nysdot supplemental guidance to the estimator …
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NYSDOT SUPPLEMENTAL GUIDANCE TO THE
ESTIMATOR USER’S GUIDE
December 2020 1 of 10
This document contains guidelines for using Estimator Version 2.16b on NYSDOT projects. It
is a supplement to the Software User’s Guide to address NYSDOT-specific use of the product.
The section numbering used in this document corresponds to that used in the User’s Guide.
2.2.3 Generating a Support Request – The Generate Support Request Feature in Estimator
shall be used by Consultants working for NYSDOT. Support for NYSDOT staff will be
provided through the Office of Information Technology Services (ITS)- Help Desk.
2.3.1 Setting Preferences
Roll Up Item Quantity for Bid History Prices – NYSDOT will use this system management
function to total the quantities of an item across groups for use with bid-based pricing. For
items with bid history, the same unit price will be displayed for the same item in each group,
consistent with current policy.
URL Tabs for Catalog Selection – NYSDOT will be using a catalog containing US customary
items located at “http://ddspapp/cgi-bin”, for inside NYSDOT network users and
https://www.dot.ny.gov/estimator/nysdote.cat for the external users. The metric catalog was
abandoned in 2017, but still available (not maintained) at
https://www.dot.ny.gov/estimator/nysdot.cat
See Section 4.3 of these guidelines for opening or switching between catalogs.
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3.1.3 Understanding the Difference Between Estimate Groups and Catalogs – For
NYSDOT projects, Groups shall be used to combine items into the various Engineering Shares
required for the contract. Refer to the Estimate section in Chapter 21 of the Highway Design
Manual for additional information regarding Engineering Shares. Additional information
regarding Groups can be found in section 5.2 of the Estimator User’s Guide titled “The Groups
and All Items Tabs”.
4.3 Opening an Estimate or Current Catalog
Before creating or modifying an existing estimate, users should make certain that the
corresponding catalog is loaded prior to opening an estimate. This will become apparent when
someone attempts to add an item to an estimate from the item bid history catalog and the items
appear grayed and crossed out. Opening an estimate from ProjectWise will cause this to
happen as well if the corresponding catalog is not loaded. Only those items where the units of
measurement are neutral in either catalog will be darkened (i.e. Each, CD, LS, etc.).
To ascertain that the proper catalog is loaded:
1. Open Estimator and log in using your username and password.
Select “Open a Catalog” from the “Catalog Tools” drop down screen.
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The header information for the USC catalog is named nysdote.cat with a spec year as
08. If the catalog is correct, you can then open or create another estimate.
To change the catalog:
2. First, close any estimate you have opened.
3. Select “Global Options” from the “Other Tools” drop down screen to access the
“Estimator Options” screen.
From the “Estimator Options” screen select the “URLs” tab and simply replace the
Catalog path with the ones provided above in section 2.3.1, hit Apply and Close. This
will load the appropriate catalog.
Opening an Estimate File
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Aside from the usual procedure to opening a file by selecting Open from the File menu and
selecting an estimate, a user may experience having read only access from opening an existing
file from Project Wise or from another source. To change this file to write accessibility, the
user should open the file. If it indicates “read only” as shown below then go to the Edit menu
and select Estimate Users, select your own name and click OK.
The read only status will disappear and the user should be able to write to the file through the
Estimator program.
4.4.1 Saving Estimates / Using valid file names
The file naming convention for NYSDOT projects is included in Appendix 14 of the Project
Development Manual.
4.5.11 Select Customized Reports – Estimator uses Crystal Reports® to produce a quality
printout of your estimate. NYSDOT has developed several custom reports to aid the user in
producing a more accurate estimate and to enhance the reporting capabilities.
For estimates prepared by NYSDOT employees, the custom reports are available in a shared
directory that is accessible from within the Estimating software. For estimates prepared by
Consultants, the custom reports are available for download at the NYSDOT Estimator web
page.
To access these new reports from Estimator, select File > Print Preview to display the Estimate
Print Options Screen. In the “Select Customized Report” section scroll down to the desired
custom report and then select OK.
