August 24, 2016 5:29 PM

Audit critical of TxDOT approach to design-build contracts

State Auditor finds “weaknesses and inconsistencies” in TxDOT’s procurement for the four audited design-build projects

An audit of the Texas Department of Transportation’s design-build projects uncovered a surprising lack of consistency in its approach to design-build contracts.

The design-build option for highway projects was added to the TxDOT toolbox in 2011, at the same time lawmakers reeled in the number of comprehensive development agreements the agency could pursue. According to Senate Bill 1420, TxDOT could enter up to three design-build contracts each year on projects worth at least $50 million. "Design-build" is a way of delivering a construction project in which the design and construction services are contracted by a single entity known as the design–builder or design–build contractor.

That means the dozen or so design-build contracts that TxDOT has pursued in the last four years are some of the agency’s biggest expenditures, totaling $8 billion in construction. The State Auditor’s Office reviewed the contract documents around four of the projects, and while TxDOT did meet the letter of the law, the agency lacked a common framework of policies and procedures for design-build projects.

By Kimberly Reeves