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CHAPTER 5
MODIFYING THE CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS
Requirements for modifying or adding to the University's standard construction documents are set forth in this chapter. Use the information in this chapter along with the Cover Sheets and Instructions preceding each document in Part II to modify the individual documents.
Modifications of the approved construction documents are often required for the following reasons, each of which is described in this chapter:
(See RD1.5, Modification and Review Requirements for Construction Documents.)
The construction documents have been written to address current requirements of typical University construction projects both new construction and alterations. However, the University is committed to the ongoing improvement of its construction documents to meet changing needs that result from matters such as government regulations, legislation, insurance, and user experience. The Office of the President receives and considers proposed document changes from the Facilities; unless changes are considered urgent, all changes for improvement will be made yearly.
5.1.1 Interim Improvements Made by Letter
References:
"Acceptable Sureties for Construction Contracts," Director–Facilities and Environmental Management, Office of the President, University of California, letter to Facilities Managers, Oakland, CA, January 5, 1994 (see RD6.3).
"Builder's Risk Program for Projects Over $200,000," Director Facilities Design, Construction & Management, and Director Office of Risk Management, Office of the President, University of California, letter to Campus Risk Managers and Facilities Managers, Oakland, CA, September 15, 1992 (see RD6.4).
"Determining Bidder Responsibility," Manager Construction Services, Office of the President, University of California, letter to Facilities Managers (listed), Oakland, CA, June 11, 1993 (see RD6.5).
"Insurance Company Rating," Principal Contracts Administrator, Office of the President, University of California, letter to Facilities Managers and Contracts Administrators, Oakland, CA, March 11, 1993 (see RD6.6).
"Liability and Automobile Insurance Certificates," Principal Contracts Administrator, Office of the President, University of California, letter to Facilities Managers and Contracts Administrators, Oakland, CA, October 22, 1992 (see RD6.7).
"Multiple Surety Bond Forms," Director–Facilities Design, Construction, and Management, Office of the President, University of California, letter to Facilities Managers, Oakland, CA, October 26, 1993 (see RD6.1).
"New Conditional & Unconditional Release upon Progress Payment," Principal Contracts Administrator, Office of the President, University of California, letter to Contract Administrators, Oakland, CA, April 14, 1994 (see RD6.2).
"New Construction Document Language," Principal Contracts Administrator, Office of the President, University of California, letter to Facilities Managers and Contracts Administrators, Oakland, CA, November 12, 1992 (see RD6.8).
"Termination of Construction Bidding Document Review," Director Facilities Design, Construction, and Management, Office of the President, University of California, letter to Facilities Managers, Oakland, CA, July 27, 1993 (see RD6.9).
"The University of California Master Builder's Risk Program," Director Facilities Design, Construction, and Management, Office of the President, University of California, letter to Campus Risk Managers and Facilities Managers, Oakland, CA, September 14, 1993 (see RD6.10).
"Use of Short Form Contract Documents for Projects over $200,000 Modifications for Builder's Risk Property Insurance," John A. Burnett, Office of the President, University of California, letter to Facilities Managers, Oakland, CA, January 17, 1990 (see RD6.11).
"Warner Amendment - Public Law 101-136, Section 623," John A. Burnett, Office of the President, University of California, letter to Facilities Managers, Oakland, CA, June 14, 1990 (see RD6.12).
In the interim period between the switch from the existing Facilities Manual to the newly revised Facilities Manual, Volumes 1-6, several improvements to the University construction documents have been issued by letter from the Office of the President to the Facilities. These improvements have been incorporated in the Part I text and in the model documents found in Part II.
Choosing a contracting mode other than complete plans and specifications (see [I]:1.1) will require modification of the University's standard construction documents.
5.2.1 Using the Complete Plans and Specifications Mode
Since the standard construction documents have been written for single-contract projects using the complete plans and specifications contracting mode and a stipulated sum basis for payment, no changes are required for this mode of contracting.
5.2.2 Modifications for the Design-and-Build Mode
The design-and-build contracting mode requires changes to the core and non-core documents listed below. For each document, the degree of changes required is also indicated. Samples of these documents are available from the Office of the President. The Office of the President is available to assist the Facility in developing the final documents.
| Document | Degree of Changes Required |
|---|---|
| Table of Contents | Major |
| Advertisement for Bids | Major |
| Instructions to Bidders (core document) | Major |
| Supplementary Instructions to Bidders | Minor |
| Bid Form | Minor |
| Agreement | Minor |
| General Conditions (core document) | Minor |
| Supplementary Conditions | Minor |
| Specifications, Division 1, General Requirements | Minor |
| Specifications, Divisions 2 through 16 | Performance specifications used |
| List of Drawings | Not used |
| Drawings | Small-sized sheets used |
| Design Criteria | New document |
| Program Requirements | New document |
| Evaluation Procedures | New document |
| Design-Build Competition | New document |
5.2.3 Modifications for the Construction Manager Mode
Two types of contracts can be used with the construction manager contracting mode; both require changes to some core and non-core documents. Among the conditions that determine the type of contract are the following:
The changes required when construction management is provided by a consultant and when it is provided by a contractor are listed below. For each document listed, the degree of changes required is also indicated. Samples of these documents are available from the Office of the President. The Office of the President is available to assist the Facility in developing the final documents.
Construction Management by Consultant:
| Document | Degree of Changes Required |
|---|---|
| Table of Contents | Minor |
| Advertisement for Bids | Minor |
| Instructions to Bidders (core document) | Moderate |
| Supplementary Instructions to Bidders | Minor |
| Bid Form | Minor |
| Agreement | Moderate |
| General Conditions (core document) | Moderate |
| Supplementary Conditions | Minor |
| Specifications, Division 1, General Requirements | Moderate |
Construction Management by Contractor:
| Document | Degree of Changes Required |
|---|---|
| Table of Contents | Moderate |
| Advertisement for Bids | Moderate |
| Instructions to Bidders (core document) | Major |
| Supplementary Instructions to Bidders | Minor |
| Bid Form | Major; all work must be competitively bid |
| Agreement | Moderate |
| General Conditions (core document) | Major |
| Supplementary Conditions | Moderate |
| Specifications, Division 1, General Requirements | Moderate |
5.2.4 Modifications for the Cost-Plus-Fee Mode
The cost-plus-fee contracting mode requires changes to the core and non-core documents listed below. For each document, the degree of changes required is also indicated. Samples of these documents are available from the Office of the President. The Office of the President is available to assist the Facility in developing the final documents.
| Document | Degree of Changes Required |
|---|---|
| Advertisement for Bids | Minor |
| Instructions to Bidders (core document) | Moderate |
| Supplementary Instructions to Bidders | Minor |
| Bid Form | Major |
| Agreement | Minor |
| General Conditions (core document) | Major |
| Supplementary Conditions | Minor |
| Specifications, Division 1, General Requirements | Minor |
| Specifications, Divisions 2 through 16 | Possibly outline specifications |
| List of Drawings | Possibly schematic drawings |
5.2.5 Modifications for Other Contracting Modes
Contracting modes—other than the complete plans and specifications, design-and-build, construction management, and cost-plus-fee modes—have been used by the University. Construction documents for these other contracting modes are usually developed for a special project on a one-time-use basis. The Office of the President keeps a list of projects that have been accomplished using these customized contracting modes along with a set of the documents used for each. The Office of the President is available to assist the Facilities in developing customized construction documents.
Approval by the President is required before other contracting modes are used because permission for their use has not been delegated to the Facilities.
Special project applications, including special funding, may require changes to both core and non-core documents. Core documents are modified by adding articles to the Supplementary Instructions to Bidders or the Supplementary Conditions. The Office of the President must approve such modifications.
The Office of the President is available to provide the assistance necessary to develop the construction documents. Special project applications should be determined early in the development of the project.