4.6 Verifying an Estimate – Verifying an estimate will not detect the following:
• PIN Approved Special Specification Items – All items that require PIN approval are
available for selection in the Estimator Standard Item Catalog. The verification process will
not identify which items require project specific approval. Refer to the Specifications
section in chapter 21 of the HDM for additional information regarding the approval
process.
• Lump sum quantities that do not equal 1.00 will not be identified.
• Dollar and Cent Unit Item prices not equal to $1.00 will not be identified.
• Items that require the same unit price in each group will not be identified.
• Data included in fields that are not used by NYSDOT will not be identified. The following
fields shall not contain any data:
o Item Level Supplemental Description
o Group / Engineering Share Level Alternate Code
5.1 Working with the Estimate Header
ESTIMATE ID – The Estimate ID for estimates submitted for PS&E are generally the first six
digits of the NYSDOT PIN without the decimal point. Any letters included in the PIN shall be
entered as uppercase.
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ESTIMATE DESCRIPTION - The estimate description field should include a brief
description of the project. This description is used to generate the newspaper advertisement for
the project; therefore, it must be descriptive enough to be informative to prospective bidders.
Factors such as work type (Asphalt concrete resurfacing, bridge replacement, bridge
rehabilitation, pavement marking, bridge painting, landscape planting, traffic signal installation
and/or repair, etc.) should be mentioned first along with the town(s) and/or village(s) and route
numbers where the work is to occur. This field should be limited to 120 characters to ensure
that all information is passed to AASHTOWare Project PreConstruction.
BASE DATE - For NYSDOT projects, the “Base Date” shall mean the “Letting Date”.
WORK TYPES - NYSDOT work type codes with descriptions and examples are provided in
APPENDIX A.
LONGITUDE & LATITUDE OF MIDPOINT - These values could be entered in Estimator
or after PES upload at the discretion of the NYSDOT Regional offices. When entering the
values, the Latitude and Longitude coordinates should be the approximate midpoint of the
project. For Region wide or multi-county projects, a point in the county where most of the
work is anticipated should be chosen.
There are several methods available to determine the coordinates of the midpoint of a project
including the use of GIS software, CADD software, Google Earth or Google Maps.
DISTRICT - For NYSDOT projects, the “District” shall mean “Regional Office”. e.g. 01.
The two-digit Region number must be used to avoid errors uploading estimates into
AASHTOWare Project PreConstruction.
FEDERAL / STATE PROJECT NUMBER - For NYSDOT, this field will be left blank in
Estimator.
HIGHWAY TYPE - Highway types do not affect the prices in Estimator. The Highway type
should be “undefined”.
URBAN / RURAL TYPE - Urban / Rural Type does not affect the prices in Estimator. The
Urban / Rural type should be “undefined”.
SEASON – The following seasons have been established for NYSDOT contracts.
Winter - contracts let during the winter (12/20 <letting date ≤ 03/21)
Spring - contracts let during the spring (03/21 < letting date ≤06/21)
Summer - contracts let during the summer (06/21< letting date ≤ 09/21)
Fall - contracts let during the fall (09/21 <letting date ≤ 12/22)
COUNTY - The County selected should be the County in which the largest portion of the
work will be performed. The County is used in Estimator to assign the project to a market area
for pricing. Prices will vary by market area. Market areas can be the Regional Office
boundaries or other boundaries established for the specific catalog. Unless otherwise indicated
in the catalog description, Regional Office boundaries will be used to define market area.
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CONTINGENCY PERCENT and MOBILIZATION - The Estimator Contingency Percent
field takes the total of the items in the estimate and adds a percentage which appears as the
job/estimate total. The contingency is used to factor in risk or unknowns not considered that
might affect the estimate. As you approach a final estimate, the contingency should drop as
close to zero as possible.
As a result of a NYSDOT custom process for calculating mobilization in AASHTOWare
Project PreConstruction, the contingency field in Estimator may be used for the mobilization
amount for each project. There are two options available for including mobilization in an
estimate.
Option 1 - Include the mobilization item and amounts in each group. Include zero percent for
contingency.
