Underground Construction - February 2018 - 31

* Prepare recommendations to
owner regarding the contractor's resumption of work in
connection with the subsurface or physical condition in
question and the need for any
change in the drawings or
specifications.
* Advise owner in writing of engineer's findings, conclusions
and recommendations.
Owner's statement to contractor
regarding site condition

After receipt of engineer's written findings, conclusions and
recommendations, owner shall
issue a written statement to
contractor (with a copy to engineer) regarding the subsurface or
physical condition in question,
addressing the resumption of
work in connection with such
condition, indicating whether
any change in the drawings or
specifications will be made, and
adopting or rejecting engineer's
written findings, conclusions and
recommendations, in whole or
in part.
Missing or incorrect underground facilities (utilities and
other structures) information
notice by contractor

If contractor believes that an underground facility that is uncovered or revealed at the site was
not shown or indicated in the
contract documents, or was not
shown or indicated with reasonable accuracy, then contractor
shall, promptly after becoming
aware thereof and before further

disturbing conditions affected
thereby or performing any work
in connection therewith, identify
the owner of such underground
facility and give written notice to
that owner and to the engineer.
The engineer will promptly
review the underground facility
and conclude whether such underground facility was not shown
or indicated in the contract
documents, or was not shown
or indicated with reasonable
accuracy; obtain any pertinent
cost or schedule information
from contractor; prepare recommendations to owner regarding
the contractor's resumption of
work in connection with the underground facility in question;
determine the extent, if any, to
which a change is required in
the drawings or specifications to
reflect and document the consequences of the existence or location of the underground facility;
and advise owner in writing of
engineer's findings, conclusions,
and recommendations. During
such time, contractor shall be
responsible for the safety and
protection of such underground
facility.
Owner's statement to contractor
regarding underground facility

After receipt of engineer's written findings, conclusions, and
recommendations, owner shall
issue a written statement to contractor (with a copy to engineer)
regarding the underground facility in question and addressing the
resumption of work.

Hazardous environmental
condition issues
If contractor encounters, uncovers or reveals a hazardous
environmental condition whose
removal or remediation is not expressly identified in the contract
documents as being within the
scope of the work, or if contractor or anyone for whom contractor is responsible creates a hazardous environmental condition,
then contractor shall immediately secure or otherwise isolate
such condition, stop all work in
connection with such condition
and in any area affected thereby
(except in an emergency), and
notify owner and engineer (and
promptly thereafter confirm
such notice in writing). Owner
shall promptly consult with engineer concerning the necessity
for owner to retain a qualified
expert to evaluate such condition or take corrective action, if
any. Promptly after consulting
with engineer, owner shall take
such actions as are necessary to
permit owner to timely obtain
required permits and provide
contractor the written notice. If
contractor, or anyone for whom
contractor is responsible, created
the hazardous environmental
condition in question, then owner may remove and remediate
the hazardous environmental
condition and impose a set-off
against payments to account for
the associated costs.
Contractor shall not resume
work in connection with such
hazardous environmental condi-

tion or in any affected area until
after owner has obtained any
required permits related thereto,
and delivered written notice to
contractor either specifying that
such condition and any affected
area is or has been rendered safe
for the resumption of work, or
specifying any special conditions
under which such work may be
resumed safely.
This language, or similar, will
offer some protections to each
party where uncertain conditions
are encountered during construction. But these provisions do not
provide any guidance on how to
lessen the chance of encountering a DSC. In Parts 3 and 4 of
this series, we will discuss how
contracts can use a Geotechnical Base Line Report to quantify
change orders, and how ASCE 38
can be used to reduce and manage the uncertainties of existing
utilities.
About the Author:
Jim Anspach is technical practice lead for
Cardno Inc.'s Utility
Engineering and
Survey Practice. He
serves as ASCE's Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute President for 2018. He is the incoming
chair for EJCDC, and chairs the
ASCE 38 Standard Committee. He
is also a member of ASCE's Board
Committee on Claims Reduction
and Management. ■
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Underground Construction - February 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Underground Construction - February 2018
