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| Contact Info |
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This web page is provided by the Office of Project Letting. Any questions about the content should be directed to the interim manager of OPL, Brenda Marcus. Questions related to the web site itself should be sent to the web editor.
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| Questions and Answers |
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A1. What information should the designers submit to technical experts for them to review and concur with the Project Specific Special Provisions that they have developed?
At a minimum the designers will have to submit the following :
- Explain why their specific issue can not be handled with standard specifications or boilerplate specificiations
- Show a compelling reason for using language different than the standard
- Provide information on the project context that requires changes to the standard language
- Submit the revised language in a document that highlights the changes that have been made (i.e. track changes turned on)
- Identify the specific sub-sections of the document where the changes have been made
- Allow 2 weeks for review and comments from the Technical Expert whenever possible
- Don't submit special provision language that is simply filling in the blanks from the boilerplate special provisions
- Provide additional information if needed by Technical Expert for their review
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A2. What kind of review are the Technical Expert and the Construction Office Project Manager going to do when the Project Specific Special Provisions are submitted to them?
The Technical Expert and the Construction Office Project Manager are going to review the language submitted to determine if they concur that the standard specification or boilerplate language does not apply for the project. The Technical Expert is not expected to redesign or check the design for the project, because they are not the engineer of record for the project, and they will not be stamping the project special provisions. They will be looking for obvious fatal flaws or red flags that would cause difficulty in implementing the project contract (especially anything that has been identified as a problem on previous projects). The Technical Expert is not expected to rewrite the special provisions, that is the project teams responsibility, but they should provide clear guidance on any issues that they have disagreement with.
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A3. Which projects will the Special Provision Summary form be required on?
The form will be required on all projects bid and awarded through OPO-Central, including projects designed by ODOT designers, projects designed by OBDP, projects designed by consultants, and projects designed for the local programs section. The form will need to be filled out for all PS&E packages submitted on or after February 1, 2010.
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A4. Where can I get a copy of the Special Provision Summary form (ODOT Form 734-2798)?
You can find the form on OPL's website under forms, or by directly clicking here - http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/OPL/docs/ODOT_Special_Provision_Summary_Form.xls
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A5. What is meant by a "Project Specific Special Provision"?
A project specific special provision is "any modifications to the Boiler Plate Special Provisions or new stand-alone Specifications" ( Ref. Technical Bulletin TSB09-02(B))
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A6. Do we need to fill in information on changes made to the 00100s specifications section?
No. Changes made to specifications in the 00100s section do not need to be documented on the Special Provision Summary form, but changes made to all other sections of the specifications must be documented on the form. Any changes to the 00100s section already need to be reviewed and approved by the Specifications Engineer and by DOJ. The part 00100 section are the charge of the Specifications Engineer, and are covered under the Special Provision Integrity Certification.
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A7. Do I need to fill in information on changes to the special provisions where I simply follow the instructions on the boilerplates?
No. Standard changes that are required by the directions within the boilerplate (e.g. inserting project specific quantities, deleting bid items, etc…) are not considered Project Specific Special Provisions
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A8. The Technical Bulletin requires that all of the documented concurrence letters need to be retained with the project records. Who is responsible for keeping these records?
All of the documented concurrence letters should be kept with the region project file. If it is a local agency project, submit all of the concurrence letters to the local agency liaison for the project.
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A9. Do we have to submit the form if there are no changes to the Boiler Plate Special Provisions for the project?
Yes. The form has to be submitted for every project. If there are no changes to the Boiler Plate Special Provisions for the project, there is a box next to the tech center managers signature that indicates "No changes have been made to the Boiler Plate Special Provisions, and no new stand-alone Specifications have been used on this project".
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A10. Do I have to list Project Specific Specifications that are not related to Boiler Plate Special Provisions as part of the Special Provision Summary form? Yes. Any new stand-alone Specifications need to be added to the Special Provision Summary form, even though they are not modifications of an existing Boiler Plate Special Provision. If there is a technical expert that has Boiler Plate Special Provisions similar to the work that is covered in the new specification, you should contact that person for their concurrence with the new specification. If there is no technical expert associated with the new specification, you should contact the tech center manager for their approval on the specification. You should also contact the construction office project manager for their concurrence on any new stand-alone Specification that is used on a project.
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A11. If I have some difficulty with getting concurrence on a proposed specification, are there any resources that I can consult to help resolve the issue, prior to requesting the tech center manager to make the final decision on the project specification? Yes. If you have concerns about resolving issues raised by technical experts or the construction office project managers, you can also contact the ODOT QA Reviewer for your project to discuss the issue in general. You can also contact Dale Deatherage with the ODOT Specifications section or Dan Anderson in the ODOT construction section to discuss specific points of contention. You may also consider contacting Technical Services specific discipline managers (you can find the unit responsible for the specification in the Technical Expert list) if you feel that your concerns on a specification issue are not being addressed by members of their staff.
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A12. Are the designers responsible for determining what constitutes an "insignificant change" to the Boiler Plate Special Provisions? No, only the Tech Center Manager can deem it insignificant. There was no specific threshold established in the technical bulletin as to what constitutes an insignificant change. Your starting point should be with contacting the technical expert and the construction project manager for your project. You could probably do this with one E-Mail to both of them. Hopefully on minor changes you will be able to get concurrence pretty quickly from the technical expert. If you don't get a reasonable or timely response, then you should consider getting the tech center manager to approve the request as an insignificant change. The Tech Center Manager will need information on why the changes to the boilerplate language are insignificant.
