Managing Proposal Vendor DBE Commitments

Some contracts require that a percentage of work be assigned to a vendor classified as a DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise). The agency records and tracks these commitments.

• Note: There are many types of DBEs. Some common examples include Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), and Women's Business Enterprise (WBE), and your agency may use others as well. For simplicity, the abbreviation DBE is used to refer to all of these types.

Before Assigning a DBE Commitment

Before you can assign a DBE commitment to a vendor, the following information must be set up in the system:

• The DBE vendor must be an active vendor (that is, the vendor cannot be marked Obsolete).

• The vendor's DBE Certification Status must be set to Certified.

Methods of DBE Participation

Different transportation agencies use different methods to achieve DBE participation in agency contracts. There are three typical methods agencies use to collect DBE commitment data:

1. Some agencies have Race Conscious Goals and require that the DBE commitment requirements be satisfied during bid letting. These agencies collect DBE commitments from all bidders at the time of the bid letting and approve the low bidder before the contract is awarded.

2. Other agencies have Race Conscious Goals and collect DBE commitments from the low bidder. These agencies might or might not require that DBE commitments be approved before the contract is awarded.

3. Finally, some agencies have Race Neutral Goals and collect DBE commitments from the winning vendor after the contract is awarded.

The method your agency uses to achieve DBE participation affects how a contract's DBE commitments are managed later during construction.

DBE Commitment Methodology

Depending on how and when an agency collects DBE commitment requirements, a proposal vendor is required to submit DBE commitments either 1) along with the bid, 2) after being notified by the agency to submit DBE commitments, or 3) after being awarded the contract, but prior to starting work on the contract. If the DBE commitment is submitted with the bid or prior to award, data is entered, maintained, reviewed, and approved in the system under the proposal vendor. If the DBE commitment is submitted after the contract is awarded and the proposal transitioned to a contract, but prior to the start of work, the DBE commitment is entered, maintained, reviewed, and approved under the current DBE commitment for the contract.

When the DBE commitment is entered into the system during Preconstruction, it can then be reviewed and approved. When the DBE commitment is approved and the proposal transitioned to Construction, the information in the Preconstruction DBE commitment is copied to both the Approved DBE Commitment component and the Current DBE Commitment component as part of the process of transitioning to construction. The information on the Approved DBE Commitment component is for reference use only and cannot be changed.

If DBE commitments were not approved as part of the bid letting requirement, information is copied only to the Current DBE Commitment component during the transition process and fields on the Approved DBE Commitment component are left blank. The agency must then complete the information on the Contract Current DBE Commitment component, review and approve the DBE commitments. Once approved, the system copies these records to the Approved DBE Commitment component. The information on the Approved DBE Commitment component is read-only and cannot be changed.

From this point on for all agencies, as changes associated with the DBE commitments for the contract occur, new information is recorded on the Contract Current DBE Commitment Summary component.

If the prime contractor on a contract changes, the system moves the DBE commitment information associated with the previous vendor to the Archived DBE Commitment Summary component for the contract. The new prime contractor must then record new information for his own DBE commitment on the Contract Current DBE Commitment Summary component. The total DBE goal for the new prime contractor is reduced by the portion of the DBE goal achieved by the previous prime contractor. When the agency approves the new prime contractor's DBE commitment, the system creates a new row for that DBE commitment on the Contract Approved DBE Commitment Summary component. Subsequent changes in the DBE commitments for the contract are recorded on the Contract Current DBE Commitment Summary component.

It doesn't matter whether the prime contractor on the contract changes one time or multiple times; the system is updated as described above in both circumstances.

• Note: In web-based AASHTOWare Project, there is no direct link between subcontracts and creating a DBE Commitment record. However, if a subcontractor is included in the Contract Current DBE Commitment records for a contract, the system automatically selects the DBE Commitment indicator on the subcontract record.

Conditions for DBE Commitment Approval

The following conditions must be met before the system allows the DBE Commitments to be approved:

• The sum of the Race Conscious Goal and Race Neutral Goal amounts must equal the Commitment Amount.

• If the Supplier/Manufacturer/Broker/Regular Dealer indicator is selected, information must be recorded in the DBE Supplier Total Amount and DBE Supplier Percentage Credit Allowed fields.

