Heavy Highway Contractor

I was wondering if anyone would like to have a discussion around phase code uniformity.

We typically take the bid item numbers given to us and convert them into our phase masking sequence (XXXX-XXX-XXX) and upload them into Spectrum. This becomes problematic for our future bidding as sometimes phase codes are miskeyed and a phase code for job A is not the same as the phase code for job B even though both were made from the same bid item. As a result, our estimators are not able to use past costs to come up with an amount for an upcoming bid item without a fair amount of digging and contextual knowledge of past jobs. 

I was wondering if anyone has developed a better way to deal with bid item conversion into phase codes. 

I would like to develop out a 'code book' to where if bid item A comes from customer A then it is assigned phase A and so on. We are a heavy highway government contractor so this seems at least somewhat feasibile due to our low customer count, even though state/county/city don't seem to have uniform bid items themselves. Would it be easier just to use an excel formula to convert the bid items into the phase masking sequence and move along? What do you do? 

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Chris Graham
Operations
Cone & Graham, Inc.
Tampa FL
(813) 623-2856
cgraham@conegraham.com
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Have you considered using spec sections to build a standard phase code list?  We work on many PennDOT projects and I used the spec sections to create a phase code list.  For instance, in the specs, concrete curb, one of our standard types of work, is section 0630.  I setup the phase codes as follows:  

• 0630-0100 Set Stringline
• 0630-0200 Slipform Curb
• 0630-0300 Handset Curb

I leave the last two digits open in case there are multiple types of curb on a job, such as 24" curb and 18" curb, for which I would modify the items as such:

• 0630-0118 Set Stringline 18"
• 0630-0124 Set Stringline 24"

You could use the same format you are using now, using the last digits of XXXX-XXXX-XX for additional classification.

Let me know what you decide.

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Kim Niswender
Controller
Baseline Contracting, Inc.
Coplay PA
(610) 799-5859
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Closing the loop on this. I ended up speaking with the FDOT and getting their active pay item database. From there I did some excel formulas to break down the sequencing to where it will match our phase code master. My plan is to get pay item databases from each customer (City/County/Prime) and mimic the phase translation process. Attaching my work here in case it is helpful to others. Thanks Kim for the initial push. 

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Chris Graham
Operations
Cone & Graham, Inc.
Tampa FL
(813) 623-2856
cgraham@conegraham.com
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-03-2024 07:24
From: Kim Niswender
Subject: Phase Code Uniformity

Have you considered using spec sections to build a standard phase code list?  We work on many PennDOT projects and I used the spec sections to create a phase code list.  For instance, in the specs, concrete curb, one of our standard types of work, is section 0630.  I setup the phase codes as follows:  

• 0630-0100 Set Stringline
• 0630-0200 Slipform Curb
• 0630-0300 Handset Curb

I leave the last two digits open in case there are multiple types of curb on a job, such as 24" curb and 18" curb, for which I would modify the items as such:

• 0630-0118 Set Stringline 18"
• 0630-0124 Set Stringline 24"

You could use the same format you are using now, using the last digits of XXXX-XXXX-XX for additional classification.

Let me know what you decide.

------------------------------
Kim Niswender
Controller
Baseline Contracting, Inc.
Coplay PA
(610) 799-5859
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