6.3 Contract Reviews
Once the PS&E is ready for letting, the District submits the Ready to Let (RTL) electronic plans, specifications and estimate (ePS&E) package to DES- Final PS&E Processing (FPP) Section after conducting the suggested engineering and contract reviews.
Contract reviews should consist of a thorough review of the entire PS&E package to ensure that it is ready to advertise for bidding. Contract reviews must be completed and documented for every project. Both District review staff and DES must conduct these reviews – FPP Section staff.
The Project Manager or designer should check the RTL ePS&E to verify which recommendations from the VE analysis (see
) are in the final plan set prior to District leadership signing the updated final
Form 2502 Value Engineering (VE) Study Executive Decision Summary
or TxDOTCONNECT VE Form
approval. This final signature meets Federal construction funding and documentation regulations and allows future District leaders to answer any future audit.All PS&E packages and supporting documents are electronically submitted to DES.
Refer to the TxDOT.gov
and
for requirements for the RTL ePS&E Package submittal including links to all forms and documents.
6.3.1 TxDOTCONNECT
All items in the PS&E should be checked against the information shown in TxDOTCONNECT (TxC) including:
- Project Classification;
- Highway Functional Classification;
- Letting Tab;
- Engineer’s Estimate Tab;
- Sealing & Summary Tab;
- Resources Tab;
- Value Engineering – Approval 2 Completed (if applicable);
- Funding Tab; and
- Checklist Tab.
6.3.2 Supporting Documents
Required supporting documents include:
- DSR;
- Form 1002;
- Engineer’s Estimate;
- Specification List;
- General Notes;
- Certifications for ROW acquisition, ROW encroachments, ROW relocation, State-Owned and Non-State-Owned utility Adjustments, Environmental, District CMP approval, and railroads;
- Construct time determination schedule;
- Stage Gate Checklists (Form 2442 & 2443); and
- Form 2229.
Other supporting documents as applicable include:
- Form 2699;
- Design Exceptions/Waivers/Deviations;
- Temp Road Closure Request;
- Construction Speed zone Request;
- New SP/SS;
- Frontage Road Briefing Document (FRBD);
- VE Study Form 2502;
- Advance Funding Agreement (AFA);
- IAJR and Response Matrix;
- Copy of Railroad Agreement;
- Copy of Third-Party Agreement;
- Copy of Env Document approval letter; and
- Construction Management Plan.
6.3.2.1 DSR
The
DSR
is the main record of project development and design. The DSR remains with the Project File of Record from creation to eventual archival or destruction to ensure continuity of the project during the entire project development life cycle.Refer to the
for a detailed discussion of the DSR.
6.3.2.2 PS&E Transmittal Data (Form 1002)
When PS&E is submitted to the DES for review, it is necessary for the
PS&E Transmittal Data Form 1002
to be sent in with the submission. Form 1002 serves several purposes:- It is a supporting documents checklist to be used by the designer in preparing the PS&E;
- It provides DES with a record of all necessary supporting documents contained in the submission;
- It gives relevant project information regarding location, type of work, funding and what clearances are required (row, utilities, railroad, env, airway); and
- It shows what design standards and waivers/exceptions were used in the design process.
Form 1002
and instructions for completing the form can be found on the TxDOT.gov
.6.3.2.3 Engineer’s Estimate
See
for more information in developing the Engineer’s Estimate.
6.3.2.4 Specification List
See
for more information and guidance for specifications.
6.3.2.5 General Notes
See
for more information and guidance for general notes.
6.3.2.6 Certifications
Certifications for ROW acquisition, ROW encroachments, ROW relocation, State-Owned and Non-State-Owned utility Adjustments, Environmental, District CMP approval, and railroads; must be developed and either shown as clear or include the appropriate Triple Zero Special Provisions.
Templates for Clear and Unclear certifications can be found on the TxDOT.gov
.
6.3.2.7 Contract Time Determination Schedule
This is a logical critical path method schedule including all construction activities in the project used to determine the number of working days included in the contract.
Additional guidance for correctly scheduling the contract time and other information can be found on the TxDOT.gov
.
6.3.2.8 Stage Gate Checklists
Stage Gate Checklists document communication between personnel developing projects and the environmental staff. Three (3) stage gate checklists, listed in the bullets below, are required to be completed prior to the project progressing to the next development stage – two (2) of these (marked with an *) are required to be submitted with the Final, Sealed, and RTL milestone submissions:
- Form 2442*– Advance Planning and Development (APD) Stage Gate Checklist (completed during preliminary engineering phase and prior to final design phase of project development);
- Form 2443*– Plans, Specifications and Estimates (PSE) Stage Gate Checklist (completed during final design phase of project development and prior to letting); and
- Form 2448– Construction Stage Gate Checklist – required during construction.
Stage Gate Checklist forms can be found on the TxDOT.gov
.
Refer to the
for detailed information on completion of the Stage Gate Checklist forms.
6.3.2.9 Form 2229 Significant Project Procedures
Form 2229 is used to document the determination of additional project-specific liquidated damages. The form must be submitted to CST for approval of methods to be used. Refer to the form to determine if it is required for the project.
Form 2229
and instructions for completing the form can be found on the TxDOT.gov
.6.3.2.10 ePS&E Submittal
The ePS&E Submittal is the format that Sealed and RTL plan sets should be delivered in.
Instructions for creating the ePS&E Submittal can be found on the TxDOT.gov
.
6.3.3 Contract Review Checklist
The contract review checklist consists of two separate checklists to be used by the District reviewer:
- Project Submittal Checklistshould be filled out by the District reviewer and submitted with the RTL PS&E package to DES-FPP; and
- Final PS&E Review Checklistshould be reviewed by the District reviewer to ensure that all information that DES-FPP section will review is in the RTL PS&E package to DES-FPP.
Once the contract review is complete by both the District and DES-FPP section, the documentation of the review must be stored in a central file storage location (i.e., ProjectWise) where it will be easily accessible.
At a minimum, the documentation for the last contract review must be retained until replaced by an updated review. Final contract reviews must be retained as part of the final project documentation.
Refer to the
and
for detailed information on documenting the contract review.
These checklists, or other District approved checklist, should be completed and documented for the contract review and retained in ProjectWise in the project record.