Project development

Engineering process

Preletting and Letting

Purpose

Preletting activities ensure MnDOT-let projects advertised in the E-Plan Room are complete, accurate, and biddable.

Letting—including the subsequent steps of contract award and approval—is the mechanism by which MnDOT competitively selects and enters into a legal agreement (contract) with a contractor who will construct the project in a safe, quality, economical manner.

Preletting and letting activities contain checks to ensure MnDOT’s projects and contracts comply with federal regulations and state statutes.

When to use this subject

The content on this page is for MnDOT-let, design-bid-build projects. For alternative contracting methods, see Innovative Contracting.

How this subject fits into the overall project development process

Preletting activities begin once District Design turns in a finished Plans, Specifications and Estimate (PS&E) to the Central Office Project Delivery Section. The Project Design Services Group, Special Provisions Group, Cooperative Agreements Group and Cost Estimaing Group in the Project Delivery Section of the Office of Project Management and Technical Support then perform these activities:

• Review and verify the plans and special provisions are complete, accurate, biddable, and comply with federal regulations and state statutes
• Confirm project funding sources match between Plan set, Cooperative Agreement (if applicable) and the Capital Highway Information Management Enterprise System (CHIMES)
• The Office of Land Management reviews the plans and specifications and issues the Right of Way and Utility certifications for the project
• Prepare the engineer’s estimate and enter project bid items into AASHTOWare
• Assemble the proposal (plan set, special provisions, and other contract documents as required by various rules and laws). See Proposal Package Index on the Special Provisions website for the complete list of proposal package documents.
• Advertise the project for bids. Project proposals are posted on the E-Plan Room for advertisement and contractors enter their bids for projects on Bidx.com
• Issue addenda as needed for project modifications during the advertisement period

Letting
After the advertisement period, the Contracts and Lettings Unit—part of the Office of Construction and Innovative Contracting—completes the next steps: letting, award, and approval.

See also: Outstanding Permits and Agreements at Time of Letting

Organizations involved

• MnDOT district project management, design and other functional groups
• MnDOT Central Office
  • Office of Project Management and Technical Support
    • Project Design Services Unit (This content is available only from computers on MnDOT's internal network.)
    • Special Provisions Unit
    • Cost Estimating and Engineering Cost Data Unit
    • Cooperative Agreements (This content is available only from computers on MnDOT’s internal network.)
  • Office of Construction and Innovative Contracting
    • Contracts and Lettings Unit
  • Office of Land Management