Contract Administration and Oversight Guidelines for Projects Containing Warranty Work

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All Projects

Warranties are a tool to assure quality, but they are not a replacement for proper inspection, quantity measurement, proper payments, or proper contract administration. Projects constructed under a warranty special provision still require inspection staffing and complete documentation prior to payment, including MDOT materials certifications, MDOT yield checks, MDOT quantity measurement, and MDOT Inspector’s Daily Reports. Failure to do so will jeopardize full federal-aid participation.

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Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) Paving Projects

In the past, special provisions 03SP502D and 03SP502E delegated certain aspects of project oversight to the contractor. This article returns the responsibility for these tasks to MDOT for all HMA paving projects, including those that contain special provisions 03SP502D and/or 03SP502E. These tasks include:

• Taking immediate possession of weigh tickets
• Calculating daily tonnage
• Performing daily yield checks
• Measuring quantities
• Completing Inspector’s Daily Reports.

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Concrete Paving Projects

In the past, special provisions 03SP602A and 03SP602E delegated certain aspects of project oversight to the contractor. This article returns the responsibility for these tasks to MDOT for all concrete paving projects, including those that contain special provisions 03SP602A and/or 03SP602E. These tasks include:

• Measuring quantities
• Measuring and documenting slab thickness
• Completing Inspector’s Daily Reports.

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Capital Preventive Maintenance (CPM) Surface Seal Projects

In the past, special provisions 03SP505A, 03SP507A, 03SP508A, and 03SP508C delegated certain aspects of project oversight to the contractor. This article returns the responsibility for these tasks to MDOT for all CPM surface seal projects, including those that contain 03SP505A, 03SP507A, 03SP508A, or 03SP508C. MDOT should not rely on the contractor’s daily report for quantities or as a replacement for the MDOT Inspector’s Daily Report. Staff oversight should be at a level to assure compliance with contract specifications and to properly assure the quality of the constructed work. This includes, at a minimum, staff oversight at a level to perform periodic on-site inspections. At the time of the periodic on-site inspection, complete the following tasks:

• Measure quantities
• Perform checks on traffic control
• Complete Inspector’s Daily Reports

In addition, do not make payment until the measured quantities are checked for correlation to the contractor’s submitted material certifications/tickets and yield calculations.

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Documentation and Notifications

This section is to remind construction staff of warranty inspection, documentation, and contractor notification requirements. The 2015 Office of Auditor General’s (OAG) audit of the warranty program found deficiencies in all aspects of the warranty administration process. The OAG audit found the lack of documentation regarding the initial acceptance of the warrantied work, interim and final inspections, and notification to the contractor and Surety Company after the final inspection was completed. A new folder, 107 Warranty Documentation, has been created in ProjectWise to house all documentation regarding each projects warranty. The initial acceptance form, contained in the contract documents, is to be filled out when the warrantied work has been completed and accepted. Interim and Final Inspection forms must be filled out even if there are no deficiencies and filed in ProjectWise. Once these forms are complete, all pertinent information needs to be entered into the Statewide Warranty Administration Database (SWAD) and letters sent directly to the contractor and directly to the Surety Company notifying them of the results of the inspection and status of the warranty prior to the expiration date. Copies of the letters sent should also be filed in the ProjectWise folder for future reference. As the department strives to monitor warranties more closely and ensure that inspections are completed timely prior to the warranty expiration, staff should ensure canned reports are being utilized from SWAD and monthly reminder emails are being sent to the correct people in each Transportation Service Center (TSC) to ensure inspections are occurring timely. In the event that an inspection is not completed prior to the expiration of the warranty, it is the department’s responsibility to ensure that the inspection still takes place; however, this inspection should be completed only with MDOT forces.

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