• If the Trucker/Broker indicator is selected, information must be recorded in the DBE Trucker Total Amount and DBE Trucker Dollar Credit Allowed.

• The total of DBE Supplier Total Amount and DBE Trucker Total Amount cannot exceed the Commitment Amount.

• All DBE vendor records must be reviewed. Information must be recorded in the Reviewed, Reviewed By, and Review Date fields.

DBE Commitment Workflow

The workflow for DBE commitments varies depending on whether the agency chooses to implement external access to maintain DBE commitment data.

No External Access — Without external access, agency users enter, review, approve, and revise all of the DBE commitment information as needed. After the appropriate agency user reviews the DBE vendor records, the agency user manually enters values in the Reviewed By and Reviewed Date fields. To approve the DBE commitment data, the appropriate agency user manually enters values in the Approved By and Approved Date fields. DBE commitments do not progress through phases.

External Access — With external access, the DBE commitment workflow includes defined phases, and the system provides functionality that automatically progresses commitments between phases.

The agency must perform setup tasks before non-agency users can begin entering DBE commitment data. The agency sets up user accounts for each vendor and assigns vendor authority to control which records the non-agency users can access. Vendor authority enables user accounts for proposal vendors to have access to proposal vendor DBE commitments. Likewise, vendor authority enables user accounts for prime contractors to have access to contract current, approved, and archived DBE commitments. For a non-agency user to be able to sign a DBE commitment, the user must have vendor authority and “Can Sign” permission.

When external access is implemented, the DBE commitment workflow includes the following phases: Initial, Under Agency Review, Ready for Agency Approval, Rejected, Approved, Revision.  

Initial

During the Initial phase, the non-agency user enters the data for the DBE commitment. Agency users cannot view the DBE commitment during this phase. To progress the DBE commitment to the next phase, a non-agency user with vendor authority and “Can Sign” permission signs the DBE commitment. After the non-agency user signs the DBE commitment, it is progressed to the Under Agency Review phase, the Signed By and Signed Date fields are set, and DBE Commitment and DBE Commitment Verification reports are attached to the DBE commitment record. For the non-agency user, most of the data for the DBE commitment becomes read-only after the commitment is signed.

Under Agency Review

During the Under Agency Review phase, the non-agency user can review the DBE commitment. If changes are needed, the non-agency user can revise the DBE commitment by selecting the Revise command. This moves the DBE commitment back to the Initial phase and allows the commitment to be modified as needed. When modifications are complete, a non-agency user must sign the DBE commitment again, returning it to the Under Agency Review phase.

In the Under Agency Review phase, the agency user can progress or reject the DBE commitment by selecting either the Reject or Progress commands. If the commitment is rejected, the record is moved back to the Initial phase. The non-agency user can then modify the DBE commitment, and then sign it again to move it back to the Under Agency Review phase. If the commitment is progressed, the Reviewed By and Reviewed Date fields are set on the DBE vendor records, and the DBE commitment is moved to the Ready for Agency Approval phase.

Ready for Agency Approval

During the Ready for Agency Approval phase, the non-agency user can again review the data and revise it by selecting the Revise command. This moves the DBE commitment back to the Initial phase and allows the commitment to be modified as needed. When modifications are complete, a non-agency user must sign the DBE commitment and begin the approval process again. When it reaches the Ready for Agency Approval phase, the agency user can approve or reject the DBE commitment. If the DBE commitment is rejected, it moves back to the Under Agency Review phase. If the DBE commitment is approved, the Approved By and Approved Date fields are set, the DBE commitment becomes read-only, and the commitment moves to the Approved phase.

Approved

After the DBE commitment is in the Approved phase, the non-agency user can make revisions by selecting the Revise command. This moves the DBE commitment to the Revision phase.

Revision

When the Revise command is selected, the Revised Commitment tabs are the only tabs where data can be modified for the DBE commitment. The DBE Vendor and Good Faith Effort information submitted with the original commitment cannot be modified. The non-agency user can add new DBE Vendor and Good Faith Effort information. After the revisions are complete, the non-agency user signs the DBE commitment, and it is progressed to the Under Agency Review phase.