Texas Department of Transportation
Texas Turnpike Authority Division
125 East 11th Street
Austin, TX 78761
COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT
TxDOT Statewide Open-Road Toll Collection
System
This Comprehensive Development Agreement ("Agreement") is entered into by and between the Texas Department of Transportation, a public agency of the State of Texas ("TxDOT"), and_________, a ________ ("Developer"), effective as of _________, 2004, as set forth on the signature page hereto, with reference to the definitions contained in Exhibit A hereto and the following recitals:
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the sums to be paid to Developer by TxDOT, the foregoing premises and the covenants and agreements set forth herein, the parties hereby agree as follows:
Exhibit A hereto contains the meaning of various terms used in the Contract Documents.
The term "Contract Documents" shall mean the documents listed in this Section 1.2. Each of the Contract Documents is an essential part of the agreement between the Parties, and a requirement occurring in one is as binding as though occurring in all. The Contract Documents are intended to be complementary and to describe and provide for a complete agreement. In the event of any conflict among the Contract Documents, the order of precedence shall be as set forth below.
(a) For design and other non-construction Work:
Change Orders and Agreement amendments (including amendments to Project Segment Supplements);
Project Segment Supplements
Agreement (including all exhibits other than Exhibits B, C and N);
Technical Provisions;
Attachments to the Technical Provisions;
TxDOT Standards (as supplemented and modified by Exhibit B, Amendments, Modifications and Supplements to TxDOT Standard Specifications); and
Proposal (including all modifications thereto set forth in Exhibit C).
Notwithstanding the foregoing order of precedence, in the event and to the extent that Exhibit C expressly specifies that it is intended to supersede specific provisions of the Contract Documents, Exhibit C shall control over the specified provisions. In determining whether a conflict exists between the Proposal and other Contract Documents, to the extent that the Proposal can reasonably be interpreted as an offer to provide higher quality items than otherwise required by the Contract Documents or to perform services in addition to those otherwise required, or otherwise contains terms which TxDOT considers to be more advantageous than the requirements of the other Contract Documents, the Proposal shall not be considered in conflict with the other Contract Documents, and Developer's obligations hereunder shall include compliance with all such statements, offers and terms.
(b) For installation and construction-related standards, specifications and requirements, the order of precedence set forth in clause (a) shall apply, except that the Final Design Documents shall also be considered Contract Documents and shall be added following the Proposal in the order of precedence, provided that (i) specifications contained therein shall have precedence over plans, and (ii) no conflict shall be deemed to exist between the Final Design Documents and the other Contract Documents with respect to requirements of the Final Design Documents that TxDOT determines are more beneficial than the requirements of the other Contract Documents; and (iii) any other Deviations contained in the Final Design Documents shall have priority over conflicting requirements of other Contract Documents only to the extent that the conflicts are specifically identified in the approval.
(c) Portions of the Reference Documents are referenced in the Contract Documents for the purpose of defining requirements of the Contract Documents. The referenced information shall be deemed incorporated in the Contract Documents to the extent that it is so referenced, with the same order of priority as the Contract Document in which the reference occurs.
(d) Additional details and more stringent requirements contained in a lower priority document will control unless the requirements of the lower priority document present an actual conflict with the requirements of the higher level document (i.e. it is not possible to comply with both requirements). Notwithstanding the order of precedence among Contract Documents set forth in this Section 1.2, in the event of a conflict among any standard or specification applicable to the Project established by reference contained in the Contract Documents to a described publication, TxDOT shall have the right to determine, in its sole discretion, which provision applies regardless of the order of precedence of the documents in which such standards are referenced. Developer shall request in writing TxDOT's determination respecting the order of precedence involving the referenced standards promptly upon becoming aware of any such conflict.
