December 19, 2024
As we bring 2024 to a close, we have a few report updates and a few other things to share with you for the December release train. The Construction Technology Unit wishes everyone a safe and happy holiday season!
Announcements
- For the week of Christmas, estimates will be due to Finance by Noon on Monday, December 23rd, as payments staff will be out of the office on Tuesday and Wednesday. Estimates submitted for final approval after this deadline will be processed the following week.
- For the week of New Years Holiday, estimates will be due to Finance by Noon on Monday, December 30th, as payments staff will be out of the office on Tuesday and Wednesday. Estimates submitted for final approval after this deadline will be processed the following week.
- Please mark your calendars, a required technical upgrade is coming to FieldNet next month. The upgrade will occur January 24th, 2025 from 5:00pm to 6:00pm. The update requires a new agency configuration file to be loaded along with a few other steps. Detailed directions and the new configuration file will be distributed separately.
Report Updates
- Change Order Report – The attachments area of the report has been updated to include hyperlinks for easy access to DWR attachments.
- Payment Estimate Exception Report – The report has been updated to include the contractor associated with the item exception.
- DWRs by Contractor Report – This report was created to show the DWRs that are associated with specific contractors.
- Project Category Level Contract Item Status XLS Report – This report was created and is similar to the Contract Item Status Report XLS, but is broken down by project and category.
November 20, 2024
There is no release train scheduled for this month. Due to the holidays in November and December, we are planning a single release train in mid-December.
As a reminder to everyone, for the week of Thanksgiving (11/25 to 11/29), payment estimates will be due to Finance by 12:00 noon on Tuesday, November 26. Estimates submitted after the deadline will be processed the following week.
October 24, 2024
After a brief pause in updates and changes to the system due to Fiscal Year End reporting, which kept us all busy, we are glad to announce the updates that have been put into production as part of the October release train.
Report Updates
- DBE Contract Selection Team by Proposal Report – Fixed an "Attempted to Divide by Zero" error on the report.
- Various Construction Reports - The Change Order Report, Daily Diary Report, Daily Work Report, and Payment Estimate Summary By Project Report were showing the wrong contract numbers in the report footers.
- Change Order Summary Report – The report has been corrected to show approved change orders.
- Items by Contractor Report – The report was updated to correct an issue when the report parameter of “Do Not Include Items by Prime Contractor” was selected.
- Material Usage by Material Report – The report has been modified to allow the report to be run against a single, a group of, or the entire materials for the contract. Also, the material source field was added to the report.
- Item Posting by Item – An excel version of the report was created.
- Item Posting by Contractor – An excel version of the report was created.
- Change Order Report – The Project/Category Summary section was updated to remove duplicate data and ensure proper calculations. Also, item balancing that resulted in a zero-quantity change have been removed to reduce the size of the report.
System Configurations and Guidance Updates
- FieldManager Contractor Data Extract Process - The export process has been updated that should resolve several import errors experienced by contractors.
- DWR Posting Item Selection Screen – Column widths were modified to better use screen space to help users see the full item description along with any supplemental item description.
- Change Order Review Role Updates – Various roles were updated to allow those roles to record the review decision as part of the change order review tracking process.
September 12, 2024
Fiscal year-end directions have been issued by the Contractor Payments Unit. Please refer to these directions when preparing your year-end estimates.
Year End Instructions FY24 - FieldManager
Year End Instructions FY24 - APCM
August 29, 2024
The construction team has been working with the Department of Technology Managment and Budget (DTMB) to develop a more orderly process for implementing system changes and configurations within the system and communicating those changes to the user community. We are still working on an overall communication plan, however we are pleased to announce the use of our very first Release Train.
Release Trains are a feature within our DTMB call ticketing system that allows MDOT and DTMB to batch tickets together and set the specific day that those system changes will go into effect within the system. This allows MDOT more time to plan arounds specific dates and to be better prepared to let all of you know what changes have been made to the system in a timely manner.
Currently release trains are being planned for each month. However, that may change as we become more familiar with their functionality.
