Completion of Work

The Caltrans-consultant relationship is built on trust, but that does not negate your obligation to inspect and approve the consultant's final deliverables. Difficulties in this area arise when both parties have not agreed on the exact definition of what constitutes completion.

Make your definition of "complete" as clear as possible by documenting detailed specifications for all contract products. Include this verbiage as part of the original contract and all task orders. Reconfirm this understanding periodically during the contract period. At the end of the task order or contract, when the consultant is expecting to be paid, is not a good time to start arguing over what is or is not included as part of the deliverables.

During closeout, Caltrans pays the consultant's final task order invoices and the prime consultant settles all payments with their sub-consultants.