Step 4: Set Performance Standards
Clear performance standards are essential to the successful planning, design, construction, and long-term operation of public infrastructure. At the beginning of every project, owners should define expectations, establish measures of success, and communicate those expectations to engineers, contractors, project managers, inspectors, and municipal staff.
Formal meetings—including project kickoff, pre-design, design review, pre-bid, pre-construction, and progress meetings—provide opportunities to clarify responsibilities, review project objectives, resolve questions, and document important decisions. Meeting minutes should clearly identify action items, responsible parties, and completion dates. Thorough documentation protects the municipality's interests and provides an important record if disputes arise later.
Design Standards
The design phase establishes the performance standards that will guide the entire project. Designs must comply with applicable federal, state, and local requirements while remaining affordable, practical, and sustainable for the municipality that will ultimately own and operate the completed facility.
Although regulatory agencies such as TDEC, TDOT, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers frequently review projects for compliance with applicable regulations, their approval does not guarantee that a project will meet the municipality's operational needs or that construction will be properly performed. Owners remain responsible for ensuring that the project is practical, maintainable, and appropriate for local conditions.
Operators, maintenance personnel, and managers should review design documents to verify that equipment is accessible, replacement parts are readily available, maintenance activities can be safely performed, and routine operations can be accomplished efficiently. Their practical experience often identifies operational issues that may not be apparent during design.
Private development projects should also receive appropriate engineering review and construction inspection to ensure that infrastructure accepted by the municipality complies with local standards. Many municipalities recover these review and inspection costs from the developer.
Construction Inspection
Construction quality depends upon effective inspection. Project contracts should clearly define inspection responsibilities, the scope of inspection services, documentation requirements, authority to reject defective work, responsibility for preparing as-built drawings, and procedures for approving shop drawings and material substitutions.
Shop drawings, product data, and manufacturer's specifications should be reviewed and approved before materials are incorporated into the project. Unauthorized substitutions should not be permitted without written approval from the owner and design professional.
Owners should support inspectors when they enforce contract requirements. Inspection loses its value if deficiencies are knowingly accepted without correction.
Regulatory Compliance
Regulatory requirements remain in effect throughout construction. Contractors, operators, and inspectors should coordinate closely whenever construction activities affect existing operations. Planned interruptions to utilities or public services should be communicated well in advance, and responsibilities for maintaining regulatory compliance during construction should be clearly established before work begins.
Risk Management
Every construction project involves risk. During planning and design, owners should identify potential risks and assign responsibility for managing them. Common risks include utility conflicts, unforeseen site conditions, environmental permitting, easement acquisition, material shortages, weather delays, contractor scheduling, and changing construction costs. Early identification and management of these risks can significantly reduce project delays and cost overruns.
Site Restoration
Performance standards should include expectations for cleanup and restoration. Public perception of a project is often influenced as much by restoration as by the completed infrastructure itself.
Construction contracts should establish requirements for erosion control, housekeeping, restoration of disturbed property, replacement of landscaping, pavement repair, and final cleanup. Owners should photograph or video easements, rights-of-way, and other affected areas before construction begins to document existing conditions and reduce future disputes.
Warranty and Training
Contracts should clearly define warranty periods, warranty responsibilities, and procedures for obtaining warranty service. Equipment suppliers should provide start-up assistance, operator training, maintenance training, operation and maintenance manuals, recommended spare parts lists, and warranty documentation before final acceptance.
For projects involving computerized control systems—including SCADA, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), communications networks, and automated equipment—owners should also obtain software licenses, administrative passwords, backup procedures, cybersecurity documentation, and training before project closeout.
Project Contingencies
Even well-designed projects encounter unforeseen conditions. Construction budgets should include an owner's contingency allowance—typically 10 to 20 percent of estimated construction costs—to address unexpected conditions such as rock excavation, groundwater, utility conflicts, environmental issues, material price increases, or weather-related delays.
Owner contingencies should remain under the control of the municipality and project engineer rather than being included within the contractor's bid. Expenditures from contingency funds should be carefully documented and approved through established change-order procedures.
Owner Responsibilities
Most performance standards are ultimately incorporated into project contracts. Owners should review these documents carefully and ensure they fully understand their responsibilities before construction begins. If contract language is unclear, clarification or revisions should be requested before execution.
Clear expectations, effective communication, thorough documentation, consistent inspection, and proactive risk management provide the best foundation for delivering projects that are completed safely, on schedule, within budget, and in accordance with the municipality's long-term operational goals.