109.7 Partial Payments (for Sec 109.7)

Partial payments are payments made over the course of the contract each estimate period, and payments made for material allowance.

109.7.1 Payment Estimates

Payment estimates are generated by the AWP computer software application.

109.7.1.1

Estimates will be generated for all active contracts, regardless of the amount of payment encountered during the estimate period. This includes all estimates for contracts which will produce payment, "no pay" estimates (zero dollar value) and estimates which result in a negative payment.

Should the contract be inactive and a series of estimates will be no pay estimates, a letter or e-mail shall be sent to the contractor with a copy to the controller's office stating estimates will not be generated during the following time periods because there is no work conducted on the contract. The controller's office will record this information and will not contact the Resident Engineer because estimates haven't been generated for a specific time period.

109.7.1.2

The first level of estimate generation will be designated by the Resident Engineer at the time of contract activation. The Resident Engineer will notify the AWP Administrator who this person shall be. This person must have project manager access to the system.

Progress estimates will be generated for estimate end dates of, generally, the 1st and 15th of each month. The controller's office will issue a chart of estimate due dates annually. AWP estimates must be approved by Level 2 (Resident Engineer) no later than 4:00 PM on the day listed on the chart as "Due in Controller's Office."

109.7.1.3

Estimates may be generated repeatedly prior to the estimate ending date, in order to resolve discrepancies or check quantities. Two payment estimates shall be made per month for active contracts. The official pay estimates shall be generated with the period ending dates of the 1st and the 15th, making the estimate periods typically the 2nd day of the month to the 15th day, and the 16th day to the 1st of the following month. There may be exceptions to the estimate periods depending upon the financial systems such as the end of the state fiscal year. Other exceptions may be made to the estimate period depending on the status of the contract or as notified otherwise by the AWP Administrator and in the first paragraph of EPG 109.7.1.4, below.

All indexes based upon a monthly index value shall use the same index value for the entire estimate period even though the index value may be reestablished on the 1st of the month. For example the asphalt and fuel index values change on the 1st of the month, but any work completed on the 1st shall use the same index value as the previous month so that the entire 16th to 1st estimate period uses the same index value.

Estimates can be re-generated without deleting the existing estimate from the Estimate History window. Do not use the "delete" option to delete an estimate. To re-generate an estimate for a pay period, just generate that estimate. The system will indicate that an estimate already exists for the period, and will prompt “Would you like to delete?” (meaning to overwrite the existing estimate.) Select "Yes", which will reset the tables and the estimate will be generated containing any new information that has been added.

109.7.1.4

The progress estimate for the period ending July 1 of each year shall be changed by the user to the period ending date of June 30th, prior to estimate generation. This change shall be made to coincide with the MoDOT Fiscal Year End cycle.

Supplemental estimates will not be generated unless specifically instructed to do so by the AWP administrator.

Final Estimates shall be generated by the Resident Engineer prior to submission of the final plans to the District for checking. When logged into the system as a Resident Engineer, only final estimates can be generated. For a Resident Engineer to generate a progress estimate, they must log in as a project manager.

109.7.1.5

Payment estimates must be supported by documentary evidence that work items allowed have actually been done. Evidence may be in the form of scale tickets, diary entries, material receipts, etc. Earthwork quantities may, for example, be supported by load count entries in the inspector's remarks. Another way is by remarks entries giving limiting stations of completed balances. Weight or volume tickets are a sound basis for allowing payment on items measured in this manner. The payment estimate is intended to provide payment to the contractor for all work performed during the estimate period. In no case should payment for specification compliant and accepted work be delayed beyond the estimate period following the period in which the work was performed.

Check all items against inspection records to be sure they are properly approved.

109.7.1.6

The Division Final Plans Reviewer shall notify the Resident Engineer when the final estimate is approved and the final plans are passed for payment. Once the Resident Engineer receives the notification, the Resident Engineer will send the prime contractor the Estimate Summary Report(s) for the final estimate as outlined below:

General: The Cognos report “Estimate Summary for Contract, By Estimate Number” is the official estimate report to send to the prime contractor on all MoDOT contracts administered through AWP. This will establish the policy and procedure related to this function of AWP.

Prior to producing this report, it shall be the responsibility of the Resident Engineer to verify the accuracy of the estimate and to approve the estimate in AWP. The Resident Engineer will make this verification by confirming the Last Approver ID is the User ID of the Resident Engineer in the Estimate Summary of each contract.

After the RE has verified the estimate has been approved at the Resident Engineer level, the Estimate Summary for Contract, By Estimate Number shall be electronically saved as a .pdf file in eProjects. Refer to EPG 137 Construction Inspection Guidance for Records to be Maintained for more information on saving reports produced from AWP or information retrieved from AWP.

109.7.2 Material Allowance

Under stockpile materials should appear those items for which a payment may be made in accordance with the general requirements. Check the specification for the minimum acceptable material allowance. Non-perishable items to be incorporated in the finished product may, in general, be included on the estimate for stockpile materials provided satisfactory inspection reports, certifications or mill test reports and required invoices are in the project file. When the item first appears on the estimate, the resident engineer must have on file a copy of an invoice to substantiate the unit prices allowed. Receipted bills for all materials allowed on the estimate must be furnished to the resident engineer within the time established by specifications, or the item must be eliminated from future estimates. Missouri state sales tax may be included in material allowances if shown on invoices or receipted bills. Each receipted bill must be marked or stamped paid with date of payment shown, as well as the name of the firm and signature of the person who received payment. All invoices and receipted bills obtained to substantiate material allowances during progress of the project are to be filed in the district as part of the permanent project record.

