Specification Framework for Communication Utilities and Estimation of Utility Adjustment Costs (0-4998-3)

Report 0-4998-1, "A Unit Cost and Construction Specification Framework for Utility Installations, " described a prototype framework of construction specifications and corresponding unit cost work items for utility installations at TxDOT and recommendations on how to implement that framework in Texas. That report focused on water and sanitary sewer installations. Report 0-4998-2, "Construction Specification Requirements for Water and Sanitary Sewer Installations," provided a detailed description of the corresponding specification requirements for water and sanitary sewer utility installations that could be used to prepare the construction specifications. This report is a follow up to the 0-4998-1 and 0-4998-2 reports. It describes a prototype framework of specification requirements and corresponding unit cost work items for communication utilities. The requirements for each specification include a summary table outlining the main characteristics of the proposed specification and provide a listing of bid items, subsidiary items, and units of measurement, followed by a list of specification requirements. This report also summarizes a methodology to develop utility adjustment cost estimates during the early stages of the project development process and a procedure for estimating the uncertainty and likelihood of exceedance of those estimates. The need for that methodology became apparent after realizing the limitations of traditional approaches that simply estimate utility adjustment costs as percentages of the highway construction costs without providing a measure of uncertainty for those estimates.