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Council approves $117K change order for Industrial Drive West; engineers acknowledge bid‑form quantity error
Summary
Pearland approved a construction change order to complete Industrial Drive West, including an extra 164 linear feet of box culvert and additional lime for subgrade stabilization. The design engineer acknowledged a QA/QC error that omitted the quantity from the bid form; council debated responsibility and contingency use.
Pearland City Council voted to approve a construction change order for the Industrial Drive West reconstruction project on March 16 after staff and the design engineer explained adjustments based on field conditions.
City staff said the change order reflects differences between bid quantities and actual field needs. The largest adjustments identified were an additional 164 linear feet of 6x2 box culvert and added lime for subgrade stabilization, accounting for the majority of the roughly $117,000 increase. Staff said the change order will be funded from the project contingency.
Brad Matlock, the project engineer for Cobb Finley, told council the plan set is correct but the bid‑form quantity takeoff at final bid issuance missed the 164‑foot quantity. “The plans are correct and have the correct amount of box in them. But the bid form when the quantity takeoff was done ... missed that 164 quantity in the bid form,” Matlock said, describing the omission as a QA/QC issue and noting the firm is revising its verification processes.
Council members pressed the engineer and staff on who bears responsibility and whether the error would have altered bid outcomes. Staff explained the city’s unit‑price contracts pay actual quantities at unit bid prices, so the city pays for the work needed to complete the project; the contingency was put in place for such variances. The project will also add six calendar days to the construction schedule to accommodate the extra work.
Member Patel probed whether the engineering contract should bear financial responsibility when bid documents are inconsistent; Matlock said the plans themselves were correct and the difference came from the bid‑tab calculation, which the firm characterized as a human error in the bid quantity table. City staff said the change order is within the project contingency and recommended approval to avoid delaying the project.
Council voted 6–1 to approve the change order; one council member voted no. Staff said they will follow up with the engineering firm on QA/QC improvements and monitor remaining contingency usage as the project continues.
