6863-9

The Department has occupancy permits and right-of-way use agreements with many utility companies whereby they are liable for costs if contractors are delayed due to failure by the utility to relocate facilities on construction projects in a timely manner. A list of these utility companies is available on the Office of Utilities website. These utility companies shall relocate their facilities in accordance with their approved Utility Adjustment Schedule (UAS) from the time they are notified to proceed (NTP). The District Engineer is responsible for approving the UAS and providing the utility with a construction NTP. Upon request and justification by the utility company, additional reasonable time can be granted by the Department where necessary due to construction staging or other requirements. The District Engineer shall make the determination to grant additional time.

In order to implement the provisions of the utility agreements and to provide improved coordination on highway construction projects by all utilities, the following procedures shall apply.

1. Utility Adjustment Schedules (UAS)as furnished with this directive will be requested from all utility companies. When preliminary plans are submitted to each utility company, the utility shall be given a specific time, typically up to 60 days but not less than 30 days, in which to mark their facilities on the plans and to request special consideration for the staging of their work with the highway construction or for approval of additional time to relocate/adjust their facilities beyond the normal 60 days. The utility company shall submit a completed Utility Adjustment Schedule at the time that they submit markups for the proposed adjustment/relocation of their facilities. Attainment of the UAS for all utilities on a project, along with Permits and reimbursable Utility Agreements, shall be required in order to complete Utility Certification for a project.

2. Schedules for utility adjustment or relocation may be included with the Utility Special Provision in the Contract Proposal on select projects. Attached is a Utility Conflict Special Provision for use in project Proposals after issuance of this procedure. The Special Provision will be included in the Contract Proposals, where applicable, by Contract Administration. Utility Conflicts Special Provisions should not be submitted by the Design Project Manager unless it is specifically written for a particular project.

3. The District Engineer shall be responsible for the following:
   1. Utility Adjustment Schedules requesting staging will be furnished to the design office Project Manager along with the marked utility plans. Copies of all schedules will also be furnished to the appropriate district estimator for consideration in setting contract time and preparing the contract estimate.

4. The Design Project Manager shall be responsible for incorporating information on existing and new or relocated utilities into the plans and preparing Special Provisions for stage construction and sequence of operations between highway and utility work when appropriate. The District Utilities Engineer will assist in obtaining additional information and arranging design/scheduling conferences with utility companies when necessary on complex projects.

5. The District Utilities Engineer shall be responsible for notifying all utilities which do not have reimbursable Utility Agreements to proceed with their relocation and/or adjustment work when the highway construction project is advertised for bids. A copy of the approved Utility Adjustment Schedule will be attached to the construction notice to proceed letter. The State Utilities Office will issue the letter of authorization to those utilities with reimbursable Utility Agreements notifying them to proceed with their work. The utility shall be responsible for completing their adjustments/relocation in all cases in accordance with their approved Utility Adjustment Schedule.

6. Utility Adjustment Schedules, as submitted to the Department by the utilities, will be available for contractor examination at the respective DOT District Office prior to letting, upon contractor request if not included in the Department’s project contract. After the project award, copies of the Utility Adjustment Schedules received by the Department will be provided to the contractor by the appropriate District Office upon request. Reviewing or receiving copies of the Utility Adjustment Schedules made available by the Department and when not included in the project contract does not relieve the contractor of his responsibility to coordinate his work with any work to be performed by others in any right of way clearance, and to coordinate a schedule of operations that will allow for completion of the project within the specified contract time.

These procedures are effective immediately.

List of utility companies
Utility Conflict Special Provision
Utility Adjustment Schedule Procedures
Utility Adjustment Schedule Definitions
Utility Adjustment Schedule form

Document History:

• added to MOG: 07/16/91
• added to TOPPS: 05/23/96
• revised: 12/05/06 to be effective 01/01/07
• reviewed: 01/17/08

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