Contract Time

General
The term of the contract is an important part of every construction project. Too little contract time may result in higher construction costs, while too much contract time may encourage inefficiencies, increased user costs and potential delays and inconvenience to the public.
The LG must have an acceptable procedure for determining contract time and the appropriate method of charging contract time. This procedure should include a comparison of the actual construction time against the estimated completion time for several projects to ascertain whether its procedures result in appropriate contract times. The goal should be to strive for the least practical number and duration of traffic interruptions during highway construction.
Federal Requirements
  1. 23 CFR §635.121
    – Requires recipients of federal funding for highway projects to have adequate procedures for determining contract time.
State Requirements
  1. No comparable state statutes specifically address contract time determination. Each entity has broad authority to determine procedures to deliver projects, including methods to determine contract time.
Required Practices
In general, the LG should develop a time determination process and obtain TxDOT approval. The
LGPM Guide
describes the required practices and responsibilities of the LG and TxDOT.