5.3.1 Federally Funded Projects
References:
Warner Amendment - Public Law 101-136, Section 623, John A. Burnett, Office of the President, University of California, letter to Facilities Managers, Oakland, CA, June 14, 1990 (see RD6.12).
Recipients of federal agency grant funds must follow specific requirements if such funds are to be used to procure goods and services, including construction services, valued at $500,000 or more. Public Law 101-136, Section 623, also known as the Warner Amendment, enacts these requirements and reads as follows:
(2) express the amount announced pursuant to paragraph (1) as being a percentage of the total costs of the planned acquisition.
(b) The requirements of subsection (a) shall not apply to a procurement for goods or services (including construction services) that has an aggregate value of less than $500,000. Public Law 101-136, Section 623.
For projects using federal grant funds, items (1) and (2) above must be satisfied by adding appropriate language to the Advertisement for Bids.
5.3.2 State Revenue Bond-Financed Projects
Standard Long Form construction documents must be changed in response to the federal Tax Reform Act of 1986 and to adapt the documents to changes made in the state of California's process of financing state revenue bond-financed projects. The Office of the President has developed a set of construction documents that incorporate the required changes. Diskettes containing these documents are available from the Office of the President.
The following Long Form construction documents must be modified for state revenue bond-financed projects:
Special project circumstances (presented in this article alphabetically) may require modifications of both core documents and non-core documents. Detailed completion and modification instructions for the circumstances that follow are given on the Cover Sheet and Instructions that immediately precedes each construction document model in Part II.
An allowance is an amount established in the contract documents for inclusion in the contract sum to cover the cost of prescribed items not specified in detail, with the provision that any variation between this amount and the final cost, if higher, of the prescribed items, will be made by change order to appropriately adjust the contract sum.
Limit the use of allowances to designs, services, or construction elements—such as creative design, modeling, or sculptural work related to a project—that are not specifiable enough to allow competitive bidding or for a part of the work to be competitively bid after the award of the contract. If an allowance is to be made for parts of the work that will be competitively bid after the award of the contract, contact the Office of the President for the required text to be added to the construction documents.
When allowances are used, the following documents require modification:
Ideally, the total bid price should cover the scope of a complete project without the need for alternate bids. However, if alternates are requested, they should be used with discretion, held to a minimum, carefully prepared to minimize bidder confusion, and coordinated with the Specifications and the Drawings.
Two reasons for requesting alternate bid prices are:
Alternates should be all deductive or all additive, as follows:
In addition, the presence of alternates may affect the selection of the lowest responsible bidder (see FM5[I]:7.3.2).
When alternates are used, the following contract documents must be modified (the Mini Form does not utilize alternates):
Post-Award Alternates. A post-award alternate is an alternate that is exercisable for a stipulated period from the bid deadline or from the date of contract award. This type of alternate is used when the possibility of attaining additional funds at a date after the bid deadline or contract award is known or highly probable. Since the alternate is not exercised until after award of the contract, it is not a basis for the award. The University has successfully used post-award alternates on several projects.
The Bid Form and Agreement already have appropriate text to allow for post-award alternates.
When post-award alternates are used, the following document must be modified (the Brief Form does not utilize alternates):
When a project involves asbestos abatement, the following document must be modified:
In addition to assignments of responsibility to other parties that are developed during construction (see FM5[II]:1.4), assignments are occasionally made part of the bidding documents. This situation occurs when the University awards a separate contract for portions of the work before the complete project is bid and later assigns that separate contract to the general contractor for the project. This procedure is really a version of the "fast-track" project delivery method and has been successfully used for structural steel, elevators, and other portions of the work. The separate contract for the structural steel, for example, is awarded before the design is complete. By the time the design is complete and ready to be bid on, the structural steel has been ordered and delivered; no time has been lost waiting for the structural steel.
