Details
Type: Operational Notice
Topic or Program: Project Delivery | Procurement
Final Number: PD07
Effective Date: 09/01/2001
Updated Date: 06/05/2018
Signature on File: David Kim, Project Delivery Branch Manager
Purpose
To identify critical items of work, establish and clarify individual roles and responsibilities, and to document the process from the time PS&E (Plans, Specifications, and Estimate) documents are submitted to the ODOT Office of Project Letting, up to bid opening in ODOT Procurement Office – Construction Contracting Unit for ODOT State Transportation Improvement Projects (STIP).
Background / Rationale
Since the reorganization of the Division the responsibilities for the PS&E and Advertising period have changed. The creation of the Office of Project Letting provided a central conduit for all PS&E packages, regardless of the provider.
Overview/Directions
This operational notice identifies who is responsible for steps within the PS&E and Advertising period.
Definitions
- OPO Construction Contracts Unit (OPO - CCU)
- a unit within the ODOT Procurement Office, with responsibility for overseeing contract advertisement through award.
- Final Engineer’s Estimate (FEE)
- the final estimate used for bid opening, analysis and contract award. The FEE includes addenda between PS&E submittal and Bid Opening.
- PS&E Provider
- the organization or business entity providing the complete PS&E package. This may be an ODOT Region, a Local Agency, or private consulting firm.
- Office of Project Letting (OPL)
- the ODOT Section that includes Quality Assurance/Quality Control of Plans, Specifications, and Estimates.
- PS&E
- Plans, Specifications and Estimate (PS&E) is defined as the scheduled milestone wherein all elements of a project necessary for ODOT to advertise for bid have been delivered to and accepted as complete by ODOT Office of Project Letting.
- PS&E Estimate
- The estimate is loaded directly into PreConstruction by ODOT staff; ODOT network login credentials are required. See PreConstruction Project Initiation User Guide. PreConstruction is used to create the Bid Schedule which Tech Centers upload into PW using the naming convention “OPL_Knnnnn_BS_xx.PDF.
Action Required/Process:
Anticipated Items – Anticipated Items are used to provide a funding mechanism for non-biddable elements of work that may be needed to complete a project. Anticipated Items should be identified prior to completion of PS&E as part of the Final PS&E Submittal Checklist. The use of anticipated items is acceptable when there is a high likelihood that non-biddable costs will be incurred. Examples of common anticipated items include statistical asphalt bonus, asphalt smoothness bonus, thermal segregation, railroad flagging, public information and relations, and migratory bird monitoring.
Requests for anticipated items must be submitted in writing on the approved template, and approved by the Area Manager and the OPL Manager for all anticipated items. FHWA must also approve anticipated items on projects with Federal Oversight.
Pre-Bid Meeting – Use the following procedures when the project team, with the approval of the Area Manager, have determined that the use of a mandatory pre-bid meeting is beneficial to the advertising and bidding process.
- Justification to hold a pre-bid meeting must be submitted to the Area Manager or Bridge Delivery Unit (BDU) Manager for review and approval.
- The justification should clearly indicate the features or issues of a project that require a Mandatory Pre-Bid meeting, the proposed agenda, and a list of the expected outcomes.
- Once approved by the Area Manager/BDU Manager, a copy of the documents shall be forwarded to OPL.
- To avoid conflicting meetings all scheduling of these meetings will be cleared through OPL.
- The meeting must be a minimum of two weeks prior to the bid date
- Two weeks must be added to the advertising length of the project
- Mandatory pre-bid meetings shall not be scheduled on a Thursday to avoid conflict with bid let dates.
- The Project Leader (PL) is responsible for scheduling the pre-bid meeting; the Project Manager (PM) conducts it.
- Within two business days of the Mandatory Pre-bid meeting, the PM shall issue a meeting summary to OPO – CCU (email to ODOTProcurementOfficeConstruction@odot.oregon.gov). The meeting summary will include:
- The names of the attendees and the organization they represent
- The meeting agenda
- Meeting minutes
- Response to items or issues that could not be completely addressed at the mandatory pre-bid meeting or require follow-up by the Agency
- If there are issues that will require more than two days to respond, those issues must be described in the summary and a forecast given for when and how the issue will be resolved.
- Issues requiring changes to plans, special provisions, or bid items will require an addendum to be produced.
- OPO – CCU will post the meeting summary to the Bid and Award section of the OPO website:
http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/Business/Procurement/Pages/Bid_Award.aspx
The list of attendees is critical to ensure the low responsive bidder attended the pre-bid meeting per Specification Section 00120-15.