Option 2 – Include the mobilization amount for the whole contract as contingency. Omit the
mobilization items and amounts from each group. (Although this option will cause a warning
message when you verify the estimate, the correct amounts for mobilization will be included in
the estimate after the data is uploaded to AASHTOWare Project PreConstruction.)
5.1.4 Setting the Estimate’s Options
To ensure that all estimates are rounded to the same level of accuracy and to ensure
compatibility with other NYSDOT software applications, the default “Estimate Options”
settings shown below shall be used for all Estimates.
Only AASHTOWare Project PreConstruction items and codes allowed – This box shall
remain unchecked for all estimates to maintain a rounding level that is compatible with other
NYSDOT software applications. To ensure that only approved AASHTOWare Project
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PreConstruction items are used in the Estimate; all items shall be selected from the
dropdown menus. Any items entered manually may drop out of the estimate during the
AASHTOWare Project PreConstruction upload process.
5.1.5 Web Services Tab
AASHTOWare Estimator includes a feature that allows the System Manager to establish links
between estimate items and web services. These services have been set up for NYSDOT in-
house users to link pay item numbers within Estimator to information available in the Pay Item
Catalog web application. https://www.dot.ny.gov/pic
This feature is included at the item level in the Standard Item Catalog and within a project
estimate.
To access this feature in the Standard Item Catalog, select Catalog Tools, Show Open Catalog
and select an item in the display. Click on the Pay Item Catalog tab to load the item
information.
To access this feature in a project estimate, select an item within an Engineering Share then
click on the Pay Item Catalog tab to load the item information.
After the item information is loaded, the user can review the item information including special
specification files or modify the bid history date and quantity filters to refine the displayed
information. An additional feature included at the estimate item level is the ability to save the
displayed information with the estimate.
Screen shots showing the Pay Item Catalog tab and displayed information are included below.
5.2 The Groups and All Items Tabs - For NYSDOT projects, Groups shall be used to
combine items into the various Engineering Shares required for the contract. Refer to the
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Engineer's Estimate Section in Chapter 21 of the Highway Design Manual for additional
information regarding Engineering Shares.
Group Number – Groups, or Engineering Shares, shall be numbered consecutively in
increments of 1 beginning with 0001.
Supplemental Group Number – Current NYSDOT business processes do not support the use
of the Supplemental Group field at the group level. This field shall be blank for all estimates
submitted for PS&E.
Alternate Group Code – Current NYSDOT business processes do not support the use of the
Alt Code field at the group level. This field shall be blank for all estimates submitted for
PS&E.
Group Description – The group description field should include a description of the work
included in the Engineering Share. This can be a description of a Highway, Bridge, Utility or
Funding Source. When a separate Engineering Share is required for a Bridge in accordance
with the Engineer's Estimate Section in Chapter 21 of the Highway Design Manual, the Bridge
Identification Number (BIN) must be included in the description, i.e., BIN 1234567 - I123
over Route XX. Utility shares shall include the name of the Utility Company.
5.3 Working with the Estimate Item List
Unit Prices
Lump Sum Items – The unit price for lump sum items shall be the dollar amount
allocated to the group/engineering share.
Dollar and Cents Items – The unit price used for all DC unit items in each
group/engineering share shall be $1.00.
For all other item units - When an item is included in multiple groups, the same unit
price shall be used in each group/engineering share.
Quantities
Lump Sum Item Quantities - The quantity used for all lump sum items in each group
shall be 1.00. Although Estimator will allow entry of any value for lump sum
quantities, use of values other than 1.00 will cause errors in reports generated using
AASHTOWare Project PreConstruction data.
Quantity Rounding – Unless otherwise provided for in the item specification, the
combined quantity for each item in the estimate shall be rounded to the nearest whole
number. The maximum rounding accuracy allowed for any item shall be one hundredth
of a unit.
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Distributing quantities into multiple groups – When distributing items into multiple
groups, the rounding level for the item in each group shall be limited to one hundredth
of a unit. For example, a quantity of 1 EACH shall be distributed equally into three
groups, as follows:
Group 1 = 0.33
Group 2 = 0.33
Group 3 = 0.34
Total = 1.00 EACH
Alternate Item Code - The Alt Code field at the item level is used to identify Alternate bid
items. Refer to Engineer's Estimate Section in Chapter 21 of the Highway Design Manual for
additional information regarding alternate bid items.
Supplemental Description - NYSDOT business processes currently require that the Item level
Supplemental Description field within Estimator be left blank.
5.4 Adding Items to Your Estimate - Only items that appear in the Standard Item Catalog
shall be used in NYSDOT estimates. Refer to Chapter 21 of the Highway Design Manual for
Special Specification Review and Approval procedures.
6.3 Adding Non-Standard Items to the Estimate – Only items that appear in the Standard
Item Catalog shall be used in NYSDOT estimates. Refer to Chapter 21 of the Highway Design
Manual for Special Specification Review and Approval procedures.
Temporary Lump Sum Items - Temporary lump sum items have been included in the
Standard Item Catalog and can be used for items that have not yet been approved for use. The
temporary item numbers are 999.01 to 999.05.
7. Working with Catalogs and Code Tables - All catalogs will not be used by NYSDOT.
Use of the Labor, Material, Equipment and Cost Sheet Catalogs will be phased in over time.
7.2 The Standard Item Catalog - The Standard Item Catalog includes either the approved
2006 or 2008 standard specification book and general and PIN-approved special specification
items. The item catalogs will be updated on a regular basis to include recently approved
specifications. Disapproved items will be removed from the appropriate catalog on the date of
the first catalog update after the disapproval date. The date of the item catalog update will be
included in the catalog description. To ensure that only approved items are included in an
estimate, all items shall be selected from the dropdown menus. If an approved item is not
found in the appropriate Standard Item Catalog, contact the Regional or Program area Special
Specification Coordinator.
Required Supplemental Description Indicator – NYSDOT does not currently use the Item
level Supplemental Description field.
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7.3.2 Bid History Catalog - The bid history catalog will be updated on a quarterly basis.
Initially, the bid history catalog will include 2 years of information. The catalog description
will include the 2-year period used to generate the bid history catalog. Refer to APPENDICES
B and C for an overview of information included in the bid history catalog.
7.3.3 Reference Prices Catalog - The Reference Prices Catalog includes all items with units
of measure = Dollars and Cents (DC). Additional fixed price items will be added over time.
8. Importing/Exporting from Estimator - Excel spreadsheets can be one of many formats
that can be exported or imported from Estimator. Minor manual entries will need to be made to
the project files that are imported from Excel:
1. Enter the group description(s) in the header area.
2. Click on the group names (shares) in the tree area to properly re-sequence the groups.
3. Enter the name of the Estimate ID in the header area.
APPENDIX A
NYSDOT CONTRACT
WORK TYPES
CONTRACT CONTRACTWORK TYPE WORK TYPECODE DESCRIPTION EXAMPLESASPH ASPHALT: PRIMARILY ASPHALT WORK ASPHALT: HIGHWAY RECONSTRUCTION
TYPICALLY OVER 40% ASPHALT ITEM DOLLARS, ASPHALT: HIGHWAY RESURFACING
NO MAJOR BRIDGE WORK
BLDG BUILDINGS BUILDINGS
BUILDING DEMOLITION
REST AREAS
RESIDENCIES , SUB-RESIDENCIES
TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTERS (BLDGS.)
