Four projects in the July 10th Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) letting will be included in a new DBE Solicitation Good Faith Effort Pilot Process jointly developed by MDOT and MITA, and recently approved for implementation by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
The primary intent of this pilot process is to access the pre-bid DBE solicitation efforts of the prime contractors, and the pre-bid response/quotation efforts of the DBE contractors. This pilot process establishes a very specific sequence of actions and timeframes for review of a request for modification or waiver of a published DBE goal. It also establishes a set of criteria/questions to be discussed with the Good Faith Effort (GFE) Review Committee when assessing a contractor’s GFE.
The projects in the July 10th letting included in this pilot are:
Item Number: 0907 002 Item Number: 0907 019
Item Number: 0907 032 Item Number: 0907 041
For these pilot projects, the bidders will be required to submit their DBE percentage only with their electronic bid. A “DBE Goal” folder in Bid Express has been added for this submittal. Bids submitted for these projects without the bidders DBE percentage will not be considered by MDOT. Click here for the published Contractor Announcement containing the specific instructions for these pilot projects.
Additionally, for these pilot projects, the three lowest “as-submitted” bidders and the DBE contractors who quoted those three bidders will be required to submit their quotation information to MDOT for compilation and analysis. Click here for the Notice to Bidders (NTB) that defines these submittal requirements and timeframes, as well as establishes the actions and timeframes of the DBE goal modification or waiver request process. This NTB has been added to the proposals of the four pilot projects by addendum.
Click here to view the set of criteria/questions this pilot process establishes for discussion in a contractor’s GFE determination.
MITA, MDOT, and FHWA have agreed that additional projects in future July and August lettings may be included as a part of this pilot process. MDOT is required to issue a report to the FHWA by September 1st summarizing the results of the pilot process.
If you have any questions about this pilot process or its requirements, contact Glenn Bukoski at glennbukoski@mi-ita.com or call him at the MITA office at 517-347-8336.
