Public Inspectors for Safe Infrastructure Act

This bill says that on federally funded highway projects, the construction inspection work must be done by public employees, not private firms. This includes tasks like construction engineering, contract administration, on‑site quality checks, materials testing, and the resident engineer’s acceptance decisions. It covers design‑build and two‑phase contracts, too.

If a state or local transportation agency doesn’t have enough staff, it can hire consultants temporarily, but only for up to 12 months after the contract is awarded. Agencies that use this exception must report each year what inspection work was outsourced and why, and the U.S. Department of Transportation must post those reports online for the public to see.

• Who is affected: State and local transportation agencies; public employees who perform inspections; highway contractors whose projects are inspected.
• What changes: Inspection work shifts to public employees, with a short‑term option to use consultants and new annual reporting that is made public.
• When: The bill text does not name a specific start date.