Formal recognition of the special problems connected with public works in the City of Los Angeles was first given by the City Council in 1872. At that time a committee of five of its members, with the City Clerk as Secretary and the Mayor as an ex-officio member, was formed as a Board of Public Works.

This Board supervised the activities of two operating Department Heads - a Street Superintendent and a City Surveyor (the City Engineer), each appointed by the Mayor. In 1882 each of these positions became elective offices and remained so until 1906. At that time the voters approved a Charter amendment that created a Board of Public Works to consist of three prominent citizens. Also, the functions assigned to the Street Superintendent, the Superintendent of Buildings, the Electrical Department, and the Street Assessment Bureau were placed under the jurisdiction of the new citizen board. The City Engineer was also placed under the Board in the following year, 1907.

The Charter was again revised in 1925 to include a provision to increase the Board of Public Works Commissioners from three to the present five members. The Board of Public Works Commissioners are now the chief administrators of a department of more than 5,400 employees who design and execute public projects from sidewalks to bridges to wastewater treatment plants and libraries.

The Board holds public meetings on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at 9:30 a.m., in City Hall, Room 350, 200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles.