(a) The department will develop standards used to evaluate
a contractor's performance under a highway improvement contract, including
standards for conformance with the project plans and specifications
and recordkeeping requirements; compliance with the contract and industry
standards for safety; responsiveness in dealing with the department
and the public; meeting progress benchmarks and project milestones;
addressing project schedule issues, given adjustments, change orders,
and unforeseen conditions or circumstances; and completing project
on time. The department will develop an evaluation form to be used
by department employees in evaluating contract performance.
(b) The district engineer of the district in which
a project under a highway improvement contract, other than a building
contract, is located, or the Director of the Support Services Division
for building contracts shall evaluate the contractor's performance
under the contract. An interim evaluation shall be performed as necessary
and on each anniversary date of the contract if the project extends
for longer than one year. The district engineer for a highway improvement
contract, other than a building contract, or the Director of the Support
Services Division for a building contract shall approve any final
evaluations on the completion of the project. Only final evaluations
will be used to determine whether the contractor's contract performance
meets the department's requirements.
(c) If the contractor's performance on a project is
below the department's acceptable standards for contract performance,
the district engineer or the Director of the Support Services Division,
as applicable, may work with the contractor to establish a recovery
plan for the project. The established project recovery plan will be
used to correct significant deficiencies in contractor performance.
The district engineer or the Director of the Support Services Division,
as applicable, will monitor and document the contractor's compliance
with the established project recovery plan.
(d) For a highway improvement contract, other than
building contract, the district engineer will submit the final evaluation
scores performed under this section to the division of the department
that is responsible for monitoring the contract.
(e) The division that monitors the final evaluation
scores of a contractor periodically will review the final evaluation
scores of that contractor that were completed during the review period,
or if fewer than 10 final evaluations were completed during the review
period, up to 10 of the most recent final evaluations completed within
the previous three-year period. If the average of the final evaluation
scores reviewed is below the department's acceptable standards for
contract performance, the division will send a notice to the contractor
and request that the contractor submit to the division for approval
a proposed corrective action plan that will be used to correct significant
deficiencies in the performance in all of contractor's projects. The
division, in consultation with the department's Chief Engineer for
a highway improvement contract, other than a building contract, or
the Director of the Support Services Division for a building contract,
may modify the proposed corrective action plan and adopt a final plan.
The division promptly will send the adopted corrective action plan
to the contractor.
(f) For the 120-day period beginning on the day that
the adopted corrective action plan is sent under subsection (e) of
this section, the division will monitor the contractor's active projects
to determine whether the contractor is meeting the requirements of
the adopted corrective action plan or if there are no active projects,
the division will monitor the contractor's next available projects.
Before making a determination under this subsection, the division
must consider and document any events outside a contractor's control
that contributed to the contractor's failure to meet the performance
standards or failure to comply with the corrective action plan. If
at the end of the 120-day period contract performance remains below
the department's standards for contract performance, the division
will notify the contractor and forward to the Performance Review Committee
all of the information that it has, which includes at minimum all
final evaluations, any adopted corrective action plans, and any information
about events outside a contractor's control contributing to the contractor's
performance.
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Source Note: The provisions of this §9.23 adopted to be effective September 19, 2018, 43 TexReg 5996; amended to be effective April 20, 2023, 48 TexReg 1968; amended to be effective May 15, 2024, 49 TexReg 3373 |