CASE STUDY: CONSTRUCTABILITY REVIEW PROCESS OF A LARGE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AGENCY

Constructability is the optimum use of construction knowledge and experience to plan, design, procure, and manage field operations to achieve project objectives. Although there are many benefits to conducting constructability reviews (CRs) such as reduced cost and schedules, and fewer claims and change orders, current CRs still lack effectiveness in meeting industry demands for delivering construction contract documents promoting buildable projects. In the highway sector, transportation agencies have applied CRs at various levels, starting from the involvement of their own project team to soliciting external input from contractors before the project is even bid out. The objective of this paper is to investigate effective practices used by an agency in soliciting constructability input from contractors, given administrative and legal constraints. This was achieved through a comprehensive literature review of existing CR practices, followed by a case study of a transportation agency that has been implementing CRs involving contractor’s input, as well as content analysis of documents, forms, and tools used during their CR process. The interviews entailed personnel working in various departments, such as preconstruction, program management, construction, and environmental. It also included consultants and contractors working for the agency. The major conclusions drawn are that the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) lives up to its reputation of a de-centralized agency in the area of Constructability; FDOT does not routinely customize its CR Process to the details of each project; and FDOT is not one of the more progressive DOTs in the US in the area of Constructability.