The Denver City Council approved new rules this week to give more leverage to women- and minority-owned small businesses that subcontract with big firms on city-funded municipal projects.

That news comes from Denverite, which reports the changes will ensure subcontractors get paid quicker and are protected from retaliation if they complain about getting pushed around by the general contractors that do the bulk of construction work in Denver. Current city policy requires that a certain amount of Denver-funded projects go to businesses owned by women and minorities.

The changes will, among other changes, require all parties to submit billing information; prohibit retaliation, and kick off an evaluation of the city’s Division of Small Business Opportunity.

Officials say the new rules are needed, as Denverite notes, partly because smaller minority- and women-owned businesses have been wary about coming forward out of fear of retaliation by general contractors:

One major issue: In some cases subcontractors aren’t getting fully paid when their work is done. Portions of their pay can be retained for years until the full project – an airport expansion, for example – is done.

In one recent instance, money was withheld for more than two years, (Councilman Wayne) New said.

Another major problem, he said, is that contractors will issue “change orders” – asking for additional work – and force the subcontractor to negotiate the price after the project is done, when the subcontractors have little leverage. This legislation doesn’t prohibit change orders, but it requires new data collection that the city could use to prevent abuse.

Read Denverite’s full report here.