2026 News Archive

July 29, 2026

July brought its familiar combination of intense construction activity, high temperatures, humidity, and frequent detours — all of which can add extra strain during an already busy season. The good news is that recent improvements, both out in the field and within our systems, are designed to help ease that workload and support a smoother workflow as we move forward. Before diving into the updates, let’s take a moment to pause, breathe, and reset.

Report Updates

• Category Status Report – This report has been updated to provide a comprehensive summary of the contract category/categories within a project.

DWR Screen Updates for Aggregates

Inspectors may notice a new field in the materials area of their DWR item posting screen. The "Supplier/Redistributor" was just added as part of preparation for aggregate tracking, sampling and testing. Currently, no action is required for inspectors regarding this new field. Please continue to complete the DWR in the same manner as you have been. Additional guidance and instructions for using this field will be provided as MDOT moves forward with implementing aggregate processes within APCM.

Did you know?...

Using an "unattached item" is a way to informally add an item to the contract after the contract was awarded. Once unattached items are added to contract project categories, they can be tracked on daily work reports but are not recognized as official contract items by the system and cannot be included in a contract payment until they are formally added to the contract through a change order and the change order is approved. The Unattached Items section on the New Items tab of the Change Order is used to attach unattached items to the contract.

June 22, 2026

Construction season is in full swing, and the favorable weather has helped maintain steady production and reduce delays across the state. With everything aligning on the construction activity side, AASHTOWare users should continue to move at a slow and steady pace. This approach helps prevent errors, protects project accuracy, and keeps MDOT’s records clean.

Report Updates

• Items with Unpaid Placed Quantities Report – This report’s column headings have been updated to provide a clearer understanding of initial item quantities.

• Item by Material Report – This report is now able to process completely without generating a system error.

• Final Project Review Report – This report is now able to provide proper values when filtering, and the report can now process completely without generating a system error.

Did you know?...

For audit compliance, any Daily Work Reports (DWRs) that cannot be completed by their original author must be placed in a rejected status within the contract. If a DWR is still in draft, another user will first need to submit it so it moves to pending approval. Once in this status, a user with an Office Tech role can select Reject. The system recognizes “Rejected” as a valid final status, and these DWRs will not appear as exceptions on pay estimates.

To view previous news articles, visit the Construction Technology News Archive.

May 21, 2026

As we settle into May—a month famous for its unpredictable mix of sunshine, rain showers, and the occasional “why is it 40 degrees again?” morning—it’s a fitting reminder of how dynamic our construction season can be. Just as Michiganders keep an umbrella and sunglasses within arm’s reach, APCM continues to evolve to help you stay ready for whatever the day brings.

Announcements

This is a reminder to all AASHTOWare Project users that we have implemented a new security policy and that you must now recertify your account every six months. A deactivation process runs on June 1 and December 1. If you have not yet recertified, please follow these steps:

1. Log in to AASHTOWare Project.
2. Open the Global Actions Menu.
3. Select “My Settings.”
4. Find the Account Certification section.
5. Check the box confirming your access is still required.

Users who do not certify before the deadline will be automatically deactivated. If deactivated, you will need to complete the full New User Access Request form process to restore access—recertification cannot reactivate a disabled account. Please take action now to avoid any disruption.

System Configurations

• Change Order Explanation Requirements – To align with MDOT’s construction manual, the system now requires an item explanation for any item on a change order that is increased or decreased in excess of $50,000 as per the Construction Manual. An error message will display if a change order is submitted for approval and the change order items are lacking the required the comments.

Did you know?...

Users cannot simply balance a lump sum item. To balance or deduct an unused lump sum item in APCM, users will have to create and process a change order with an offsetting extra item, in the same project category, with a negative unit price. Post both items on a DWR and include them in a pay estimate so the deduction is applied while preserving the original item for audit and contract history.

To view previous news articles, visit the Construction Technology News Archive.

April 24, 2026

As April brought its usual mix of steady rain across much of the state — and even a stubborn layer of snow still hanging on in parts of the U.P. — MDOT is gearing up for another busy construction season. Along with the shift back into full project activity, this month’s Release Train delivers key enhancements to the AASHTOWare Project Construction & Materials (APCM) system.

Report Updates

• Project Category Level Contract Item Status Report – This report was updated to ensures accurate category level quantity reporting by correcting inconsistencies previously found within the report logic.

