Select an option below to continue reading this premium story.
Already a Honolulu Star-Advertiser subscriber? Log in now to continue reading.
Like the University of Hawaii, the University of California polices itself when a procurement protest is filed over construction projects.
Both institutions decide whether the complaints have merit, and a protesting party that is not satisfied with a decision can file a lawsuit challenging it.
But unlike UH, the California system uses independent hearing officers — non-UC employees, often retired construction contract attorneys — to consider appeals of the initial decisions.
That process settles 97 percent of protests within three weeks and without the need for a lawsuit, according to Chris Hornbeck, associate director of construction services for the UC system and chairman of its construction review board.