Chapter 5575 | Maintenance And Repair - Contract; Force Account

Section 5575.01 | Maintenance and repair of roads by contract or force account.

• Effective: June 30, 2023
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 23 - 135th General Assembly

(A) In the maintenance and repair of roads, the board of township trustees may proceed either by contract or force account, but, unless the exemption specified in division (C) of this section applies, if the board wishes to proceed by force account, it first shall cause the county engineer to complete the force account assessment form developed by the auditor of state under section 117.16 of the Revised Code. Except as otherwise provided in sections 505.08 and 505.101 of the Revised Code, when the board proceeds by contract, the contract shall, if the amount involved exceeds one hundred five thousand dollars, be let by the board to the lowest responsible bidder after advertisement for bids once, not later than two weeks, prior to the date fixed for the letting of the contract, in a newspaper of general circulation within the township. If the amount involved is one hundred five thousand dollars or less, a contract may be let without competitive bidding, or the work may be done by force account. Such a contract shall be performed under the supervision of a member of the board or the township road superintendent.

(B) Before undertaking the construction or reconstruction of a township road, the board shall cause to be made by the county engineer an estimate of the cost of the work, which estimate shall include labor, material, freight, fuel, hauling, use of machinery and equipment, and all other items of cost. If the board finds it in the best interest of the public, it may, in lieu of constructing the road by contract, proceed to construct the road by force account. Except as otherwise provided under sections 505.08 and 505.101 of the Revised Code, where the total estimated cost of the work exceeds thirty-five thousand dollars per mile, the board shall invite and receive competitive bids for furnishing all the labor, materials, and equipment and doing the work, as provided in section 5575.02 of the Revised Code, and shall consider and reject them before ordering the work done by force account. When such bids are received, considered, and rejected, and the work is done by force account, the work shall be performed in compliance with the plans and specifications upon which the bids were based.

(C) Force account assessment forms are not required under division (A) of this section for road maintenance or repair projects or under division (B) of this section for road construction or reconstruction projects of less than one-third of the applicable force account limit.

(D) On the first day of July of every year beginning in 2024, the threshold amounts established in divisions (A) and (B) of this section shall increase by an amount not to exceed the lesser of five per cent, or the percentage amount of any increase in the department of transportation's construction cost index as annualized and totaled for the prior calendar year. The director of transportation shall notify each appropriate county engineer of the increased amount.

(E) All force account work under this section shall be done under the direction of a member of the board or the township road superintendent.

Last updated April 27, 2023 at 12:13 PM

Section 5575.02 | Advertisements for bids - award of contract.

• Effective: September 29, 2017
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 49 - 132nd General Assembly

After the board of township trustees has decided to proceed with a road improvement, it shall advertise for bids once, not later than two weeks prior to the date fixed for the letting of contracts, in a newspaper of general circulation within the township. Such notice shall state that copies of the surveys, plans, profiles, cross sections, and specifications for such improvement are on file with the board, and the time within which bids will be received. The board may let the work as a whole or in convenient sections, as it determines. The contract shall be awarded to the lowest and best bidder who meets the requirements of section 153.54 of the Revised Code, and shall be let upon the basis of lump sum bids, unless the board orders that it be let upon the basis of unit price bids, in which event it shall be let upon such basis.

The board is not required to provide notice of the project cost estimate when advertising for bids under this section.

Section 5575.03 | Contract shall not be awarded at more than estimated cost - rejection of bids.

• Effective: September 29, 2017
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 49 - 132nd General Assembly

No contract for any road improvement shall be awarded at a price more than ten per cent in excess of the estimated cost. The bids received shall be opened at the time stated in the notice. If no bids are made that equal one hundred ten per cent of the estimate or less, the board of township trustees shall either readvertise based upon the original estimate, or request an amended estimate from the county engineer, who shall proceed to make such an estimate as provided in section 5575.01 of the Revised Code, and proceed to advertise based upon the amended estimate. The board is not required to provide notice of the estimate or amended estimate when readvertising under this section.

No contract shall be awarded for any road improvement without the certification as to funding required under section 5705.41 of the Revised Code. The board may reject all bids.

Section 5575.04 | Bond of contractor.

• Effective: December 20, 2005
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 107 - 126th General Assembly

Before entering into a contract, the board of township trustees shall require a bond indemnifying the township against damages that may be suffered by failure to perform the contract according to the contract's provisions and in accordance with the specifications for the improvement.

The township fiscal officer shall not draw a warrant in favor of any contractor for estimates, on account of a contract let under sections 5575.02 and 5575.03 of the Revised Code, until the affidavit of the contractor, or an officer or agent in the case of a corporation, that all indebtedness of the contractor on account of material incorporated into the work or delivered on the site of the improvement and labor performed has been paid, is filed with the fiscal officer. In lieu of the affidavit, the contractor may file the written consent of all persons who have furnished material, incorporated into the work or delivered on the site of the improvement, or performed labor on the improvement, that any estimate then due may be paid. The consent shall be accompanied by the affidavit of the contractor, or an officer or agent in the case of a corporation, that the consent bears the signatures of all persons who have furnished material, incorporated in the work or delivered on the site of the improvement, or performed labor on the improvement, and have not been paid in full for the labor or material. This section does not prevent the payment out of any estimate that is due, upon the assignment by the contractor to any person who has furnished material for the work or performed labor on the improvement, of the amount due for the material or labor.

