Authority to contract; declaration of public exigency.

(A) As used in this section and section 123.11 of the Revised Code, "public exigency" means an injury or obstruction that occurs in any public works of the state and that materially impairs its immediate use or places in jeopardy property adjacent to it; an immediate danger of such an injury or obstruction; or an injury or obstruction, or an immediate danger of an injury or obstruction, that occurs in any public works of the state and that materially impairs its immediate use or places in jeopardy property adjacent to it. (B) When a declaration of public exigency is issued pursuant to division (C) of this section, the Ohio facilities construction commission, or the requesting director of the state agency, state institution of higher education as defined in division (A)(1) of section 3345.12 of the Revised Code, or other state instrumentality, as determined by the executive director of the commission, shall enter into contracts with proper persons for the performance of labor, the furnishing of materials, or the construction of any structures and buildings necessary to the maintenance, control, and management of the public works of the state or any part of those public works. Any contracts awarded for the work performed pursuant to the declaration of a public exigency may be awarded without competitive bidding or selection as set forth in Chapter 153. of the Revised Code. (C) The executive director of the Ohio facilities construction commission may issue a declaration of a public exigency on the executive director's own initiative or upon the request of the director of any state agency, a state institution of higher education as defined in division (A)(1) of section 3345.12 of the Revised Code, or any other state instrumentality. The executive director's declaration shall identify the specific injury, obstruction, or danger that is the subject of the declaration and shall set forth a dollar limitation for the repair, removal, or prevention of that exigency under the declaration. Before any project to repair, remove, or prevent a public exigency under the executive director's declaration may begin, the executive director shall send notice of the project, in writing, to the director of budget and management and to the members of the controlling board. That notice shall detail the project to be undertaken to address the public exigency and shall include a copy of the executive director's declaration that establishes the monetary limitations on that project. Last updated July 22, 2025 at 4:17 PM