Chapter 1: Standards for Contracts

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Section 1: Overview

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Purpose

The Negotiated Contracts Policy Manual presents statutory authority and policies to guide Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) personnel in the selection, administration, and monitoring of entities that will perform work under negotiated contracts using uniform standards prior to and following contract execution. Policy specific to agreement types (i.e. Advance Funding Agreements, Scientific Services) can be found in the chapters addressing those agreement types.

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Statutory Authority

Appropriate law, federal regulation, state regulation, and TxDOT policy govern all TxDOT contracts. For example:

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  • State and Federal Statutes are written laws or acts enacted by the Texas Legislature or the U.S. Congress,
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  • Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is a record of federal regulations that TxDOT must reference and follow if federal dollars are used to fund an outsourced project in any capacity,
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  • Texas Government Code (Tex. Gov’t Code) is a record of laws passed by the Texas Legislature governing all state agencies,
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  • Texas Transportation Code (Tex. Transp. Code) is a record of laws passed by the Texas Legislature specific to transportation, and
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  • Texas Administrative Code (TAC) is a record of rules that state agencies have adopted for implementing certain statutes set forth in the Government Code and Transportation Code. Rules have the force of law.
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Negotiated Contract Defined

When used in this manual, the term negotiated contracts refers to those contracts for which TxDOT has the responsibility to negotiate price, scope, schedule, terms, or other components of the agreement. Negotiated contracts may be:

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  • a contract with a public or private entity to obtain a service that requires TxDOT to perform a selection process in which one or more items may need to be evaluated, scored, or negotiated prior to the award and execution of a contract,
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  • an advance funding agreement (AFA) that requires TxDOT to determine which entities will perform required tasks and which entities will contribute resources (for example, land, funds or labor) to complete a transportation project.

This manual does not include policy for a particular type of contract if a programmatic policy manual exists for that type of contract, such as Right of Way (ROW) contracts, for example.

Negotiated contracts do not include any contracts which are not negotiated, including those which follow a competitive bid process or those for which traditional negotiations are not permitted by rule or statute. Some of the contracts that are not negotiated, for definition within this manual, include:

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Contract Document Ownership and Responsibilities

The roles of the Office of Primary Responsibility and Office of Record are defined below unless stated otherwise within this or other TxDOT policy.

Office of Primary Responsibility

The Office of Primary Responsibility (OPR) is the District or Division (D/D) responsible for the management activities for contract documents. The OPR is also responsible for making decisions on behalf of the Department with regard to the use, classification, and protection of specific information contained within each contract document.

The OPR for a contract is responsible for:

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  • Complying with all reporting requirements;
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  • Processing contract amendments and any other changes to the contract within TxDOT policy requirements for that type of contract;
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  • Maintaining the Selection File and Documentation File in accordance with TxDOT policy and state requirements;
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  • Entering and updating contract document-related data in the designated System of Record for contract data, or otherwise ensuring the data is up to date;
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  • Providing the Office of Record with the official record version of all signed contract and work authorization documents; and
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  • Notifying the Contract Services Division if the Enterprise Contract Types List requires updates or additions.

Office of Record

The Office of Record (OoR) is the D/D that is responsible for retaining the Department’s official version (record) of a signed contract, including any documents that amend the contract, authorize work, or change work that is authorized.

The Office of Record for a contract is responsible for:

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  • Ensuring the signed contract and any documents that amend the contract, authorize work, or change work that is authorized, are stored in accordance with Department policy;
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  • Posting a copy of the contract to the Department’s internet website in accordance with state law;
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  • Retaining and destroying the File of Record in accordance with state records retention laws; and
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  • Validating the data in the system of record for the contract document matches the data on the contract and receives a unique contract ID.

The OoR is the OPR by default unless stated otherwise within another TxDOT policy specific to a contract type or program.

The Enterprise Contract Type List identifies the Office of Primary Responsibility and Office of Record for each of the Department’s contract types, in accordance with these rules.

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