Effective Practices for Establishing Contract Completion Dates for Highway Projects

Setting contract time is an important element of the planning process for any highway project. By completing work in a timely manner, both the State Transportation Agency (STA) and the traveling public are beneficiaries. Traditionally contract time is set prior to bid letting near the end of the design phase. The Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) policy for setting contract time is codified in 23 CFR 635.121 stating, "The STD [State Transportation Department] should have adequate written procedures for the determination of contract time." Suggestions to assist in implementing the procedures are provided in the FHWA Guide for Construction Contract Time Determination Procedures. This guidance does not address the determination of contract time for alternative contracting methods. Construction contract time can follow these methods but the time allocation for initial non-concurrent design time is not addressed. This synthesis will conclude how this is currently being addressed among STAs. Information for this study will be gathered through literature review, a survey of STAs, and follow-up interviews with agencies for case examples of their practices. Information gathered for the synthesis will include: " Methods for setting completion dates for design-build, construction manager/general contractor, and public-private partnership contracts; " Cost and benefit impacts of the methodologies; " Impacts of reducing project delivery periods; " DOT experience with Incentives/Disincentives or Disincentives Only; " DOT experience with calendar day completion dates and allowable work day contracts; " Methods for revising competition dates for approved alternative technical concepts in different project delivery methods.