NCHRP 20-05/Topic 50-17: Practices for Closing Out Highway Projects from Substantial Completion to Final Payment

Because of the complexity of closing out a highway project, it is not unusual for the completion of a project to take months or years. The challenges to closing out a project can include change of personnel, migration of information (paper to electronic), and competing responsibilities. Not closing out a project within an expected time frame can lead to additional costs to the owner, frustration to the contractors and impediments to release of retention and/or final payment. The delay ultimately impacts internal and external relationships. While there are checklists and processes for closing out a project among some state agencies, a better understanding of factors that drive delayed project close-outs could help ensure timely conclusion of highway projects. The objective of this synthesis is to document successful practices for closing out highway projects. Information to be gathered will include but not be limited to: *Reported durations of time to close out a project from substantial completion from opening day to final contractor payment and final closeout. *Required documentation for close out (e.g. certifications of work, materials, test results and other documents) *Financial implications of not closing out a project *Policies, processes, tools and metrics transportation agencies use to control the duration required to close out projects (e.g. milestones, agency goals, monitoring and tracking mechanisms) *Major factors influencing the delay of the close out of a project, including internal processes and external stakeholder influences *Concerns that the contracting industry has regarding close out of projects to their business *Successful practices as reported by DOTs Information will be gathered through a literature review, a survey of state transportation agencies through the AASHTO Committee on Funding and Finance, and follow-up interviews with selected agencies and industry representatives to document effective practices including metrics to support closing out projects. The report will include no fewer than five case examples.