KHIT 149: Effective Management Practices for CEI Contracts

Abstract KHIT 149, Effective Management Practices for Construction Engineering & Inspection (CEI) Contracts The persistence and continued growth of staffing challenges at KYTC hinder highway construction project inspection. One strategy increasingly used to overcome staffing shortages is outsourcing construction administrative and inspection tasks to Construction Engineering and Inspection (CEI) firms. Using CEI services to augment construction inspection can circumvent staffing shortages, however, it has its own set of challenges. For CEI services to be a valuable long-term staffing strategy, effective management practices must be developed and documented. OBJECTIVES • Investigate CEI management strategies used at KYTC and other state transportation agencies • Identify strategies KYTC can use to effectively manage and encourage the use of CEI contracts • Develop a best practices resource for KYTC Leadership and construction project managers WORKPLAN Task 1: Review and document successful strategies for managing CEI contracts at select DOTs Task 2: Document KYTC’s current approach to managing CEI contracts across districts Task 3: Identify roadblocks to using CEIs at KYTC and develop corresponding mitigation strategies Task 4: Prepare “business case” for utilizing CEI forces to augment KYTC inspection staff Task 5: Develop best practices document Task 6: Final report