Section 5575.05 | New contract for extra work - procedure.

• Effective: September 14, 1995
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 12 - 121st General Assembly

(A) In case of an unforeseen contingency not contemplated by a road improvement contract, allowances for extra work may be made by a board of township trustees, but the board must first enter into a new contract in writing for the extra work. If the estimate for extra work is less than twenty-five thousand dollars for any particular line item listed in the new contract and the overall total estimate for the extra work does not exceed ten per cent of the total of the original contract, the contract for the extra work may be let by the board by private contract without complying with section 5575.02 of the Revised Code. Section 5575.02 of the Revised Code applies to all other new contracts for extra work, except that if an emergency exists and the time required for complying with section 5575.02 of the Revised Code would unduly delay the completion of the project, the board, after making a finding of emergency and entering it on its records, may contract for the extra work by private contract without complying with that section.

(B) No contract shall be awarded for extra work at any price in excess of the original contract unit price for the same class or kind of work in connection with the original contract. In case of any new class or kind of work, the board and contractor shall agree as to the price to be paid. The contractor shall submit a bid in writing and, if the bid is accepted by the board, the board immediately shall enter into a written contract covering the extra work. The costs of the extra work shall be paid by the board out of any funds available therefor, and the amount paid shall be charged to the cost of construction of the improvement and apportioned as the original contract price.

Section 5575.06 | Donations of labor or material.

• Effective: October 1, 1953
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly

The board of township trustees may accept donations of labor or material for a proposed road improvement, and in determining which road shall first be improved it may, when acting by unanimous vote and without a petition, take into consideration the amount of such donations. The board may require the persons donating labor or material to enter into a contract that such labor will be performed and material furnished at the time required by the board. Such contract shall set forth the value of the labor or material, and in case of failure to furnish such labor or material the value fixed in the contract shall be conclusive in any suit brought by the board for damages for the breach of contract.

Section 5575.07 | Supervision by county engineer - appointment of inspector.

• Effective: October 1, 1953
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly

The work of road improvement shall be done under the general supervision and direction of the county engineer and he may appoint some competent person to act as inspector during the construction of such improvement. The person appointed as inspector shall receive, for each day actually employed at such work, a sum not to exceed four dollars, to be fixed by the engineer and paid out of any fund available for the construction of the improvement, upon the order of the board of township trustees with the approval of the engineer.

Section 5575.09 | Record of proceedings for improvement.

• Effective: December 20, 2005
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 107 - 126th General Assembly

The board of township trustees shall provide the township fiscal officer with a suitable book in which the fiscal officer shall keep a complete record of proceedings for the construction, reconstruction, resurfacing, or improvement of public roads. For making the record, the fiscal officer shall receive ten cents for each one hundred words, and, for all other services in connection with keeping the record, the fiscal officer shall receive the reasonable compensation allowed by the board.

Section 5575.10 | Maintenance and repair fund.

• Effective: October 29, 1975
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 124 - 111th General Assembly

After the annual estimate for each township has been filed with the board of township trustees by the county engineer, such board may increase or reduce the amount of any items contained in the estimate, and at its first meeting after such estimate is filed the board shall make its levies for the purposes set forth in the estimate and for creating a fund for dragging, maintenance, and repair of roads, upon all the taxable property of the township outside of any municipal corporation or part thereof, not exceeding, in the aggregate, three mills in any one year upon each dollar of the valuation of such property. Such levies shall be in addition to all other levies authorized for township purposes, and subject only to the limitation upon the combined maximum rate for taxes now in force. This section does not prevent the expenditures of any portion of the regular levy of two mills for township purposes, but is in addition thereto. The board shall provide annually by taxation, under this section or under section 5573.13 of the Revised Code, or under both, an adequate fund for the maintenance and repair of township roads.

The maintenance and repair fund so provided shall not be less than one hundred dollars for each mile of improved township road and twenty dollars for each mile of unimproved township road. Such levies for maintenance and repair purposes shall be separately set forth in the annual budget of the board presented to the budget commission, and the maintenance and repair levies made by the board, pursuant to this section, shall be preferred levies as against any others made for township road purposes by the board. Should the budget commission of any county be unable to allow all of the road levies made by the board, such reductions as are necessary shall be first made in levies other than for maintenance and repair purposes made under this section. The fund produced by such levies for maintenance and repair purposes shall be subject to transfer, in the manner provided in sections 5705.15 and 5705.16 of the Revised Code. This section does not prevent the board from using any other available road funds for the maintenance and repair of township roads.