Method of Measurement and Payment

This section is presented to provide information and guidelines for the proper method of measurement of completed items of work and the proper payment to the contractor. This section is divided into the following parts:

· General Information

· Documentation

· Daily Diary

· Estimates

· Project Approval of Estimates

· District Office Approval of Estimates

· Method of Measurement

· Basis of Payment

General

In the administration of construction projects, it is the policy of the Department of Transportation to provide the contractor with prompt payment for all completed and accepted items of work. After an item of work is completed, but before payment is made, a determination must be made on the quantities of the various items of work performed. This will be the basis for final settlement between the contractor and the Department. It is the responsibility of the Engineer to assure this determination of quantifies is performed. As the Engineer's authorized representative, the project inspector is likewise responsible for making the detailed inspections necessary to measure, document, and turn in for payment the determined quantities.

As promptly as everyone expects their paycheck, the contractor is entitled to prompt and accurate payment for all completed and accepted items of work. As outlined in the Policy 512 003(P), "Payment for Contract Work" and Ohio Revised Code Sections 126.30 and 5525.19 the Department has the obligation to pay for completed items of work promptly. This payment must be made to the contractor within thirty (30) days of the first estimate date after the completion of the work, except for additional quantifies found during the finalization process. Failure to meet the progressive payment time will result in interest being paid to the contractor from monies deducted from the District's budget. To assure prompt payment, the measurement of quantities and the recording for payment must be performed on a daily basis as the items of work are completed.

Project personnel are responsible for preparing documentation to support payment for work performed by the contractor by measurement of completed and accepted quantities of work. This documentation serves two important purposes:

· It provides validation that the quantity for payment has been determined in accordance with contract requirements (contract proposal, plans, specifications) with the necessary measurements, calculations, weight , etc. This is further detailed under the next section entitled "Method of Measurement".

· It also verifies that the work was done in close conformity (as defined in Section 101.351 of the C&MS) to the plans and specifications.

Details on project documentation can be found throughout in this manual.

This Manual is not intended to alter or replace the specifications, it’s purpose is to supplement the specifications and provide assistance to the project personnel in the interpretation of the specifications. As such, this manual is not part of the contract by which the contractor bids the project. This manual does provide the recommended minimum documentation requirements and guidelines with respect to measurement of quantities and basis of payment.

Daily Diary

The daily accumulation of the information entered on the project is found in CA-D-3 and/or CA-D-4. These forms will become, when entered into the Construction Management System (CMS), the Construction Daily Diary. This Construction Daily Diary in the Construction Management System consists of five (5) individual screens altogether:

§ Contractor Work (DDCON)

§ Contractor Equipment Usage (DDCEQ)

§ State Employees Hours Worked (DDHRS)

§ Weather and Pay (DDWAP)

§ Daily Remarks and Engineer Approval (DDRMK)

Contractor Work - DDCON

All information contained on the CA-D-3 / CA-D-4 forms are transferred by the project personnel to one of these screens. For purposes of payment of completed items of work, pay items listed on the CA-D-3 / CA-D-4 forms are entered on the "Weather and Pay" (DDWAP) screen.

Once all information is entered on the various screens of the Construction Daily Diary and the diary is completed, the Engineer, or alternate who has update authority, reviews the diary and if found acceptable, approves the diary. This approval is performed by changing the "N" on the "Project Engineer/Supervisor Approval" line on the "Daily Remarks and Engineer Approval" ( DDRMK) screen to a "Y" .

Once approval of the Daily Diary takes place, the CMS system automatically transfers any quantities turned in for payment on the DDWAP Screen to the "Paybook" Screens (PBOOK). This CMS screen lists details about individual reference number quantities completed for payment. Any amount shown on this screen as being completed, but not previously paid will now be picked up for payment when the next estimate is generated.

Estimates

It is the District Construction Engineer's responsibility to establish the first estimate date for a project. This first estimate date, in general, should be (2) weeks after the first day of work or as otherwise agreed to by the contractor at the preconstruction meeting. Once the first estimate date is established, a second estimate will automatically be generated fifteen (15) days later. Estimates will continue to be automatically generated on the same two (2) dates per month as long as the project is under construction and the automatic generation of estimates remains actuated in the system.

Below are examples of the two (2) screens created automatically by the CMS from information contained on the various " Paybook'' reference screens for a project:

§ Estimate Information (EST) screen. It displays overview information and adjustments for generated estimates. This screen allows both the project personnel and the District Construction Personnel to delete or approve the estimate.

§ Estimate References (ESTR) Screen. It displays the list of references having quantities for payment. This screen allows all individuals with update authority the ability to review individual reference quantities, adjust/delete quantities when necessary, and/or add other reference quantities that may have previously been omitted. Any quantity added to the ESTR Screen requires comments to be added on screen and will automatically be posted back to the "PBOOK" Screen.

