WisDOT MAPSS - Accountability - On-budget Performance - The continuous effort to use public dollars in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
On-budget Performance - The continuous effort to use public dollars in the most efficient and cost-effective way.Finishing highway projects on budget helps keep us accountable for the use of limited public funds and allows us to schedule future projects more effectively. Our goal is to keep project cost overruns at 3% or less of the original contract amount (a lower number is better).
The department aims to have the final project cost as close as possible to the amount that was originally contracted when the project was let out for bid. While managing our budget is important, WisDOT’s top priority is delivering a quality project. Therefore, project costs may increase due to an issue recognized in the field.
A variety of factors can come into play including weather, staging needs, contractor readiness and competition for the work. Actual costs are affected by the quality and completeness of project designs, new findings or changes in field conditions, weather condition and contract oversight. Additional factors may be late additions to project scope due to safety conditions, changes in customer expectations and local non-participating requests during construction. Not all changes identified in the field are negative. Cost Reduction Incentives (CRI) are a primary example of how contractors and department staff work together in the construction phase to identify efficiencies that create positive financial impacts.
WisDOT project staff work diligently to control costs and timelines. They also continually troubleshoot and analyze issues to develop best practices and deliver more efficient and effective work. Discussions can involve topics such as site conditions, the materials market and other emerging opportunities. There have been ongoing discussions relative to the way the department aligns with utilities to keep projects on budget and on time, and how the change order process can aid in navigating project needs where quantities are not fixed at the outset – referred to as Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contracts. We continue to monitor these. There is a new process in place for reimbursing contractors for extended delays caused by utilities. This has led to improved cooperation and communication among all parties. Staff continue to work with a change management process with the regional management team discussing change orders exceeding $25,000 at monthly meetings.