and Government Affairs Richard Thomas. “We could not be prouder of the work Sen. Steven Choi and DBIA’s Western Pacific Region put into passing this important bill. They demonstrated the power of collaboration at the legislative level by building a coalition of local governments, public agencies and industry partners to pass this historic legislation.”
Since the California Legislature began granting design-build authority in the early 1990s, lawmakers have passed a series of bills expanding its use. Senate Bill 785, enacted in 2014, consolidated and extended design-build authority for local agencies through Jan. 1, 2025.
Assembly Bill 400, enacted in 2023, extended the sunset date from Jan. 1, 2025, to Jan. 1, 2031. With SB 935 eliminating the sunset entirely, California local agencies have long-term certainty that design-build will remain available or qualifying public works projects.