The first release train contained several report updates along with some system configurations as described below.
Report Updates
- Weighted Average Item Price Report - An error was identified that prevented this report from running when certain report parameters were chosen, this error has been fixed allowing the report to complete.
- Change Order Report - The report was updated to not display item balancing that resulted in a zero-quantity change. Showing the zero changes made the report long and difficult to review. The report now only shows item balancing that actually results in a quantity change.
- Material History to Date Report - Various column headers and data descriptions were updated to make the report data more user friendly. Sample record tests were also added to the report.
- Material Set List Report XLS(*) - A column has been added to the report to show the Spec Book the item corresponds to. This allows filtering as there are several Spec Books within the system and allows filtering of the report.
- Cert and Qual Report - An error was discovered in the report that was not properly populating the company column. The company column in the report now pulls from the correct data field in the system.
- Item Posting by Contractor Report - The report was duplicating item posting quantities, which has now been fixed.
- Materials by Item Report - Category and project line numbers were added to the report for ease of use.
- Current Items by Project/Category Report - This report was updated to accurately show items within the correct categories.
- Pay Estimate Items Report - A parameter was added to allow this report to show either all items, or just items that were paid on the current estimate.
- Daily Personnel On Site Report - An error was discovered and fixed. The report now shows the correct personnel for each day.
Reference Data Updates
- 2012 Materials Inactivation - The materials from the 2012 Standards Specifications for Construction have been deactivated.
System Configurations and Guidance Updates
- Item Description added to Add Material Set Screen - When adding a material set to an item, the pop-up screen now shows the item ID code and the item description to assist the user.
- Updated Default Filtering on Change Order Screen - The default screen filtering for the change order, Increase/Decrease Items tab has been updated to filter out quantity changes that are zero quantity changes. This is in line with the change order report updated listed above. The screen will now only show balancing that results in a non-zero quantity change.
- Updated Guidance on Entering Trucking Subcontracts - New guidance has been issued on how to properly enter trucking subcontracts in the system. Please reference the Adding Subcontracts section of the Contract Administration page for the updated guidance.
- Contractor Notification of Approved Estimates - Prime contractors who are associated to a contract with the CONTR_CONSTRMATRO_CO role now receive an email notification once an estimate is fully approved by finance.
- Material Set Name Field - To prevent issues with material quantities, the Material Set Name field on the Contract Materials and Acceptance Actions Summary was made non-editable. Existing material sets cannot be renamed. Material sets can still be modfied and created.
- FieldManager Contractor Data Extract Scheduling - The export process that creates a FieldManager Contractor file for contractors was rescheduled from Sunday at 1:05am to Wednesday 1:05am.
- Contractor Performance Review Requirement - The system requirment to have Contractor Performance Reviews (CPEs) completed before final estiamte creation has been turned off. CPEs are still required on some contracts, however the system will no longer require them for closeout.
April 15, 2024
AASHTOWare Project 5.00 is here!
On April 15th MDOT upgraded to the 5.00 version of AASHTOWare Project software. By upgrading from version 4.8 to 5.00, MDOT is now able to take advantage of the more than 180 fixes and enhancements that were resolved or added across the system. Many of the fixes were behind the scenes and won’t be directly apparent to you as a user. However, there were a few that we would like to point out that will show up in the new version. We have compiled the list below with some matching updates to this manual.
- The drop-down options on the funding field in the change order area have been simplified and should only now show the correct funding for the new item based on the project category chosen when adding new items to the contract.
- The policy that creators of DWRs cannot approve their own DWR has now fully been implemented in the system and the office tech role is being changed back to allow them to see their own DWRs under the Office Technician roles.
- Some estimate errors that occur while the estimate is being created will now be shown to the user in a pop-up message like other errors and warnings.
- The blue bar that contains the save button and corresponding action menu will now travel with you as you scroll long pages. This should make navigation and saving on pages with long lists easier.
- A new tab in the subcontract entry area has been added. This tab contains a scrollable grid similar to an excel spreadsheet and should make subcontract entry easier.