Some aggregates are accepted for "quality only" at the point of production. Total acceptance is not made at the time of production because additional processing and/or screening are required before incorporation into the final product. If gradation tests, which are run for information purposes only, indicated it is reasonably possible to produce an acceptable finished product, this material may be included in the stockpile material payment.

If test reports or visual inspection on the above material or other material that might be produced and accepted indicate that it will be unsatisfactory at a later date due to gradation, excess P.I., segregation, contamination, etc., these materials should not be included on the stockpile materials payment.

The price per unit for material produced by the contractor or by a producer other than an established commercial producer should reflect the actual cost of production. The units shown under material estimate should be the same unit of measure used in the bid item where possible, such as pound for steel, linear foot for piles, etc. Where this is not possible, a convenient unit such as ton for aggregate should be used. Quantities in excess of contract requirements should not be allowed. Hauling costs should not normally be included in the unit cost of any material unless it has been hauled to a site where it can immediately be incorporated in the finished product or work. If hauling cost is allowed, it must be considered with relation to the value of the material in case it is necessary for the state to take it over. Stockpiling costs are not to be included as part of the unit cost.

Items that are to be accepted by project personnel must be inspected and found satisfactory prior to being included on a stockpile materials payment. Quantities for materials included on a stockpile materials payment should never exceed approved quantities.

Before an allowance will be approved for payment on material stockpiled or stored on private property, or for aggregates stored on property operated as a commercial business, a lease agreement from the contractor or subcontractor showing compliance with the following points must be submitted to the district office for approval.

1. A complete land description covered in the lease form and the haul distance from the lease area to the project.

2. The following statement included in the lease agreement:

"It is understood and agreed by the parties hereto that the land herein involved is to be used as a materials storage site and that the prime contractor, whether or not the lessee herein, may obtain payment from the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission for material stored thereon".

"It is further understood and agreed by the parties hereto that the prime contractor or contractor having a written agreement with the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission for the construction of highway work involving this lease and the materials stored thereon, whether or not the lessee, and the employees of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission shall have the right of access to the property covered by this lease at all times during its existence and that in the event of default on the part of the lessee or the prime contractor, if other than lessee, the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission may enter upon the property and remove said materials to the extent to which advance payments were made thereon".

An area leased on property operated as a commercial business must be posted so as to divorce the site for stockpiling of highway materials from the commercial operation.

If either party to the lease agreement is incorporated, it is essential that an Acknowledgment by Corporation be attached for each corporation involved since an individual cannot legally bind a corporation without duly enacted authorization by the corporation's Board of Directors. A suitable form for this purpose is shown in Agreement for Shifting State Highway Entrance, page 1. Other forms may be used by some corporations and are acceptable if they fulfill the intent of the form illustrated. Leases involving corporations should not be accepted without the Acknowledgment.

Signatures by individuals must be notarized, or be witnessed by at least two disinterested persons. The address of witnesses should be shown.

When material is stored on property owned by a railroad and is accessible by a public roadway, it is not necessary to obtain a lease agreement to permit this material to be placed on the estimate as a stockpile material.

If hauling charges are to be included as part of the cost of materials allowed for payment, invoices for hauling charges must be provided by the contractor in the same manner as invoices for the material. An exception to this requirement is allowance for the cost of the rail freight. For rail freight the contractor should supply a copy of the first freight bill to substantiate the freight rate. In lieu of submitting receipted freight bills, the contractor may then sign a statement on each material invoice indicating that freight charges have been paid. If the contractor prefers, a letter may be submitted listing several invoices and indicating freight charges that have been paid. Whichever procedure is adopted, the resident engineer must be assured that freight charges have been indicated as paid for all materials invoices submitted to verify quantities.

The engineer may also include in any payment estimate an amount not to exceed 90 percent of the invoice value of any inspected and accepted fabricated structural steel items, structural precast concrete items, permanent highway signs, and structural aluminum sign trusses. These items must be finally incorporated in the completed work and be in conformity with the plans and specifications for the contract. These items may be stored elsewhere in an acceptable manner provided approved shop drawings have been furnished covering these items and also provided the value of these items is not less than $25,000 for each storage location for each project.

The engineer may also include in any payment estimate, on contracts containing 100 tons or more of structural steel, an amount not to exceed 100 percent of the receipted mill invoice value of structural carbon steel or structural low alloy steel, or both, which is to form a part of the completed work and which has been produced and delivered by the steel mill to the fabricator.

While the nature and quality of material is the contractor’s responsibility until incorporated into the project, material presented for stockpile materials payment must be inspected prior to being approved for payment. The nature of that inspection is at the discretion of the engineer and may include sampling and testing to determine whether the material has a reasonable potential of compliance, once incorporated into the project. This sampling and testing may occur wherever the material is offered for stockpile materials payment, including stockpiles in quarries and at other off-project sites. Material that is a component of a mix may be compared to the associated mix design or to any other specification criteria that may apply.