When assignments are used as described above, the bidding documents for both the separate contract and the general contract must be extensively revised. Modifications to documents for the separate contract inform the bidders that their contract will be assigned to a not-yet-selected general contractor. Modifications to documents for the general contract inform the general contract bidders of the complete, separate contract data.
When assignments are used, the following documents require modification:
In addition, the following new documents must be added:
References:
When bidder prequalification is used, the Long Form Advertisement for Bids is replaced by the Advertisement for Contractor Prequalification (see FM5:RD2.1), which generally explains the prequalification process. The Advertisement for Contractor Prequalification informs bidders that prequalification documents (the Prequalification Questionnaire, FM5:RD2.2) will be issued to interested bidders, and that bidding documents will be issued only to prequalified bidders. A Prequalification Evaluation form (FM5:RD2.4) is used by the Facility to evaluate the bidders. Additionally, when prequalification is used, the following document must be modified (see FM5[I]:4.3.2):
When bidder qualification is used, the following documents must be modified (see FM5[I]:4.4.2):
5.4.7 Code Requirements, Optional
In addition to the codes listed in Specifications, Division 1, Section 01060, Regulatory Requirements, the contractor may be required to comply with additional codes or standards such as the National Electric Code or the Standards of the American Welding Society; in these cases, modify Section 01060 to include the additional codes or standards.
References:
The California Education Code allows The Regents to provide for the payment of a bonus to the contractor for early completion of a project. The most practical use of a bonus is to reward the contractor for completing a project before a specified date rather than within the contract time. The specified date might be that required for dormitory occupancy or for opening another revenue-producing facility.
When an early completion bonus is offered, the following documents must be modified:
A bonus stipulated for early completion is not a prerequisite for an enforceable liquidated damages clause (see FM5[II]:5.6).
The construction sequence is usually the responsibility of the contractor and should be shown in the construction schedule, which requires approval by the University's Representative. When the Facility or the design professional requires a special construction sequence, the following document must be modified:
5.4.10 Contractor's Statement of Experience and Financial Condition
Use of the Contractor's Statement of Experience and Financial Condition is optional with Long Form contracts, is not anticipated to be used with the Brief Form, and should not be used with the Mini Form (see FM5[I]:8.5.3).
When the Contractor's Statement is used, it is submitted with the signed Agreement and other documents as required by the Notice of Selection as the Lowest Responsible Bidder, and the following document must be modified:
Hospital projects, both new construction and remodeling, entail special procedures required by hospital administration and by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD). OSHPD is required by state law to enforce building standards related to hospital development (see [I]:6.2.3).
When the work involves new construction or remodeling for hospitals, the following documents must be modified:
5.4.12 Incremental Funding of Single Lump-Sum Contracts
Incremental funding allows the University to enter into a contract to have a facility built over a period of years for a fixed total price, but limits the University's financial obligation at any one time to the amount of funds currently available and allotted to the contractor. Project funds that are not available when the project is bid become available during subsequent fiscal years or at some other intervals.
The University has used incremental funding on projects because this funding method presents several advantages. Since the project does not have to be divided into multiple contracts awarded in sequential fiscal years, cost savings are realized in design, management, and construction. In addition, shorter completion schedules are usually obtained.
Regents' approval is required for incremental funding because The Regents have not delegated the authority to award projects in excess of appropriated funds.
When a Facility believes that the use of incremental funding may be advantageous, the procedures below should be followed:
5.4.13 Irrevocable Bid Period, Changing
The Facility may increase or decrease the irrevocable period from the initial 60 days (see [I]:4.5.1). The minimum period would be determined as the time required to process the bidding documents and secure the required approvals. If a time period other than 60 calendar days is used, the following documents must be modified:
5.4.14 Daily Rate of Compensation for Compensable Delays
General Conditions, Article 7, provides compensation to the contractor for compensable delays (see FM5[II]:3.5). To be entitled to an adjustment in the contract sum for a compensable delay, the contractor must follow the claims procedures in General Conditions, Articles 4 and 7.
