ACTIVE CLAIMS
The following is the current procedures for processing Active Claims:
- Resident Engineer approval authority is
$100,000 and
30 days for active claims under all Articles of the Specifications. Resident Engineer can not deny any active claim.
- Division Engineer or his / her delegate approval and denial authority for active claims is unlimited under all Articles of the specifications.
- Area Construction Engineer reviews all active claims over
$100,000 or
30 days.
- State Construction Engineer reviews all active claims over $200,000 or
90 days.
- Area Construction Engineer and State Construction Engineer active claim review must be made prior to notifying the contractor of the Department’s decision. Any approval of claims outside of those allowed by the Specifications must be forwarded to the State Construction Engineer for approval.
- If the dollar value or time on a specific claim exceeds the thresholds listed above then the entire claim should be forwarded for review. (Do not breakout issues and forward parts of the claim)
All individuals that approve, deny, or make recommendations on an active claim should use the appropriate
Claims Resolution Form (CRF) for documentation. The current form can be found on the Construction Unit’s Web Site.
When notifying the contractor about a decision on an active claim the Engineer
should not send a copy of the Claims Resolution Form. A letter should be written that tells the contractor whether the claim has been granted or denied, and an explanation should be given explaining the Department’s position. Once a final decision has been made on an active claim, the contractor cannot resubmit it again until the project closeout conference. At the project closeout conference, the claim can be re-evaluated if the contractor has additional information available that could change the original decision.
The following is the current turnaround times for processing Active Claims:
Claims up to $100,000 or 30 days
- Contractor submits claim
- Resident Engineer review and approves within
10 days (if claim is to be denied see below)
- If Resident Engineer recommends denial of claim then the request should be forwarded to the Division Engi neer within
10 days
- Division Engineer or his / her delegate reviews Resident Engineer’s recommendation of denial and approves or denies the claim within
10 days
- TOTAL PROCESS COMPLETE WITHIN
ONE MONTH
Claims between $100,000 and $200,000 or up to 90 days
- Contractor submits claim
- Resident Engineer reviews and sends recommendation for Area Construction Engineer review within
20 days
- Area Construction Engineer reviews and forwards to Division Engineer with comments within
5 days
- Division Engineer or his / her delegate review and decision within
5 days
- PROCESS COMPLETE WITHIN
SIX WEEKS
Claims over $200,000 or over 90 days
- Contractor submits claim
- Resident Engineer review and send recommendation for Area Construction Engineer review within 30 days
- Area Construction Engineer (State Construction Engineer) reviews and forwards to Division Engineer with comments within
10 days
- Division Engineer or his / her delegate review and decision within
10 days
- PROCESS COMPLETE WITHIN
2 ½ MONTHS
FINAL CLAIMS
Central Let Projects
All final claims should be submitted from the Contractor directly to the State Construction Engineer. An active claim becomes a final claim once it has gone through the active claim process and project closeout process, and the Contractor still believes he is due additional compensation and/or an extension in the contract completion date. These final claims will be reviewed and responded to by the State Construction Engineer as part of the final estimate process.
Division Let Projects
All final claims are submitted directly to the Division Engineer for review. The Division Engineer will forward a recommendation to the Area Construction Engineer for all final claims greater than $100,000 or 30 days. For final claims exceeding $200,000 or 90 days the Division Engineer will forward a recommendation to the State Construction Engineer. Once all parties have reviewed and provided their recommendations, the Division Engineer will respond to the Contractor as part of the final estimate processing.