In the Contract Documents, where appropriate: the singular includes the plural and vice versa; references to statutes or regulations include all statutory or regulatory provisions consolidating, amending or replacing the statute or regulation referred to; unless otherwise indicated references to Codes are to the codified laws of the State; the words "including," "includes" and "include" shall be deemed to be followed by the words "without limitation"; unless otherwise indicated references to sections, appendices or schedules are to this Agreement; words such as "herein," "hereof" and "hereunder" shall refer to the entire document in which they are contained and not to any particular provision or section; words not otherwise defined which have well-known technical or construction industry meanings, are used in accordance with such recognized meanings; references to Persons include their respective permitted successors and assigns and, in the case of Governmental Persons, Persons succeeding to their respective functions and capacities; and words of any gender used herein shall include each other gender where appropriate. Unless otherwise specified, lists contained in the Contract Documents defining the Project or the Work shall not be deemed all-inclusive. Developer acknowledges and agrees that it had the opportunity and obligation, prior to submission of its Proposal, to review the terms and conditions of the Contract Documents (including those Reference Documents that are referenced in the Contract Documents, and pursuant to Section 1.2(c) above, are considered Contract Documents) and to bring to the attention of TxDOT any conflicts or ambiguities contained therein. Developer further acknowledges and agrees that it has independently reviewed the Contract Documents with legal counsel, and that it has the requisite experience and sophistication to understand, interpret and agree to the particular language of the provisions of the Contract Documents. Accordingly, if an ambiguity in or dispute regarding the interpretation of the Contract Documents, they shall not be interpreted or construed against the Person which prepared them, and, instead, other rules of interpretation and construction shall be used. TxDOT's interim or final answers to the questions posed during the Proposal process for this Agreement shall in no event be deemed part of the Contract Documents and shall not be relevant in interpreting the Contract Documents except to the extent they may clarify provisions otherwise considered ambiguous. On plans, working drawings, and standard plans, calculated dimensions shall take precedence over scaled dimensions.
1.4.1 Except as otherwise specified in the Contract Documents or otherwise directed by TxDOT, material and workmanship specified by the number, symbol or title of any standard established by reference to a described publication affecting any portion of the Project shall comply with the latest edition or revision thereof and amendments and supplements thereto in effect on the Proposal Date.
1.4.2 In interpreting referenced standards, the following apply:
(a) References to the project owner shall mean TxDOT.
(b) References to the Engineer in the context of provider of compliance judgment may mean the Professional Services Quality Review Manager or it may mean a TxDOT representative, depending on the context, as determined by TxDOT in its sole discretion.
(c) References to "plan(s)" shall mean the Final Design Documents.
(d) Cross-references to measurement and payment provisions contained in the referenced standard shall be deemed to refer to the measurement and payment provisions contained in the Contract Documents.
Developer shall not take advantage of or benefit from any apparent Error in the Contract Documents. Should it appear that the Work to be done or any matter relative thereto is not sufficiently detailed or explained in the Contract Documents, Developer shall request in writing such further written explanations from TxDOT as may be necessary and shall comply with the explanation provided. Developer shall promptly notify TxDOT in writing of all Errors which it may discover in the Contract Documents (including those Reference Documents that are referenced in the Contract Documents, and pursuant to Section 1.2(c) above, are considered Contract Documents), and shall obtain specific instructions in writing from TxDOT regarding any such Error before proceeding with the Work affected thereby. The fact that the Contract Documents omit or misdescribe any details of any Work which are necessary to carry out the intent of the Contract Documents, or which are customarily performed, shall not relieve Developer from performing such omitted Work (no matter how extensive) or misdescribed details of the Work, and they shall be performed as if fully and correctly set forth and described in the Contract Documents, without entitlement to a Change Order hereunder except as specifically allowed under Section 13.
References to "Days" contained in the Contract Documents shall mean calendar days unless otherwise specified; provided that if the date to perform any act or give any notice specified in the Contract Documents (including the last date for performance or provision of notice "within" a specified time period) falls on a non-business day, such act or notice may be timely performed on the next succeeding day which is a business day. Notwithstanding the foregoing, requirements contained in the Contract Documents relating to actions to be taken in the event of an emergency and other requirements for which it is clear that performance is intended to occur on a non-business day, shall be required to be performed as specified, even though the date in question may fall on a non-business day. The term "business days" shall mean Days on which TxDOT is officially open for business.
In all cases where approvals or consents are required to be provided by TxDOT or Developer hereunder, such approvals or consents shall not be withheld unreasonably except in cases where a different standard (such as sole discretion) is specified. In cases where sole discretion is specified the decision shall not be subject to dispute resolution hereunder.
TxDOT does not intend to contract for, pay for, or receive any Professional Services which are in violation of any professional licensing or registration laws, and by execution of this Agreement, Developer acknowledges that TxDOT has no such intent. It is the intent of the parties that Developer is fully responsible for furnishing the Professional Services of the Project through itself and/or subcontracts with licensed/registered Professional Service firm(s) as provided herein. Any references in the Contract Documents to Developer's responsibilities or obligations to "perform" the Professional Services portions of the Work shall be deemed to mean that Developer shall "furnish" the Professional Services for the Project. The terms and provisions of this Section 1.8 shall control and supersede every other provision of all Contract Documents.
The Work to be performed under this Agreement will be financed in part with federal funds and is, therefore, subject to federal statutes, rules and regulations applicable to work financed with federal funds, including the federal requirements set forth in Exhibit D. In the event of any conflict between any applicable federal requirements and the other requirements of the Contract Documents, the federal requirements shall prevail, take precedence and be in force over and against any such conflicting provisions.