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Special provisions

  • Yes, any change to an already approved special provision must be submitted for review and approval. This was the agreement we made with industry and FHWA when we did the re-engineering of the special provision review process back in 2008. Each special provision will have a unique identifier and if the contractor sees that identifier on another special provision in another project, they will assume it has identical requirements.

  • The technical review period is short and either technical reviewer can review the SP at any time. This allows one reviewer to complete their review as time is available rather than having to wait until someone has finished their review when you may not have enough time to complete your review. After your review is complete, change the state one time unless directed to change the state two times.

  • For some SPs, only one technical reviewer is required and is assigned. Changing the state two times moves the SP into "review complete" state. This allows the specifications engineers to easily search for and find all SPs that are ready for final review and approval.

  • Designers currently have access to almost all approved SPs. Designers can follow SP search tool handout (or available on the web) to search for a previously approved special provision that may fit the needs of your project. If any modification is necessary in a previously approved special provision, it will need to be submitted for review and approval.

  • No, the source code for all MDOT SPs must be an MDOT employee. When consultants are doing the design, the source code should list the PM.

  • If you are looking at the SP in ProjectWise, then you can right-click on the file you are inquiring about, scroll down and right-click on properties. Go to the Audit Trail tab and left-click on it. The person who submitted the SP should be very first line under User Name. They may or may have not written the SP but they should know who did write it if they did not do it themselves.

  • No, recent discussions have made it clear that the crossing out of pay items should never be done. Therefore, previously approved SPs will be treated just like the Standard Specifications for Construction manual and pay items not used in a project will just not apply to the project the SP is included in.

  • Current Development policy requires designers to ensure that projects submitted for advertisement can meet the current guidelines for Buy America preferences. Designers should review and follow the applicable FUSPs 105C or 105D depending on funding type and what was covered under the NEPA decision. Designers must contact manufacturers and have them supply documentation that the product can meet the Buy America preferences covered in subsection 105.10 of the Standard Specifications for Construction and the current FUSPs. These documents must also be placed in the supporting document folder in ProjectWise.

  • Contact Kristi Kirkpatrick in QA. If it is a minor change, she will make the modifications for you. If it is a significant change, the SP will be returned so you can make your modifications and it must be resubmitted. This may delay the review and approval time, so ensuring SPs are accurate prior to submittal is the best standard practice.

  • No, discussions between the Design Division, CFS and FHWA have made it clear that the crossing out of pay item should never be done. Therefore, we are stopping this practice and will treat FUSPs just like the Standard Specifications for Construction manual where pay items not used in the project will just not apply to the project.

  • Sometimes Microsoft Word does a funny little thing and reformats any document that is opened on your computer to the printer driver defaults that are listed on your computer. So, while a SP may be perfectly formatted when it was approved, as soon as you open it to make modifications, Word will reformat it for the printer you have connected to your computer.