Massachusetts Highway Department Commissioner Luisa Paiewonsky Chief Engineer Frank Tramontozzi, P'E

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Massachusetts Highway DepartmentCommissioner
Luisa PaiewonskyChief Engineer Frank
Tramontozzi, P.E.

• Design Quality
• Preparing High Quality Designs for
  MassHighway Administered Projects

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American Council of Engineering Companies of
Massachusetts (ACEC/MA)

• Summary of 1999 2003 MHD/TEC Design Quality
  Research Project
• By Bill Rizzo

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Review of MHD/TEC Design Quality Research

• The research process
• Why is design quality important?
• What is design quality?
• What are the quantitative indicators of design
  quality?
• What are the qualitative influences on design
  quality?
• Can you measure and test design quality?
• What can ACEC do to improve design quality?
• What can MassHighway do to improve design
  quality?
• What can ACEC and MassHighway do together?

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MHD/TEC Design Quality Research Process

• Advisory Committee
• Purpose What is design quality and how can it
  be predicted and managed?
• Opinion research
• Literature search and review of approximately 100
  documents
• Developed a formula for measuring design quality
• Project quality testing (range of quality per
  MHD)
• 21 MHD projects 29 projects in other states
• Reports
• Phase I Design Quality Research, December 1999
• Final Report, Design Quality Research, September
  2003
• Conclusions design quality can be defined,
  measured, predicted and managed
• Recommendations for specific actions by both MHD
  and ACEC to improve design quality

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Why is Design Quality Important?

• More economical and easier to construct by 7.7
• More useful to motoring public
• More economical to maintain

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What is Design Quality?

• Design quality for highway construction is the
  totality of characteristics and features of all
  preconstruction engineering processes, tasks, and
  deliverables that bear on satisfying
  stakeholders needs.
• Highway users
• Highway agencies
• Designers
• Contractors

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Quantitative Measures of Design Quality

• Bid variations (spread of bid prices)
• Absence of design and construction extra work
  orders
• Bid quantity variations (estimated vs. actual)
• Extent of cost overruns
• Extent of schedule overruns

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Qualitative Positive Influences on Design Quality

• Use of project management tools, including
• Work breakdown structures for scoping and
  estimating level of effort
• Schedule management and monitoring
• Highway agency, designer and contractor working
  as partners
• Availability and consistency of designer and
  highway agency staff throughout project
• Timely
• Submittals by designer,
• Reviews by highway agency and
• Scope of work changes by both
• Periodic design and schedule reviews
• Constructability reviews by construction
  specialists during design

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Negative Influences on Design Quality

• Value Engineering
• Cost Recovery Policy
• Salary and Overhead Caps
• Untimely submittals
• Untimely reviews (design and constructability)
• Untimely scope changes and/or changing staffing
  from designer and owner
• Extended project durations leads to changing
  staffing from designer and owner

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Measuring and Testing Design Quality

• Formula DQR (BV QE EW DREW)/4
• Where,
• DQR Design Quality Rating
• BV Bid Variation
• QE Quantity Estimates variation
• EW of construction Extra Work Orders
• DREW of Design-related Extra Work Orders
• Tested on
• 21 MassHighway projects (footprint bridge, major
  bridge, highway and resurfacing)
• 29 projects in other states
• Finding Design Quality can be measured
  thereby predicted and managed

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What ACEC designers can do to improve design
quality

• Develop and adhere to reasonable schedule
• Assign adequate and appropriate staff to project
  and keep the design team intact
• Adhere to MHD design standards, directions, and
  check lists.
• Ongoing mentoring and staff training on MHD
  requirements
• Promptly attend to MHD inquiries
• Proper scoping and use of internal and
  independent quality reviews

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What MHD can do to improve design quality

• Provide consistent and timely design reviews
• Allow for designer preference (consistent with
  MHD standards)
• Provide internally-coordinated review comments
• Provide regular feedback on frequently occurring
  issues
• Continue to improve consultant evaluation process
• Perform regular, detailed consultant assessments
  at time of prequalification
• Impose penalties to firms that continually
  under-perform
• Strengthen internal staff by filling key
  positions
• Provide market compensation to help retain
  competent designers
• Involve designers during construction.

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What ACEC and MassHighway can do together

• Continue an aggressive partnering process to
  improve design quality
• Analyze causes of quantitative factors
  influencing design quality (bid variance,
  quantity variations and change orders) and
  influence change
• Analyze causes of qualitative factors influencing
  design quality and influence change
• Build upon the MassHighway Consultant Performance
  Evaluation process and form to optimize
  meaningful designer feedback

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For more information

• Download the reports on Design Quality at
• http//www.engineers.org/resources/news.htm
• Massachusetts Design Quality Research Phase 2
  (PDF)
• Massachusetts Design Quality Research Phase 1
  (PDF)

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• MassHighway Design Quality Expectations
• Presented by David R. Anderson, P.E.
• Deputy Chief Engineer for Design
• MassHighway

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• MassHighway Expects In-House and Consultant
  Designed projects to meet the same level of
  Quality

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• Quality must be our 1 Priority
• MassHighway experiences many of the same quality
  issues on in-house designs
• MassHighway is constantly investigating ways to
  improve quality

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• Why is Design Quality important during the Design
  Phase?
• Poor quality submittals require a significant
  workhour investment for MassHighway staff
  responsible for providing engineering reviews.
• This additional time required for review, impacts
  the project schedule.
• Re-submittals have a particularly negative impact
  on schedule.

