Locally Administered Transportation Projects 

Manual of Procedures Revisions

Manual Updates - October 2004

Advertising, Sale & Award

• DBE Requirements: Clarifications and changes are made to the DBE references in this chapter. It has been of increasing concern that DBE goals (applied to Local-let projects in which the project estimate exceeds $500,000) are not always met on projects. Language clarifies what the contractor responsibilities are during the bidding process and the LPA’s responsibility for award. The LPA may not execute the contract until the DBE goal is satisfied, and funds can not be encumbered without documentation that all DBE commitments will be met.

• Award: If the LPA decides it will not award to the contractor with the lowest, responsive bid, then it must notify ODOT immediately and provide written justification for its decision.

• Alternative Bids: The existing language on pages 7 and 8 is clarified and an illustration is added to make it clear under what circumstances alternative bids may be used. The two circumstances are “additive alternate bidding” and the second is for priority items. Language also specifies that the use of alternative bids can only be done with the coordination and approval of ODOT. The Program Manager’s approval is also required in the case of “additive alternate bidding”.

Construction Contract Administration

• Pre-Award Meeting: This activity is no longer mandatory for all projects. It is required for any project if it is the LPA’s first Local-let project. For all other projects, the activity is at the ODOT district’s discretion and may be held by phone or in person. This change is made on this chapter’s process flowchart, on page 1 of the Primary Roles & Responsibilities, and on p. 10 where the pre-award meeting is described. Coordinating changes are also made in the Advertising, Sale & Award chapter to pages 1 and 9.

 WHAT’S COMING –

We intend to release boilerplate for the bid document. We previously released a Bid Proposal Checklist with standard proposal notes. The feedback on this document has been positive from both locals and ODOT personnel. We are going to turn this information into a template to be downloaded and used for Local-let projects. By standardizing the bid document, we expect it will be easier for both LPAs and ODOT.

The chapter on LPA Participation Requirements is being rewritten for the next quarterly revision to clarify what must be provided for a district to make a determination on an LPA’s qualification.

We are in the process of converting our manual documents to make it easier for the user to have the most current version. The option will be available to either download a specific chapter, with the attachments, or the entire manual.