The amount of the daily rate of compensation provided on the Bid Form by the bidder is multiplied by an estimated number of days of compensable delay provided on the Bid Form by the University. That amount is then added into the total bid price to determine the lowest bidder. During performance of the contract, however, the actual number of days of compensable delay determined in accordance with the contract documents is multiplied by the amount of the daily rate of compensation listed in the Agreement to determine the total amount owed to contractor by the University for compensable delay.
5.4.15 Phased Construction and Multiple Liquidated Damages
Phased Construction. Phased construction may be used with a single-contract project (see [I]:1.2) where portions of the contract are completed as the construction proceeds. This type of construction is referred to at the University as "multiple completion times" and is used in situations where certain portions of the work must be completed before the whole project is completed because of special requirements.
When phased construction is used, the following documents must be modified:
Appropriate milestones and work activities should be included in the Specifications to suit the particular project. Assistance in drafting document modifications may be obtained from the Office of the General Counsel.
Multiple Liquidated Damages. If portions of the work must be completed at different times (phased construction), multiple liquidated damages may be used to encourage the contractor to complete the work at the required times.
When multiple liquidated damages are used, the following documents must be modified:
5.4.16 Separate Bids and Combined Bids
Occasionally a bidder may be asked to submit separate bids on two or more phases or parts of one project. The Facility may then award a contract to the lowest responsible bidder based on each separate bid or on the combined bid. This bidding method may be used when the budget for the total project combines separate fund sources, for example, federal funds for an addition to a building and non-federal funds for alterations to the same building.
On federally assisted projects, award of the contract may be made to the lowest responsible bidder on the entire work even though this bidder may not be the lowest responsible bidder for the federally assisted portion of the project. However, federal funding will be limited to the lowest responsible bid received on the federally funded portion of the project.
If separate bids and combined bids are used, the following documents must be modified:
References:
Separate contracts may be used as multiple prime contracts (see [I]:1.2.1) to the University without assignment to a general contractor.
When separate contracts are used, the following documents must be modified:
5.4.18 Soil and Subsurface Conditions
Whenever site work requires the use of soil or subsurface investigation reports, logs of test borings, or similar geotechnical data as references for the contractor, all such geotechnical data must be provided in the Information Available to Bidders. The Information Available to Bidders disclaims all such geotechnical data; however, General Conditions, Paragraph 3.17, Concealed or Unknown Conditions, requires the University to assume responsibility for conditions that vary from the represented data.
When the Specifications and the Drawings use the term "soils engineer," or a synonymous term such as "geotechnical engineer" or "soil and foundation engineer," the Drawings should contain language that informs the contractor of the soils engineer's duties but does not describe the soils engineer's duties as being owed to the contractor.
When the Specifications and the Drawings use the term "soils engineer" or a synonymous term, the following document must be modified:
References:
Before the Long Form documents were first issued, a special clause was added to the former Information Available to Bidders regarding when a project could be bid on by a specialty contractor. This special clause is no longer used because its intent is now satisfied by license classifications and codes that the Facility must add to the Advertisement for Bids, as required by the Public Contract Code.
5.4.21 Trenching and Excavating
References:
When the work is anticipated to involve trenching or excavating of five feet or more in depth, the following document must be modified:
When unit prices are used (see [I]:1.5.3), the following documents must be modified:
Unit prices are not provided for in the Mini Form. If unit prices are to be used in the Mini Form, use appropriate text from the Brief Form.
General Conditions, Article 6, sets forth the University's rights and contractor's responsibilities when a project has different contractors working together on the same project site. When this situation occurs, the Specifications should describe the work of the separate contractors and how that work relates to the project. With this description, the contractor for the project in question may plan the work and better anticipate problems before they become major obstructions to the progress of the work.
Contractors are sometimes required to share the same site because the contract limits are either adjacent to or near each other. The contractors may have to use the same access or even the same work area.
When use of common site provisions must be made, the following document must be modified:
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