• Contract Monitoring Report – A new Contract Monitoring Report was created that provides a single, department wide snapshot of active contracts. It increases transparency and enables construction staff to quickly identify potential issues such as missing estimates, overruns, and aging change orders. This report will be regularly distributed to region staff.

• Item Postings by Contractor Report (PDF Version) – This report was updated to resolve an issue where item postings for a single item code were being incorrectly duplicated across multiple Proposal Line numbers with identical total quantities. The corrected reporting logic now breaks out each item code properly by its associated Proposal Line Number.

Did you know?...

When working with and selecting materials, searching by keyword, NOT by the four-digit code like “3930,” is the recommended best practice. The four-digit codes do not convey any meaningful information. Only materials from numbered Special Provisions (SP) follow a logical structure.

If your contract includes a numbered SP (for example, “20SP-812Q-01”), use the material(s) coded for that SP. If it’s a standard item, use non-SP materials. This distinction should be clear based on how the SP-coded and non-SP materials are structured.

To view previous news articles, visit the Construction Technology News Archive.

March 20, 2026

While the Upper Peninsula was busy reminding us that winter isn’t done until it says so, the rest of us have been gearing up for spring construction season. As the snowflakes settle and we edge a little closer to orange‑barrel weather, our team has been tidying up reports, and working on some exciting system updates that will be coming over the next few weeks. Grab a warm drink, shake off that UP snowstorm energy, and let’s dig into what’s new this month.

Announcements

If you are in a construction oversight role (Office Tech, etc.) you may now notice a new screen within the Contract Materials and Acceptance Actions area of your contract called Contractor Material Sources (CMS). The CMS area of the system was made visible as a first step in developing some new workflows to streamline the material approval and tracking processes for construction staff. These new processes and workflows will be implemented in the coming months. At this time there is no need to place any data in this area of the system and the screens can be ignored until further notice.

System Configurations

• Stockpile Recovery Warning Message – A new warning message was created to assist offices in creating construction stockpiles for materials. A warning message will now be displayed during stockpile setup if the user inputs an item recovery percentage that causes the recovery dollar amount per item unit to exceed the contract unit price of the item.

• Update to Consultant Construction Materials Read Only roles – This role has been updated to be able to run certain reports regarding person qualifications and also now has the ability to search person qualifications like several other roles.

Report Updates

• Item Posting By Contractor Report (XLS Verison) – This report was updated to remove duplicated item posting data that was appearing on the report.

Did you know?...

AASHTOWare Project calculates subcontract value using two key sources:

• The Trucking, Brokering, and Supplying amounts entered on the General tab of the subcontract, and
• The item values entered on the subcontract Items/Item Worksheet screen.

For subcontract items, the system gives users a lot of flexibility. Instead of requiring the full contract unit price, you can enter partial values or adjust the unit of measure to better reflect the nature of the subcontract work. For example, if there is a subcontracted consultant for concrete testing, you can select any concrete item from the contract, set the subcontract item’s unit to something like “Dollars”, set the subcontract price to $1 and enter the quantity of dollars needed. The subcontract item will then have the total value of their testing services — no need to force it into a cubic yard or square yard structure just because the parent contract item uses one.

This setup ensures the subcontract value accurately represents the actual scope and pricing of the subcontractor’s work, whether it's material supply, trucking, testing, or something more specialized.

March 10, 2026

Spring is (almost) here, and so are a few quirks and fixes following our recent AASHTOWare Project upgrade. As everyone settles into version 5.04, we want to keep you informed about what’s changed, what’s been resolved, and a few troubleshooting tips that may save you some time. Grab a coffee and take a quick look at the latest updates.

Announcements

We’re continuing to monitor system behavior post‑upgrade, and several issues have already been identified and addressed. Below is a summary of what we know so far.

System Configurations

• Email Notifications – Following the upgrade, system‑generated email notifications were temporarily offline. The triggers have been restored, and all email notifications should now be functioning properly.

• Pay Estimate Type Selection Required – When creating a pay estimate, you may notice that the Type field appears preselected. However, users must still select or reselect the Pay Estimate Type before they can proceed. This ensures the system properly registers the selection.

• Unable to Assign Default Tests – If you encounter issues assigning a default test to a sample record, it may be due to cached files interfering with updated system behavior. To clear your cache: Press Ctrl + Shift + Del, then select Clear Now. After clearing, reload the application and try again.