Estimate Screen - EST

Estimate Screen – ESTR

Project Approval of Estimates

The Engineer is responsible for the electronic approval of their project's estimate on each estimate day. Before this approval takes place at the project level, the Engineer must be assured that:

§ The pay quantities and delivered material quantities entered into CMS are correct.

§ That any liquidated damages due to failure to meet an interim completion date are entered into CMS.

§ That any pay item deficient in material approval and not eligible for override be deleted from the estimate.

With respect to delivered materials, payment is allowed in accordance with Section 109.07 of the C&MS and ORC Section 5525.19. Payment is limited to approved, durable items that have a significant value in comparison to the total price of the contract and shall not be in excess of what is required to do the contract work. The unit costs allowed are the invoiced material costs and any reasonable delivery charges less any contractor's discounts. The allowed unit cost shall not exceed the applicable contract unit price. Delivered material invoices shall be kept in the project file. Costs for stockpile materials may be established by documents other than invoices.

Payment for approved materials outside the vicinity of the project may be made if it is determined that it is not practicable to deliver the material to the project site. This should apply to only bulky material that represents approximately $5000 or more for related items of work. For small projects, payment for materials less than $5000 may be made at the discretion of the District Construction Engineer. These materials are intended to include but not be limited to, guardrail, fence, aggregates, structural steel, precast concrete, light/strain poles, etc. Materials that have established shelf life or are temperature susceptible shall be protected in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations. Small warehouse items shall not be included. Certain additional requirements also must be met before payment of delivered material off the project takes place:

· The storage site of the material must be approved and documented in writing. This can be performed by the project personnel or other ODOT individuals (in cases where it is more practical for other Districts or Central Office Plant Inspectors to perform the inspection and provide the documentation).

· The material must meet the same level of approval at the storage site as that required of material at the project.

· The existence of the stored material must be verified and documented provided that it is designated or reserved for the particular project. This can also be performed by personnel from another District or Central Office when warranted by the location of the material.

· Payment for off site storage of material must also be supported by invoices kept on file in the project records.

Liquidated damages due to the failure of the contractor to meet the project completion date are automatically accounted for by CMS. The Engineer must however, enter into CMS any liquidated damages as a result of failure to meet an interim completion date such as a road closure limitation required by the plan notes. This is performed by entering the dates subject to liquidated damage, and the amount per day into the "Liquidated Damages" (LIQID) Screen in CMS. Both automatic and manual Liquidated Damages are then automatically posted to the "EST" Screen for inclusion into the estimate total. CMS automatically checks to see if enough materials have been reported, approved, and entered into CMS to cover the amount paid at the time the estimate was generated. If a deficiency occurs, the estimate is "flagged" by means of a "Y" indicator under the Matl/Tst column on the "ESTR" Screen for the affected reference number (Appendix O). It is the responsibility of the Project Engineer/Supervisor to delete the affected quantity from the estimate if it is determined that the material lacks approval. If the Engineer establishes that the material in question is approved and the "flag" is caused by the approval not being processed in time for the estimate, then the "unjustified flag" can be overridden. Overriding of "unjustified flags" is performed at the District Approval Level by the District Construction Engineer or back up person. The Engineer should provide on screen remarks to the DCE or backup person to indicate why the flag is not warranted so that the "unjustified flag" can be overridden.

Once the Engineer has determined all the above has been accomplished, electronic approval of the estimate at the project level can take place. This is accomplished by changing the "N" indicator by "PE/PS Approval" on the EST Screen to a "Y" indicator. The estimate is now ready for the District Level Approval.

District Office Approval of Estimates

District Level Approval is the responsibility of the DCE or back up person. Before this level of approval takes place, all "unjustified flags" must be overridden. This includes the previously discussed "flags" related to deficient material approvals. This also includes "flags" associated with deficient payrolls.

CMS automatically checks to see if payrolls submitted by the prime and any subcontractors for a project are up to date. Payrolls are entered for both prime and subcontractors into CMS on the "Payroll" (PAYRL) screen. This is done after the payrolls are reviewed and approved for prevailing wage compliance by either the Engineer, District Wage Rate Coordinator, or other assigned by the DCE. Once an estimate is generated, CMS automatically checks to see that payrolls have been entered into the system to cover the prime contractor and any subcontractor that would have worked on the project between the time span of the previous two (2) estimate dates. If a deficiency exists, the estimate will be "flagged" by a "Y" indicator beside "Deficient Payrolls" on the "EST" screen. If this occurs, the estimate is held at the District until the deficiency is resolved. The DCE or backup person can override the "flag" once it is determined that all required payrolls have been submitted, reviewed, and found acceptable. This is accomplished by changing the "Y" indicator to a "N".

