Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 5517.02 – Estimates - force account projects

(A) Before undertaking the construction, reconstruction by widening or resurfacing, or improvement of a state highway, or a bridge or culvert thereon, or the installation of a traffic control signal on a state highway, the director of transportation, except as provided in section 5517.021 of the Revised Code, shall make an estimate of the cost of the work using the force account project assessment form developed by the auditor of state under section 117.16 of the Revised Code. When a force account project assessment form is required, the estimate shall include costs for subcontracted work and any competitively bid component costs.
(B)
1. (1) After complying with division (A) of this section, the director may proceed without competitive bidding with maintenance or repair work by employing labor, purchasing materials, and furnishing equipment, if the total estimated cost of the completed operation, or series of connected operations, does not exceed the following, as adjusted under division (B)(2) of this section:
  1. (a) Thirty thousand dollars per centerline mile of highway, exclusive of structures and traffic control signals;
  2. (b) Sixty thousand dollars for any single traffic control signal or any other single project.
2. (2) On the first day of July of every odd-numbered year beginning in 2015, the director shall increase the amounts established in division (B)(1) of this section by an amount not to exceed the lesser of three 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 two calendar years. The director shall publish the applicable amounts on the department's internet web site.
(C) The director may proceed by furnishing equipment, purchasing materials, and employing labor in the erection of temporary bridges or the making of temporary repairs to a highway or bridge rendered necessary by flood, landslide, or other extraordinary emergency. If the director determines inability to complete such emergency work by force account, the director may contract for any part of the work, with or without advertising for bids, as the director considers for the best interest of the department of transportation.
(D) When a project proceeds by force account under this section or section 5517.021 of the Revised Code, the department of transportation shall perform the work in compliance with any project requirements and specifications that would have applied if a contract for the work had been let by competitive bidding. The department shall retain in the project record all records documenting materials testing compliance, materials placement compliance, actual personnel and equipment hours usage, and all other documentation that would have been required if a contract for the work had been let by competitive bidding.
(E) The director shall proceed by competitive bidding to let work to the lowest competent and responsible bidder after advertisement as provided in section 5525.01 of the Revised Code in both of the following situations:
1. (1) When the scope of work exceeds the limits established in section 5517.021 of the Revised Code;
2. (2) When the estimated cost for a project, other than work described in section 5517.021 of the Revised Code, exceeds the amounts established in division (B) of this section, as adjusted.