CMSC Initiatives Update WTBA & WisDOT Contractor Engineer Conference January 21, 2010

Evaluation of WisDOT’s Transparency Effort Gary Whited Jera Jo Pashouwer Professor Awad Hanna

Overview  Background  Pilot program goals and projects  Project demographics  Study methodology  Results so far

Transparency Effort Goals  WisDOT managed construction projects and Consultant managed projects are viewed as being the same  Faster and more timely decision making  Consultant project managers have ready access to the design consultant

Pilot Project Selection  Multiple state and Local Program projects in each Region  Mix of bridge and roadway projects  Mix of complex, large, medium and small projects  Variety of contracting methods for retaining design firm

Project Demographics

 Transparency design contracts range from 0.03 – 0.45% of construction contract award amount  Overall approximately 0.1% of construction contract award amount  About $124,000 total transparency design contract amount

Goals for our Research Project  Determine the effectiveness and benefits experienced by the effort  Suggest improvements that could make the program better  Determine the most effective way to contract for the design involvement  Make recommendations regarding continued use

Study Methodology Construct Database Conduct Interviews Compile DataDevelop Recommendations

Phone Interviews  Design Team  Contractors  Design Consultants  Consultant Project Leaders  WisDOT Project Managers

Contractor Responses  Most were unaware their project was a pilot  Most did not submit RFI’s to the Project Leader  Almost all felt they received timely responses and there were no project impacts  Most felt their project was straight forward with few issues  Most felt the transparency effort had value and should continue

Design Consultant Responses  Most designers have used less than half of the Transparency contract cap  Most said they would handle the questions anyway  About half admit they were more motivated to answer quickly because of the contract  All surveyed believe the effort would prove beneficial for future projects

Observations So Far  Transparency Effort seems to have been well received  Some criticism of how the design contract was implemented  Recommendations to follow further research

Next Steps  Continue interviews  Compile and analyze data  Review similar techniques/trends used in industry  Summarize and make recommendations

Questions?