Reading and Interpreting Heavy Civil Contract Specifications
- Do you agree that the root cause of most construction issues is the inability to follow specifications and drawings, and not seeking clarification?
- Which checklist items should you use in reading and interpreting State DOT contract specifications?
- Did you know that contract specifications are dependent on the item of work, meaning that what is depicted on the contract specifications depends on which item of work is in the contract?
First, let’s understand what an item of work is.
In the context of a State Department of Transportation (DOT), an “item of work” refers to a specific unit of construction work included in the itemized list of work to be completed on a contract. It represents a distinct work on a project that is eligible for payment in accordance with the contract terms and conditions. An item of work can range from standard work, such as concrete barrier rails based on standard drawings and specifications, to unique or specialized work, like pile caps based on contract-specific drawings and specifications.
The relationship between contract specifications and items of work is clearer depending on the State DOT. The two State DOTs that come to mind are the Ohio Department of Transportation and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). For the Ohio Department of Transportation, the first three digits of the item code indicate the specification section associated with the item of work. For Caltrans, the first two digits of the item code indicate the specification section associated with the item of work.
The adage “the devil is in the details” holds true especially when it comes to contract specifications, as a lack of meticulous review of the details can lead to a wide range of issues, problems, and challenges.
To make it easier to uncover those details, we developed over 90 checklist items grouped into 19 sections to assist with a thorough review of State DOT specifications. We believe that this will help solve many problems caused by the poor interpretation of State DOT specifications.
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The screenshots below show our approach for reading and interpreting contract specifications. The screenshots display the 19 sections and items for use in conducting contract specifications review.