Once all "unjustified flags" have been overridden, the DCE or back up person can now approve the estimate. This is accomplished by changing the "N" indicator by "District Approval" on the "EST" Screen to a "Y" indicator. The estimate is now automatically forwarded to the Office of Accounting in Central Office for further processing and payment to the prime contractor.

Payroll - PAYRL

Method of Measurement

In determining the proper method of measurement for a particular item of work encountered on a project, several sources of information exist. Section 109.01 of the C&MS provides general information for the determination of various units of measurement. These include items measured by weight, those measured by cubic meter (cubic yard) and those measured by the liter (gallon). In addition, specific information can be found for every listed pay item, with few exceptions. Every item number in the C&MS contains a unique section entitled "Method of Measurement" which provides this specific information. For example:

603.14 Method of Measurement. The Department will measure conduit by the number of feet (meters), measured from center-to-center of appurtenant small structures or between open ends inclusive of lengths of pipe bends and branches. The Department will not deduct for catch basins, inlets, or manholes that are 6 feet (2 m) or less across, measured in the direction of flow. Where the location of an appurtenance or an open end is changed with the approval of the Engineer to accommodate full conduit sections, the Department will measure the length placed. Conduits placed on slopes steeper than 3:1 or with beveled or skewed ends will be measured along the invert.

When the pay item calls for concrete encasement, payment for furnishing and placing the concrete encasement, and for any additional excavation required shall be included in the unit bid price for the pertinent conduit. When the pay item calls for a new conduit to be field paved, payment for the field paving, including all work and materials necessary for the item, shall be included in the unit bid price for the pertinent conduit.

The Department will measure field paving of existing pipe by the number of feet (meters).

The few exceptions includes: items 402, 403, 404, 412, 446, and 448. These are all asphalt concrete items with the "Method of Measurement" for all these items described under Section 401.21. Likewise Section 641.12 provides the "Method of Measurement" for all the pavement stripping items, 642, 643, 644, and 645. No specific section exists for the Items 441, 499, 501, 502, 505, 506, 508, 510, and 623. These are all general specifications, items involving lump sum payment, or items not paid separately, but included in other items for payment.

For items of work not covered in the C&MS, other sources can be utilized to determine the proper "Method of Measurement". Supplemental Specifications are individual documents which describe the construction and material specifications for items whose requirements are changing from year to year, are still in the development or experimental stage, or are used only occasionally. These can be identified by their 800 series number. Just like the C&MS, these Supplemental Specifications contain a unique section entitled "Method of Measurement" which provides the specific information for measurement purposes.

Items listed as "Special", having no item number, also have specific information with respect to proper measurement. This is likewise included in a section entitled "Method of Measurement" and is incorporated in either the plan notes or listed in the specific proposal for the project.

Another possible source of information with respect to "Method of Measurement" are items listed "as per plan". Reference items with an "as per plan" designation have been modified in some way from what would normally be required by the Specifications, Proposal, Standard Drawings, etc. This modification will be found in a plan note within the contract plans. The project personnel must investigate these "as per plan" modifications to determine what has been changed with the item.

For those projects designed in metric units, specific information with respect to measurement can be found. Section 109.02 of the C&MS provides information with respect to "Metrification" along with a list of conversion factor for converting English to metric.

Basis of Payment

As per Section 109.03 " Scope of Payment' in the C&MS, payment to the contractor for an item of work performed by the contract shall be full payment for furnishing all materials and performing all work under the contract in a complete and acceptable manner. The "Basis of Payment" for any item of work details that the unit bid price is full compensation for certain work and/or materials essential to that item. As such, this work and/or material will not also be measured or paid for under any other pay item which may appear elsewhere in the plans or Specifications. Like "Method of Measurement", with few exceptions, every item number in the C&MS contains a unique section entitled "Basis of Payment" which provides specific information as to what is covered by the pay item. The following example is provided:

604.09 Basis of Payment. The Department will pay for accepted quantities at the contract prices as follows:

Item Unit Description

604 Each Manholes

604 Each Inlets

604 Each Catch Basins

The few exceptions include Items 441, 499, and 501. These are all general specifications dealing with asphalt concrete, concrete and structures.

Likewise, for items of work not covered in the C&MS, the same type sources exist. As with "Method of Measurement", item numbers in the 800 series are covered under Supplemental Specification.

Items listed as "Special" also have a unique section entitled "Basis of Payment". These are found either in plan notes or the proposal.

Likewise "as per plan" modifications need to also be investigated by the project personnel. These modifications could change the "Basis of Payment" of the particular item of work.