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A13. Do I have to submit the same request for changes that are made on multiple different projects that utilize the same changes to Boiler Plate Special Provisions? Yes. For situations where the same change needs to be made on Boiler Plate Special Provisions, we recommend that designers be proactive and submit a specification change request to the Specifications website. Designers should submit the change proposal that they are using and request that it be reviewed and incorporated into the Boiler Plate Special Provisions, or considered for posting as a Unique Specification. The specification change request can be found at the following website - http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/SPECS/spec_change_request.shtml
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A14. If I use language from an ODOT Unique Special Provision, without modifications and according to the instructions contained in the Unique Special Provision, should that be included on the Special Provision Summary form? No. Using the Unique Special Provisions according to the instructions (as approved on the ODOT website) is not considered a project Specific Special Provision that requires concurrence. Those specifications have already been reviewed by technical experts as well as the Specifications section, and they are ready to be used in projects at the discretion of the Professional of Record, just like the Boilerplate Special Provisions.
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A15. If the special provision that is modified does not have a Professional of Record that stamps the changes that are made (e.g. changes made in the 00290 section), do I fill in the form as "N/A" for the Professional of Record? No. If the special provision that has been modified does not have a Professional of Record that stamps the changes that are made in the project special provisions, fill in the name of the designer that developed the proposed changes to the special provision language in the column for Professional of Record.
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A16. How do I know who the Technical Expert is for the special provision I am making changes to? On the summary form there is a link established for the "Concurrence by Technical Expert" that leads to a list of the Technical Experts based on the specifications sections.
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A17. As a Technical Expert, what expenditure account do I charge my time to when reviewing proposed change requests? Technical Experts are expected to charge their time to their indirect budgets for their review time. Time is not supposed to be charged to the specific project expenditure accounts.
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A18. If an addendum is required on a project, does the designer need to contact the Technical Expert and Construction Office Project Manager for concurrence prior to posting the change as an addendum? No. In order to expedite the addendum process and get the information out to contractors in a timely manner, the addendum can be posted prior to getting concurrence from the Technical Expert and the Construction Office Project Manager (approval from the Tech Center Manager is also not required for posting the addendum). Most addendum typically are simply clarifications of contract language or additions of standard language that were missed in the contract, that would generally not require concurrence. However, for the situations where a contract addendum does involve changes to standard specification language we strongly encourage that some form of communication with the Technical Expert and Construction Office take place if possible, to make sure that change is appropriate. If a project does have addenda where there are project specific special provisions included that are not already listed on the summary form, the Specification Writer will have to submit a second summary form after the bid opening that includes the additional special provisions changes documenting the changes that have been added by addenda. The second summary form will need to be signed by the Tech Center Manager and submitted to the QA Reviewer in the Office of Project Letting. If there are no project specific special provision summary changes made by addenda, there is no need to submit a second summary form after the bid opening.
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| Terms and Definitions |
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Term
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Definition
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Standard Specifications
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The Standard Specifications are specifications that are applicable to all highway construction projects within the State. The current edition consists of “Oregon Standard Specifications for Construction” Volume 1, Part 00100, “General Conditions” and “Oregon Standard Specifications for Construction” Volume 2, Parts 00200 through 03000, “Technical Specifications”.
The Standard Specifications are developed jointly with APWA. Once the technical material is developed, the Standard Specifications must be approved by both the Oregon Department of Justice and Federal Highway Administration.
Past versions have been referred to as the “yellow book” (1996) or “maroon book” (2002). The new 2008 version is in 2 volumes and is the “blue book”
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Supplemental Specifications
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Supplemental specifications rewrite or add standard specification sections in their entirety. Supplemental specifications are not included in the standard specifications or special provisions rewritten after the publication of the standard specifications.
With the use of the 2008 Standard Specifications, the 2006 Supplemental Specifications are no longer applicable.
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Special Provisions
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Often referred to as “boiler plates”, these specifications are standard to all ODOT projects. They exist to modify, correct, or update the published standard specifications book. Boiler plates also have “fill in the blanks” for project specific information for all projects. As long as the instructions are followed accurately for the details of the project, these boiler plate special provisions are approved by DOJ and FHWA for use on ODOT projects.
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Unique Specifications
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Unique Specifications are not Standard Specifications or Special Provisions but are maintained and used on projects on an "as needed" basis. These specifications are not meant to replace the Standard Specifications or Special Provisions. Unique specifications are selected for use by the designer and are added to and become part of the Project Specifications (Special Provisions) for a project. Unique Specifications are for unusual scenarios not encountered on most projects, but have been approved for the specific scenario use. Unique Specifications follow the same approval process and approved Unique Specifications are available on the Specifications website.
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Project Specifications (Special Provisions)
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Project special provisions are specifications that are revisions to the standard specifications and supplemental specifications, and always begin with the boiler plates. They contain special instructions, provisions, and requirements specific to an individual project. All projects require special provisions, mainly composed of edited boiler plate special provisions. These specifications also include project specific specifications that are written specifically for a project.
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HTML
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Hypertext Markup Language - Code language used to develop web pages that will properly render in a web browser.
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