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• Why is Design Quality important during the
  Construction Phase?
• Quality bid documents generate quality bids
• If the actual quantities of work performed are
  identical to the engineers estimate, then the
  Commonwealth is assured that the contract is
  performed at the lowest cost
• Incorrect quantities and ambiguous special
  provisions result in unbalanced bidding
• Design errors and omissions delay projects

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• Quality Begins with the Scope of Work
• The Chief Engineer has issued guidance to all
  MassHighway staff involved in negotiating
  consultant contracts. Some key points from this
  memorandum are
• Start with a good project scope of work
  (consultants play a key role on municipal
  projects)
• Use MassHighway Scope of Services and Work Hour
  Estimate forms
• Have an independent estimate

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• Scope of Work (contd)
• Conduct a scoping meeting prior to submittal of
  work hours by consultant
• Negotiate based on work hours not dollar amount
• Perceived cost savings during initial scoping can
  often result in significantly greater costs
  during construction
• Work through MassHighways chain of command to
  resolve differences

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• Design Quality in General
• Failure to address design comments is the
  principal reason for MassHighway requiring a
  resubmittal.
• All comments require a response.
• If the designer disagrees with a comment they
  should contact the reviewer and discuss the
  comment.
• If a subsequent submittal includes a change to
  the design, this change must be discussed in the
  transmittal letter to MassHighway.

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• Design Quality in General (contd)
• Use design review checklists. MassHighway
  requires that a principal of the firm sign these
  checklists and include them with design
  submittals.
• Design review comments will be transmitted to a
  principal at the firm.

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• Design Quality in General (contd)
• Quality control reviews
• Project documents should receive an independent
  review by senior staff prior to submission to
  MassHighway.
• An experienced engineer can uncover any
  significant deficiencies in the contract
  documents in a very short period time.

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• Highway Submittals
• Preliminary design (25)
• Evaluate project impacts
• Environmental
• Right of way
• Evaluate design criteria
• Horizontal and vertical geometry
• Roadway Cross-section
• Perform a constructability review
• Determine if plans are suitable for design public
  hearing

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• Highway Submittals (contd)
• Final design (75 and 100)
• Ensure that all comments are addressed
• Include all the design criteria information
• Plans must depict the disposition of all existing
  and proposed features
• Perform a constructability review for each
  submission

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• Bridge Submittals
• Bridge structural review of plans will require a
  higher level review.
• Use design review checklists for Sketch Plans and
  Construction Drawing Preparation. MassHighway
  requires that a principal of the firm sign these
  checklists and include them with design
  submittals.
• In an effort to streamline, shop drawings will be
  returned either "Approved", "Rejected" or
  "Approved as noted".

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• Bridge Submittals (contd)
• Bridge Review Section is going to be organized
  such that a Bridge Structural Reviewer will be
  assigned to each District.
• MassHighway is moving towards Load Resistance
  Factor Design and Load Factor Design Requirements

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• Special provisions
• Guidance is contained in Chapter 18 of the
  Project Development and Design Guidebook
  available on the MassHighway website.
• Only provide a special provision when absolutely
  necessary. Do not include standard specifications
  in the special provisions.
• Method of measurement and basis of payment must
  be clear and unambiguous
• Refer to the latest version of the supplemental
  specifications

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• Estimate
• The estimate must include an item for every
  element of work shown on the plans
• Use the Construction Project Estimator and
  Weighted Average Bid Program applications
• Use engineering judgment

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• Detail Sheets
• Required for every project
• Intended to assist the contractor in
  understanding how and where specific pay items
  are to be used
• Refer to Chapter 18 of the Project Development
  and Design Guidebook for guidance

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• Bid phase
• Quality of the documents is extremely important
  during this phase
• MassHighway devotes a great deal of work hours to
  preparing construction proposal booklets
• Most of this time is related to making basic
  quality control corrections.

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• Bid Phase (contd)
• Common Bid Phase errors include
• The nomenclature is not consistent among the
  documents (special provisions, estimate, detail
  sheets).
• The unit of measure is not consistent among the
  documents.
• A special provision is missing for an item in the
  estimate that requires a special provision.
• A special provision is provided for an item that
  is already covered by either Standard
  Specifications or the Supplemental Special
  Provisions.
• The special provision does not include a clear
  and unambiguous method of measurement and basis
  of payment.

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• Bid phase (contd)
• Contractor inquiries
• Do not communicate directly with contractors
• Refer all questions to Frank Kucharski,
  Construction Contracts Engineer at
  [phone].
• A prompt response is critical

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• Construction phase
• Prompt
• Contractor RFIs
• Shop Drawing Reviews
• District Construction Inquiries
• Accurate
• Provide guidance during cost recovery phase

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Summary

• Quality is important in all aspects of Design and
  Construction Phase Services.
• Quality Designs begin with Quality Scopes of Work
• Quality Designs Reduce
• Review times, Resubmissions, and Design
  Completion Schedules
• Construction Errors, RFIs and Construction
  Completion Schedules

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• Contact Information
• David Anderson, P.E.
• Deputy Chief Engineer of Design
• Massachusetts Highway Department
• 617-973-7981
• David.Anderson_at_mhd.state.ma.us