Roles and Responsibilities
| RESPONSIBILITY | ACTION |
|---|
PS&E Providers
|
PS&E Packages – the PS&E Providers are responsible for submitting the complete PS&E package to OPL. Refer to the PS&E Delivery Manual for information regarding submittal date timing, documents, and additional details required in the PS&E Submittal.
Anticipated Items – PS&E Providers are responsible for obtaining approval for anticipated items prior to PS&E.
Addenda Letters – PS&E Providers are responsible for producing Addenda Letters when necessary, and sending to OPL. Refer to the PS&E Delivery Manual for timeframes for addenda letters. |
| Office of Project Letting |
Review of PS&E Package – The Office of Project Letting Quality Assurance Engineer will conduct a review of the PS&E package to ensure the deliverable have been completed. The review is high Level and looks for fatal flaws and legal sufficiency. OPL obtains The Chief Engineer signature during the review phase.
Estimate – Region will provide OPL with completed Bid Schedule.
Coordinate with Program and Funding Services Unit and FHWA - OPL will coordinate with Program and Funding Services Unit and FHWA to obtain approval to advertise the project.
PS&E Documents to OPO – CCU – OPL is responsible for passing on the plans, special provisions, bid sheets, and advertisement to OPO – CCU. OPL writes the advertisement.
Final Engineer’s Estimate – OPL Estimating group performs a Review of the PS&E estimate on all projects (including Local Agency Projects bid through ODOT) and produces the Final Engineer’s Estimate (FEE). The FEE includes any addenda that may occur during advertisement and material cost adjustments between PS&E and bid opening. In all cases, ODOT’s policy is to keep the FEE confidential and is not to be disclosed to any potential bidder in whole or part. Refer to the PS&E Delivery Manual for more detailed discussion on FEE.
Process Addenda Letters and Letters of Clarification - OPL provides a fatal flaw review of the addendum letter, compiles the letter (including new bid sheets), and sends it to OPO – CCU for posting. |
| OPO - Construction Contracting Unit |
Duplication and Distribution of Plans and Special Provisions - OPO - CCU is responsible for working with DAS Printing Center to have the plans, special provisions, and bidding documents duplicated prior to the project advertisement beginning. OPO - CCU is responsible for the distribution of plans and special provisions for projects to Region, Project Team, and other ODOT personnel. Once advertisement begins, they are responsible for filling orders and distribution to prospective bidders, material suppliers and others who want to purchase plans, special provisions and bid documents.
Advertisement – OPO - CCU is responsible for combining the project Advertisements for a given bid opening into a single document. OPO -CCU sends a copy of the notice for each bid opening to the Daily Journal of Commerce and the Construction Market Data 3 calendar days before the advertisement begins. The advertisement is also posted on the ODOT Procurement Office – Construction Contracts Section and BidExpress® websites so that the advertisement is available to the contractors for the prescribed length of time prior to the stated bid opening date.
Addenda Letters and Letters of Clarification - OPO - CCU is responsible for posting the addenda letters and letters of clarification on the ODOT Construction Contracts Section and BidExpress® websites. |
| Projet Managers |
Communication with Prospective Bidders - The Project Manager (PM) is the point of contact for all questions or inquiries related to a project during the project advertisement period. In addition, the PM or their designee is responsible for showing the project to interested parties and should respond to all requests. The PM should request all questions and inquiries be directed to their office in writing per Standard Specification Section 00120.15. The PM shall place the received written questions and inquiries into the project file. The PM must ensure that responses to questions and inquiries by interested parties are consistent. The PM or their designee must record in the project diary, all conversations with, or visits from, prospective bidders, information that was examined, and discussion or comments between the prospective bidder and the PM or their designee. For more information refer to the ODOT Construction Manual, Chapter 6. Situations may arise where the PM may choose to issue a Letter of Clarification in response to a question or issue of significance that was raised by one or more prospective bidders. Letters of Clarification are intended to be informational in nature and appropriate for situations where there are no changes being made to the plans, specifications, quantities or bid items. The PM is responsible for providing a signed copy of the Letter of Clarification to OPL. OPL will forward the letter to OPO - CCU, who will post the Letter on the ODOT Procurement Office – Construction Contracts Section website for distribution to all interested parties. The PM is responsible for requesting an addendum letter be issued where appropriate. |
References