7.1 Addendum Process
If the Department modifies a proposal or the plans after the 21-day advertising period for letting has begun, an addendum is sent to communicate revisions to each bidder who requested a bidding proposal. The addendum amends the original contract terms. All Addendum Requests must be submitted and approved through CST. DES reviews and publishes addendums after CST approval.
Refer to the
for details on how to prepare and submit an addendum.
7.1.1 Need for Addendum
After the PS&E package has been submitted and processed through the DES – FPP (refer to the
for more information), copies of the assembled contract proposal plans are available electronically and are forwarded to the responsible District and Division offices per the
. Personnel in these offices should re-check these documents to make sure that all necessary changes or corrections have been made. For various reasons, it is sometimes necessary to make changes to the plans or proposal. Any changes to these documents that must be made at this stage must be documented by the responsible office in the form of an addendum notice.
Addenda to be processed for a particular project are performed after the proposal release date as shown on the
.
An addendum should be submitted for processing only when:
- The competitiveness of the bid would be in jeopardy if the changes were not made;
- The quantities are in error to a degree that could place the department at a disadvantage in negotiating significant corrections after contract award;
- The bid documents would not be substantially representative of the project unless the change is made. This could include special design standard sheets, Special Specification, etc.; however, if a regularly used statewide standard sheet was omitted, it would not be considered significant, and an addendum would not be released. A change order should be used to add the missing statewide standard sheet; or
- The project contains technical errors that would jeopardize awarding the contract.
To help identify changes to PS&E that should and should not be addenda, following are a few examples of addenda that
should not
be pursued:- To renumber sheets on the title sheet or index of sheets, or to add sheet numbers that were omitted. This is not critical to bidders;
- To change the title sheet to include one now signed by local officials in all released copies (having the original is adequate). It is not critical to the bidders to have that signature;
- If a sheet in the plans that was released was not signed and sealed, it is necessary to get the original corrected, but it is not critical to the bidders to release an addendum; or
- To change the quantity of riprap or add a few feet of curb and gutter is generally not critical to risk the project by issuing an addendum.
Consider the risk to a project by issuing an addendum - it must be critical to the bidders that they have this information
. Otherwise, those changes should be handled after the project is awarded.There are also concerns when a potential error in the plans is brought to the attention of TxDOT by a potential bidder/contractor/supplier. When this occurs, there should not be any indication that
this will be changed prior to letting or by a change order
. If this is stated to anyone and not to all, then the potential exists that all bids may be thrown out. TxDOT should issue a thank you to the potential bidder/contractor/supplier for notification of the error and state that it will be investigated and if a change is required, an addendum will be issued
. Otherwise, they are to bid the project just as they see it presented in the PS&E bid package.No addenda will be processed prior to the proposal release date. Refer to the PS&E Review and Processing Schedule for specific dates.
Refer to TxDOT’s
for more discussion on the use of addendums.
7.1.2 Addendum Request Form
If an addendum is deemed necessary, use the
to submit all required documentation to the District Engineer for approval. Once the DE has signed the request form, forward the form and all required attachments to CST for review and approval. Once CST approves the addendum, coordinate with DES-FPP Section for review and publishing of the addendum.
A late addendum request will require approval form the Chief Engineer. Refer to the
for specific dates for submitting an addendum. Any changes to the estimate, contract days, General Notes, and Specification List must also be included in the documentation. The District should coordinate with DES - FPP Section for TxC changes to the estimate and specifications list.
Refer to the
(TxDOT intranet only) for additional information on the addendum process.
7.1.3 Federal Oversight Project Addendum
7.1.3.1 Addendum Best Practices
- Addendums result in prospective bidders having to reevaluate their bid packet; therefore, any large amendments must be made as early as possible.
- Very minor changes to the contract (minor quantity errors, misspelled words, renumbered sheets, etc.), which are not anticipated to impact bid prices, must not be made, unless combined with other essential changes.
- Filenames for amended plan sheets need to retain the same filename and format as the original file they are replacing; the amended files replace the originals. Filename errors can cause additional problems, such as unintentional overwritten plan documents or duplicate titled sheets (revised and its original).
- All revised PDF plan sheets must have the revision/addendum number and the addendum release date on the lower right corner. This information ensures the contractor is using the correct construction information.
- When subsequent changes are made to the same PDF plan sheet, retain previous revision numbers on the drawing, but remove any clouds around the previous changes. All revisions must be identified on the drawing as well as the list of revision dates.
- An addendum must be issued only when plans or proposal errors may affect the competitiveness of the letting, there are significant quantity errors, or a contract material issue.