The definitions set forth in this section apply throughout this chapter and have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Above standard - Performance ranging from standard to that meeting the lower range of superior.
(2) Active contractor - A contractor who has participated in department activities through maintaining required prequalification and having a history of performing department work.
(3) Affiliate - An associate, subordinate associate, or subsidiary firm which may involve the intermingling of funds, officers, or officials of one or more firms.
(4) Assistant secretary for field operations support - The primary representative of the secretary of transportation responsible for the highway construction program and for the qualification of contractors employed thereon.
(5) Below standard - Performance bordering on standard extending to the limits of inadequate.
(6) Bidding proposal - A form issued by the department for the submission of a contractor's bid containing spaces for entering bid amounts, authentication, and other data.
(7) Capacity multiplier - A number between 5.0 and 7.5 multiplied by a firm's net worth to calculate its maximum bidding capacity.
(8) Conditional qualification - A temporary qualification status given a contractor who has received a "below standard" or "inadequate" overall rating or for other reasons which result in restrictions to a contractor's ability to bid on department work.
(9) Contractor - Any person, partnership, firm, corporation or joint venture who or which, in the pursuit of an independent business, undertakes, offers to undertake, or submits a bid to perform construction work for the department.
(10) Department - The department of transportation.
(11) Endorser - The region operations engineer or immediate supervisor of the construction project engineer, or project architect or, under specified conditions, the region administrator responsible for reviewing contractor's performance reports.
(12) Inadequate - Performance failing completely to meet the prescribed standard or requirement.
(13) Integrity - The quality of being of sound moral principle, uprightness, honesty, and sincerity.
(14) Joint venture - Two or more persons, sole proprietorships, companies, corporations, or combinations thereof, entering into an agreement for a business venture such as a construction project.
(15) Limited work class - A work classification given when a contractor lacks the total experience, organization, equipment, or skills required to perform the entire range of work within a work class.
(16) Maximum capacity rating - The total value of uncompleted prime contract work a contractor is permitted to have under contract with the department at any time.
(17) Performance inquiry - A request made to a contractor's previous employers for an evaluation of the quality and manner of that contractor's performance.
(18) Performance rating - A numerical rating which is equal to the grand total of the evaluation elements of the prime contractor's performance report used to measure and quantify the quality of contractor performance.
(19) Prequalification - The process of evaluating a contractor's financial status, organizational structure, experience, integrity, and other required qualifications to determine a contractor's responsibility and suitability for performing department work. This term is used interchangeably with qualification.
(20) Prime contractor performance report - A report prepared to evaluate the performance of a prime contractor upon completion of, or at an interim period during a department project which is used to adjust a prime contractor's qualification status.
(21) Project estimate - A document prepared by the department establishing the estimated value of all items of work, the total estimated value of work within each class of work, and the estimated total value of a project.
(22) Rater - The designated individual, normally the project engineer, responsible for evaluation of the quality and manner of performance of a contractor in the completion of a project.
(23) Revocation of qualification - The act by which a contractor's qualification is terminated.
(24) Secretary - The secretary of transportation who may delegate his or her functions under this chapter to the assistant secretary for field operations support or such other individual as deemed appropriate.
(25) Standard - The expected, acceptable quality of performance, considered to meet the demand, need or requirement.
(26) Standard questionnaire - The application form completed by a contractor to present information relating to the applicant's financial status, experience, organization, and equipment for the purpose of becoming qualified to perform department work.
(27) Superior - Preeminent performance consistently at an extremely high level.
(28) Suspension of qualification - The termination of a contractor's qualification for a specified period of time.
(29) Unsatisfactory - Below standard or inadequate performance, failing to meet requirements.
(30) Work class - A specific type of work within the various classifications of work, e.g., grading, draining, fencing, etc.
(31) Work class rating - The maximum value within a class of work that is used to determine a firm's eligibility to receive a bid proposal document for a single project.