Contractor Staking: Saving Public‐Works Dollars

Abstract

In 1985, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) adopted a new program called “Contractor Staking.” Intended to reduce overall construction engineering costs, this new concept has revolutionized ADOT's approach to highway construction. Since that time, several important changes in the contracting industry have occurred. Contractors must now be more cognizant of incorporating timely and quality‐survey activities into their work plans. Meanwhile, ADOT has been able to reduce the time spent on surveying and shift it to the administration and inspection of an increased highway‐construction workload. Analysis has shown that direct costs and savings due to “Contractor Staking” have essentially cancelled each other in the last five years. However, substantial savings have been achieved due to ADOT's ability to administer a larger construction workload with the same number of personnel. In addition, the savings in indirect costs, such as delay claims and claims resulting from survey errors, are real and significant. “Contractor Staking” is a viable approach to maximizing the benefit derived from the public works dollar.