2006 Massachusetts Code - Chapter 7 — Section 42C. Plans and specifications for building projects.

Section 42C. The contract which the director shall make with the designer appointed under sections thirty B to thirty P shall provide, among other appropriate terms, that the designer shall, in consultation with the using agency and subject to that agency’s approval, prepare plans and specifications for the building project for submission to said director for his approval and shall use standard contract documents and specifications which said director shall have prepared with the approval of the commissioner and made available within the office.

No obligation shall be incurred or payment made for preparation of any plans or specifications for any building project without the prior approval of the commissioner; and in the case of a building project undertaken on behalf of the commonwealth, no plans or specifications shall be prepared until a special appropriation shall have been made therefor or for the project or until federal funds or assistance shall have been made available therefor. No other obligation shall be incurred or payment made in connection with any building project until such obligation or payment shall have been approved in accordance with sections thirty-nine A to forty-three F, inclusive, of chapter seven, and sections twenty-six A and twenty-six B of chapter twenty-nine, and section eleven of chapter thirty-five.

Schematic, preliminary and working plans and specifications for each building project shall, following initial submission to the using agency for comment, be submitted by the designer to the director for his approval. In reviewing such plans and specifications, the duty of the director shall be to see that they are clear and complete and permit execution of the building project (a) within the appropriation or authorization for the project or within project cost limits specified by the appropriation or authorization and (b) in accordance with (i) any study or program prepared in accordance with the provisions of section seven K of chapter twenty-nine or (ii) any other pre-design document which must be prepared in accordance with any other statute, appropriation or authorization or administrative directive consistent therewith. When a phased construction technique is approved by the legislature, the director shall approve working plans and specifications at appropriate stages of the project.

Following final approval of such plans and specifications, the director shall advertise in the central register published by the secretary of state pursuant to section twenty of chapter nine and in such other publications as the commissioner shall direct, for applications to bid on or proposals for the performance of the work on the project; except that the commissioner may direct that the purchase of any materials, original equipment or original furnishings for the project shall be made under the provisions of sections twenty-two to twenty-six, inclusive. Subject to the prior approval of the commissioner and the applicable provisions of sections forty-four A to forty-four L, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and forty-nine he shall award the contract or contracts for such work to the lowest responsible and eligible bidder; but no such contract on behalf of the commonwealth shall be awarded by him for a sum in excess of the amount which the comptroller shall certify to be available therefor. If the director shall knowingly award a contract in violation of any provisions of this section, he may be removed from office by the governor.

The director shall be responsible for accepting or rejecting each project upon its completion and for directing final payment for work done thereon; provided, however, that if upon inspection of any project for acceptance he shall find that the plans, specifications, contracts or change orders for the project shall not have been fully complied with, he shall, until such compliance has been effected or adjustment satisfactory to him has been made, refuse to accept the project and direct such payment.

Upon acceptance of the project, the director shall release the same to the using agency, unless the using agency objects to said release, in which case the director shall work with the using agency to remove the causes of the objection. The director shall not refuse to accept the project from the contractor and shall not refuse to direct final payment to the contractor because of the using agency’s objections if the director has determined that the contractor has completed the project in accordance with contract.