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The Long, Brief, and Mini Form contract documents have been developed to provide University Facilities with necessary forms, data, and procedures to complete a project. This chapter reviews the procedures required to complete the construction project.
(See RD1.10, Flow Chart: Substantial Completion and Contract Closeout.)
As-built documents are copies of the Drawings, Specifications, and all other contract documents that have been updated by the contractor to reflect changes that occurred since these documents were issued to bidders. Changes could have been made by addendum, field order, change order, or by the contractor's actual construction. The contractor is responsible for ensuring that all changes are documented on the as-built copy of the contract documents kept at the project site.
The contractor is required to deliver the as-built documents to the University's Representative as a condition for final payment and the release of retention (see [II]:8.6). The design professional, who may also be the University's Representative, is required to complete the record documents and place them into the required condition for delivery to the University. When the University's Representative determines that the record documents are complete, and the design professional has stamped and signed the documents, the University's Representative delivers them to the Facility.
Completed record documents provide a record of the project as it was actually constructed.
The University's Representative is responsible for receiving operating and maintenance data from the contractor and for ensuring that the data are complete. When complete, the operating and maintenance data are delivered by the University's Representative to the Facility.
Operating and maintenance data are information about the equipment incorporated in the project. Data should include the following:
General Conditions, Paragraph 12.2, requires the contractor to correct defective work that becomes apparent during the progress of the work or during the Guarantee to Repair Period. The Guarantee to Repair Period is a period of one year commencing with the date of Beneficial Occupancy, the date of Substantial Completion, or the date of Final Completion, as applicable. A Guarantee to Repair Period longer than one year may be specified.
Frequently, the Guarantee to Repair Period for selected items is desired for a period of time longer than one year. In these cases, the Guarantee form included in Specifications, Section 01740, must be used. The University's Representative must check each section of the Specifications to determine if an individual section requires a special guarantee to be submitted. The University's Representative is responsible for assembling and supplying all special guarantees to the Facility.
The University's Representative performs a final inspection upon receipt of written notice from the contractor that the work is ready for final inspection and acceptance. (See RD2.41, Inspection Acceptance.)
Final Completion shall be when the University's Representative finds that the work is fully completed and in accordance with the contract documents and that a Certificate of Occupancy has been issued by the University’s Building Official. The Facility must file a Notice of Completion (see [II]:8.5) within 10 days after the date of Final Completion. The date of Final Completion is entered on the Notice of Completion.
The Facility must file a Notice of Completion according to the following procedures and stipulations:
Where to File. File (record) the Notice of Completion at the County Recorder's Office for the county in which the project is located.
Form to Use. Use the Notice of Completion (see RD2.34, RD2.35, RD2.36) for Long and Brief Form contracts. A Notice of Completion is not required for Mini Form contracts of less than $25,000.
Select the correct version of the Notice of Completion based on the following project scenario:
Time for Filing. File the Notice of Completion within 10 days after Final Completion (see [II]:8.4).
Completed Work. The filed Notice of Completion signifies that the work has been completed according to the terms of the contract.
Completion Includes All Work. All work includes final cleaning (see [II]:7.2), punch list items, operating manuals, as-built documents, warranties, guarantees, and work added by change order. The person signing the Notice of Completion is responsible for determining that the work has actually been completed. The facts stated in the Notice of Completion are declared to be true and correct under penalty of perjury by the person executing the document on behalf of the University.
Outstanding Claims. Resolution of outstanding claims is not a condition of contract completion. File the Notice of Completion within 10 days after Final Completion even if outstanding claims are not yet resolved.
Stop Notices. Filing the Notice of Completion within 10 days of final completion starts the 35-day stop notice period. If the Notice of Completion is not filed within 10 days of final completion, the stop notice period is extended 90 days for a total of 125 days.
The contractor has no responsibility to complete work after a Notice of Completion has been filed. If work required by the contract documents is performed after a Notice of Completion has been filed, the notice is invalid, leaving the Facility vulnerable, since work has been certified as received and warranty or guarantee periods have started. If the Facility wishes to file a Notice of Completion before all of the work of the contract has been completed, then a deductive change order must be executed.
When the work is found to be complete, the contractor makes a final Application for Payment (see [II]:5.3). The University's Representative then issues a final Certificate for Payment (see [II]:5.4) constituting final acceptance of the work by the University.
Final payment and any remaining retention (see [II]:5.5.3) becomes due after the contractor submits the following to the University's Representative:
The final payment shall be paid not more than 10 days after University's Representative issues the final Certificate for Payment. Retention shall be released 35 days after the Notice of Completion is filed (see [II]:8.5).
Acceptance of final payment by the contractor constitutes a waiver of all claims except those previously made in writing and identified by the contractor as unsettled at the time of final Application for Payment.
A stop notice is a legal notice submitted to the University by a construction subcontractor, supplier, manufacturer, distributor, or another party to withhold unexpended funds held by the University to satisfy claims regarding labor and materials furnished to the contractor for the work.
Stop notices are processed by the Facility's accounting office, and stop notice procedures are given in the University of California Accounting Manual. Stop notices received by the Facility must be sent in a timely fashion to the accounting office. The Facility withholds funds equal to 125 percent of the stop notice amount. The bidding documents must specify the office name and address where stop notices and preliminary notices are to be received for the project. This information is to be included in the Project Directory.
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