• Subcontract Item Worksheet – When building a subcontract and selecting a lump sum item in the item worksheet, the unit field may not automatically populate. The cell will display as blank and highlighted. To resolve: Click into the unit cell and manually select LSUM from the table.

Did you know?...

When posting materials on a Daily Work Report, it’s essential to correctly record how materials were used so the system can validate them for payment.

Here’s what to keep in mind:

• If a material is used (installed quantity is greater than zero) - You must enter and record a material source.

No source = the system will withhold payment for that material and may cause issues in your payment estimate.

• If a material is not used - Make sure to zero out the installed quantity.

A non‑zero quantity tells the system the material was used—even if it wasn’t—which triggers a missing‑source error and blocks payment. If a user enters 0.00 in the material quantity field, the system will ignore that material as part of the payment estimate generation process.

In short:

• Non‑zero installed quantity requires a source.
• Zero installed quantity tells the system the material wasn’t used.

A quick double‑check during your DWR entry can prevent delays and keep your estimate processing smoothly.

February 20, 2026

Orange Barrel season is just around the corner, and we’re busy laying the groundwork for a smoother spring! In this edition, you’ll find system updates targeted at report updates, payment-estimate performance, and calculation accuracy - all designed to make your APCM days a little easier. Grab a coffee, take five, and let’s dive in.

Announcements

Please be advised that AASHTOWare Project will be offline starting at 3:00 PM on Friday, February 27th, and will remain unavailable through Sunday until early Monday morning. This downtime is necessary to complete the upgrade to version 5.04.

Reports

• Item History To Date Report – Various fields and labels were updated on the report as requested from field offices.

System Configurations

• Payment Estimate Performance – A hotfix was applied to address some computations used in the creation of estimates. With this fix in place, estimates should generate more quickly.

• Rounding Fix – The estimate calculation process was updated to handle values beyond two decimal places that in some cases caused rounding issues.

Did you know?...

Proposal, Contract, and Project Line Numbers - Ever wonder why AASHTOWare shows two different types of line numbers? Here’s the breakdown:

• Contract Line Number (a.k.a. Proposal Line Number)

Contract Line Number and Proposal Line Number refer to the same thing. These are generated at the contract level and include all items across all projects and categories in that contract. They appear on screens like the Contract Items – General tab, where items are rolled up without duplicates at the contract level. These numbers are sequential (e.g., 5, 10, 15…) and represent the entire contract’s item list.

• Project Line Number

Generated at the project level, ensuring no duplicates within that project. Found on tabs like Contract Project Items, where items are grouped by project and category. Important: Project line numbers may match contract line numbers when there’s only one project, but they are not the same thing. On large contracts with multiple projects, the contract line number will often NOT match the project line number.

Key Difference: Both are created the same way and function similarly, but they organize items at different levels—contract vs. project. This helps keep things clear when contracts include multiple projects (e.g., road work vs. bridge work) or categories. If you see “Line Number” on the General tab, assume it’s the contract line number. If you’re working within a project view, it’s likely the project line number. Always confirm which level you’re on before referencing line numbers!

January 27, 2026

Happy New Year! To kick off 2026, we are excited to announce we will be upgrading AASHTOWare Project from version 5.02 to 5.04 within the next few months. This upgrade will enhance overall system performance along with 100+ enhancements across all modules of AASHTOWare Project. We will detail the new enhancements over the next few newsletters once the upgrade is completed. Hopefully, this exciting news will keep your spirits warm, during these bone chilly temperatures as we get ready for the upcoming construction season.

System Configurations

• Email Notifications – Some email notification triggers have been fixed and all should be working correctly now.

Report Updates

• Material History to Date Report – Updated to include all related postings both negative and positive.

Did you know?...

The APCM Wiki Home page has been updated to include training registration links for Contractors, MDOT, Local Agency, and Consultant Staff:

For Contractors: Michigan APCM for Contractors (Hosted by Infotech)

For MDOT, Local Agency, and Consultant Staff: AASHTOWare Project Construction & Materials Bookings Page

Please note that trainings are offered and based on your job function (office technician, engineer, inspector, etc.) and not your agency affiliation. Trainings are also scheduled based on need, so if the listed dates and times do not work for you, please contact the Help Desk to request alternative options. For any questions or assistance, reach out to [email protected].