Nicholls v. Veolia Water Contract Operations USA, Inc.

Summary

The Supreme Judicial Court answered two questions of Massachusetts law certified by the First Circuit concerning St. 1997, c. 155 (a special act authorizing the Springfield water and sewer commission to privatize wastewater operations) and the Prevailing Wage Act, G. L. c. 149, §§ 26-27H. It held that the phrase 'construction and design of improvements' in § 6 of the special act is not synonymous with 'construction' as defined in G. L. c. 149, § 27D, and does not encompass ordinary repairs, routine inspections, day-to-day operations and maintenance, or ordinary replacements. It further held that the special act is not incompatible with the PWA under Metcalf, because Metcalf addressed professional services contracts untethered to any particular public works project and governed by G. L. c. 7C, § 58, whereas the special act expressly preserves PWA coverage for work within 'construction and design of improvements.'