Virginia American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

APPENDIX B
Checklists – (Continued)

CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION
CHECKLIST

The FHWA Risk Management Plan identifies the major risk areas in implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). For the consideration of the Division Offices, example checklists have been developed for use in “visible monitoring” efforts. The Contract Administration Checklist focuses on the risks in procurement, bidding, and management of contract changes.

PROJECT DATA

Federal Project Number:
State Project Number:
Project Name/Route Number and Section
County:
Project Description
Authorization Date
Advertisement Date
Letting Date:

GENERAL REFERENCES

Regulations and Guidance
23 CFR 635 A, B, C & D – Construction and Maintenance
Headquarters memorandum dated July 12, 1963, Subject: Participation in Engineering
Errors
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/contracts/071263.cfm
Headquarters memorandum dated September 8, 1978, Subject: Participation in the Cost of Corrective Work Resulting from Construction Engineering Errors
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/contracts/090878.cfm
FHWA Policy Letter dated November 15, 1996
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/contracts/111596.cfm
FHWA Policy Memo dated September 18, 1990
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/contracts/091890.cfm
Contract Administration Core Curriculum Participant's Manual and Reference Guide
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/contracts/coretoc.cfm
Guidelines on Preparing Engineer's Estimate, Bid Reviews and Evaluation
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/contracts/ta508046.cfm

BID INFORMATION

Engineer's Estimate:
Low Bid:
Percent over/under Engineer's Estimate:
High Bid:
Number of Bids:
Number of Competitive Bids: (A competitive bid is a bid within 20% of the low bid)

BID ANALYSIS

Reference Guidelines on Preparing Engineer's Estimate, Bid Reviews and Evaluation https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/contracts/ta508046.cfm
Reference	Item	Yes	No	N/A
635.112	PS&E was approved and project authorized prior to advertisement
635.112	Project advertised for at least 3 weeks
	Competition adequate see table below
635.114	Unit prices do not differ significantly from the estimate
	Unit prices do not differ significantly from other bidders
	Unit prices do not differ significantly from similar projects in the same letting?
635.114	No significant mathematical unbalancing of the bids
635.114	No material unbalancing of the bids
	No errors in the engineer's estimate
	No problems with the bid documents identified
	Bidders acknowledged receipt of all addenda
49 CFR 29	Apparent low bidder not suspended or debarred (General Services Administration's Excluded Parties Listing System - https://www.epls.gov/ )
	No issues with the identity/geography of the bidders
49 CFR 26	DBE participation meets the DBE goal
	Conditional items of authorization adequately addressed
	Low bidder considered responsive
	Deferral contrary to the public interest
	Potential for savings, if the project is re-advertised
635.114	Project will be awarded to the low bidder

Comments:

Assessing Competition (This table can be used as a guideline for assessing competition)

Number of competitive bids * (*Range = low bid + 20 percent)	Competition May be considered adequate when low bid does not exceed **
5	120 percent of engineer's estimate
4	115 percent of engineer's estimate
3	110 percent of engineer's estimate
2	105 percent of engineer's estimate
1	The engineer's estimate

— NOTE —

The State transportation agency's (STA) bid information contains agency Engineer's Estimate, which may be CONFIDENTIAL! The responsible FHWA transportation engineer will not discuss the details of the estimate with anyone other than the FHWA or State contact.

CONTRACT CHANGES

Reference	Item	Yes	No	N/A
635.120	Major change in plans or contract provisions or major extra work
635.120	Use of force account procedures necessary
635.120	Scope clearly defined
635.120	Need adequately justified
635.120	Independent cost estimate developed
635.120	Costs adequately justified
635.120	Contract modification executed in a timely manner
635.120	Appropriate approvals documented
635.120	Change in contract time submitted at the same time as the contract change or extra work
635.121	Contract time extension fully justified and adequately documented

Comments:

Table of Contents

(continued)

Return to top

Page last modified on January 31, 2017