MDOT has recently shared a draft Special Provision (SP) they have written for the purposes of compliance with the new federal “Made in America” standards for construction materials that is a part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
The draft “Made in America” SP can be found here, and MITA would like to hear any industry comments or concerns by July 7th, 2022.
Please note that this “Made in America” SP is separate and distinct from MDOT’s previously issued “Buy America” (BA) SP.
MITA made an initial inquiry with MDOT’s Construction Field Services (CFS) on a few topics, our questions along with MDOT’s responses were the following:
Q. Is MDOT going to compile a/the list of pay items that this “Made in America” SP applies to? (Similar to how “Buy America” SP is structured for steel and iron products.)
A. No, we are not going to compile a list. The list for BA for steel and iron is a step cert requirement list and this provision is not using step certs, so that is not applicable. This applies to all manufactured products as noted in the SP and applies to the construction materials as listed in the SP. It is a finite list of construction materials.
Q. Will MDOT/designers be specifying manufactured products and construction materials that are not available from a domestic source?
A. CFS will work with design on the design aspect. MDOT will need to issue guidance once more details are provided. In most cases manufactured products should be able to be addressed via design. MDOT does not specify construction materials in that manner, as that market is quite substantial. This will be discussed; however, CFS does not see MDOT specifying a type of glass or drywall material to that level.
Q. How will contractors know which manufactured products and construction materials they need to provide certification for?
A. Contractors will need to provide certs for all manufactured products and construction materials as required/listed in the special provision. It is rather prescriptive.
Please forward any comments or concerns you have with the draft “Made in America” SP to Rachelle VanDeventer at rachellevandeventer@thinkmita.org, or Glenn Bukoski at glennbukoski@thinkmita.org, by July 7th.
If you have any questions about this request for member input you can contact Rachelle or Glenn in the MITA office at 517-347-8336.
