Recommended Allowances for Planning and Design

Recommended Allowances for Planning and Design. The recommended allowance for planning and design will be determined using Table 1 in this Subchapter. This table is not intended to be used to determine the consulting engineer's allowable costs for planning and design services. Compensation for these services should be based upon the nature, scope, and complexity of the services required for the project. Table 1 includes a recommended range for engineering costs during planning and design, which the Grant applicant/recipient should consider while evaluating the engineer's proposal. If the engineer's proposal exceeds the normal range the Grant applicant/recipient should consider requiring the engineer to justify why the project is more difficult than normal. The actual compensation justified for a particular project may be more or less than the suggested range of the allowance for these services shown in Table 1. If the consulting engineer and Grant applicant/recipient determine that the maximum recommended allowance calculated using Table 1 in this Subchapter does not adequately reflect the nature, scope, and complexity of the services required for the project, the consulting engineer may submit a detailed cost proposal, in such format as required by the Department, justifying a compensation amount greater than Table 1 recommends. If, in the Department's opinion the detailed cost proposal justifies such, the Department will approve an allowance for facilities planning and design greater than those recommended in Table 1. The decision of the Department in this matter will be final. Projects for which the Grant applicant/recipient shall acquire easements or real property may receive an additional 1% above the recommended maximum percentages shown in Table 1 for planning and design allowances. Also, projects for which a value engineering study is conducted may receive an additional 3% above the recommended maximum percentages shown in Table 1 for the planning and design allowance.