Construction Program Management and Inspection Guide

SAMPLE
weeks should be adequate. The IDOT team leader is
expected to coordinate all necessary reviews at the IDOT
Central Office.
The final draft version of the statewide close-out report
should be sent by formal cover letter to the Director of
Highways, with attention to the Deputy Director(s) and to
the FHWA Division Administrator. The cover letter should
be co-signed by the FHWA and IDOT review team leaders
using the newly developed process review letterhead for the
official transmittal. A copy of the cover letter and attached
statewide close-out report should be sent to all affected
Central Office Bureau Chiefs and to the process review team
members.
Recommendations to improve the content of process
review statewide close-out reports include the following:
▼ Use statistics whenever possible to justify observations
(i.e., “In 7 out of 9 Districts, this procedure was
followed...etc.”).
▼ Recommendations should have substance and have
specific actions or products ready for recommended
implementation. Do not just hand over the issue to
IDOT.
▼ Whenever possible, obtain information from other
states on their processes, procedures, etc. These can be
shared as “best practices” (sample specifications,
procedures, forms, etc.).
▼ Use the term “Observation” rather than “Finding.”
▼ Material to back up the observations should be included
as attachments to the statewide report. Examples
include charts, graphs, sample specifications,
checklists, etc.
▼ The District reports do not need to be included as
attachments to the statewide report.
Conducting the Statewide
Close-out Meeting
Timely scheduling of statewide close-out meetings is critical
for the proper dissemination of process review results. For
example, it is important to close out all design-related
process reviews by the end of August so that the results can
be shared and discussed at the annual Program Development
Engineers meeting in mid-September. Likewise, for
construction-related process reviews, the close-out meeting
should be held by the end of November. This will allow for
the discussion of process review results at the annual
Construction Engineer’s meeting and the annual Materials
Engineer’s meetings scheduled in January and early
February.
Appendix C: Process Review/Product Evaluation Guidelines
CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND INSPECTION GUIDE (5/01/04)
The IDOT review team leader should contact the
appropriate Deputy Director(s) and the affected Bureau
Chiefs to identify possible statewide close-out meeting dates.
The FHWA team leader should likewise coordinate with the
Division Administrator and the Assistant Division
Administrator to determine possible meeting dates. One or
two days before the statewide close-out meeting, the review
team leaders should follow up with appropriate management
as a reminder in order to assure attendance.
For those process review recommendations perceived to
be highly controversial or considered a tough sell, it is
recommended that a preliminary close-out meeting be held.
This meeting should be held with IDOT Bureau Chiefs,
Section Chiefs, and/or other appropriate IDOT staff, as well
as FHWA Team Leaders/Specialists to agree on tentative
resolutions. The need for a preliminary close-out meeting
should be left to the discretion of the FHWA and IDOT
review team leaders.
Close-out meetings should be as brief as possible and
should not exceed two hours. Multimedia communication
such as slides, photographs, videos, and computer generated
presentations should be used whenever possible to increase
the effectiveness of focusing attention on the observations
and recommendations. Presentations which consist of a
stand-alone reading of the observations and
recommendations directly from the statewide close-out
report are discouraged. In order to stress that these process
reviews are joint efforts, presentation of observations should
be done by the entire team, including both IDOT and
FHWA team members.
At the end of the statewide close-out meeting, the
FHWA and IDOT review team leaders should summarize
the proposed resolutions made during the meeting. This is
necessary to ensure that everyone in attendance has a
complete understanding of what was agreed upon. It is also
important that the review team leaders ensure that someone
is assigned to take meeting minutes for the documentation of
agreements. In the past, some close-out meetings were
conducted and concluded without proper documentation,
and later discussions resulted in confusion and uncertainty of
the agreements reached at the meeting.
Within two weeks of the statewide close-out meeting, the
IDOT review team leader should ensure that a formal
written response is provided to the process review team. The
review team should then finalize the statewide report by
inserting the resolutions after the appropriate
recommendations. Resolutions may include immediate
actions, action plans, proposed implementation dates, or
other action items. The completed version of the final
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