WICK'S LAW BLDG.CONTRACTS
BLDG., SITE WORK
HVAC, PLUMBING, ELECTRIC
BRCL BRIDGE CLEANING BRIDGE CLEANING
BRIDGE WASHING
BRPT BRIDGE PAINTING BRIDGE PAINTING OR CLEANING & PAINTING
CONC CONCRETE: PRIMARILY PORTLAND CEMENT CONCRETE
CONCRETE WORK PCC PAVEMENT
CRKJ CRACKS & JOINTS CRACK SEALING
JOINT REPAIR
JOINT SEALING
DRNG DRAINAGE DRAINAGE
CATCH BASINS
CULVERTS
DITCH CLEANING
ERTH EARTHWORK EARTHWORK
EXCAVATIONS
GRADING
RECHARGE BASIN CONSTRUCTION
SLOPE STABILIZATION
FENC FENCING FENCES
GATES
NOISE BARRIERS
GDRL GUIDE RAIL GUIDE RAILS
GENC GENERAL CONSTRUCTION: INTERCHANGE CONSTRUCTION
PROJECTS WITH A MIX OF BRIDGE AND HIGHWAY MAJOR RECONSTRUCRION WORK
WORK, TYPICALLY 20% OR MORE INDIVIDUALLY
ALLOCATED TO:
PAVING (ASPHALT OR CONCRETE),
AND EARTHWORK (&/OR DRAINAGE)
AND STRUCTURES
HMCL HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE & CLEANING HIGHWAY CLEANING
HIGHWAY SWEEPING
LITTER REMOVAL
GRAFFITI REMOVAL
PAVEMENT CLEANING
PAVEMENT SWEEPING
MOWING
ITS INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
LSCP LANDSCAPING HERBICIDE APPLICATION
LANDSCAPING
TREE &/OR SHRUB TRIMMING &/OR REMOVAL
VEGETATION ENCROACHMENT
10/27/2008 1 of 2
APPENDIX A
NYSDOT CONTRACT
WORK TYPES
CONTRACT CONTRACTWORK TYPE WORK TYPECODE DESCRIPTION EXAMPLESMISC MISCELLANEOUS BIKEPATHS, BIKEWAYS
SIDEWALKS, WALKWAYS, TRAILS
CURBS
SUBSURFACE EXPLORATIONS
SOIL BORINGS
M&PT FOR BRIDGE INSPECTIONS
PVMK PAVEMENT MARKING PAVEMENT MARKING
SGLT SIGNALS & LIGHTING SIGNAL REQUIREMENT CONTRACTS
SIGNALS
LIGHTING
SIGN SIGNS SIGNS, OVERHEAD SIGN STRUCTURES
STRS STRUCTURES BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION
MAJORITY OF CONTRACT WORK IS BRIDGE RELATED BRIDGE REHABILITATION
WITH INCIDENTAL APPROACH WORK
WWSB WHERE & WHEN / STAND-BY EMERGENCY STANDBY
EMERGENCY WHERE AND WHEN
WORK ORDER CONTRACTS
10/27/2008 2 of 2
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APPENDIX B
Overview of the Bid History Catalog – Average Item Prices
This section contains an overview of the information contained in the Bid History Catalog
when viewing the average item price screen.
Model Number - All unit prices are calculated using a combination of contract information
such as quantity level, season, work type and area. Each model number represents a different
combination of contract information used to calculate the unit price. Model 0 calculates the
statewide average price for all contract occurrences. The other 15 models use various
combinations of contract data to calculate unit prices. The data considered in each model is
displayed in the Bid History Catalog view for each item. An * indicates that all data in the
category was used in the calculation.
Quantity Level - Each item occurrence is assigned a quantity level using the following quantity
level definitions:
1 = Very Low, If the quantity level is 1, only the contracts that include item quantities
in the lowest percentile range (i.e. 5th < quantity < 25th) are used to calculate the
corresponding average price.
2 = Low, If the quantity level is 2, only the contracts that include item quantities in the
second percentile range (i.e. 25th <= quantity < 50th) are used to calculate the
corresponding average price.
3 = High, If the quantity level is 3, only the contracts that include item quantities in the
third percentile range (i.e. 50th <= quantity < 75th) are used to calculate the
corresponding average price.
4 = Very High, If the quantity level is 4, only the contracts that include item quantities
in the highest percentile range (i.e. 75th <= quantity < 95th) are used to calculate the
corresponding average price
* = All If the quantity level is *, all contracts that include valid item quantities (i.e.
quantity level 1, 2, 3, or 4) are used to calculate the corresponding average price.
All item quantity outliers (i.e. quantity <= 5th or quantity >= 95th) are automatically
excluded from the analysis.
Area - Regional Office designation. Area 1 indicates that only contracts let in Region 1 were
used to calculate the average unit prices.
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Season - Each item occurrence is assigned a season based on the letting date. Only the
contracts let during the corresponding season are used to calculate the average price.
Winter - contracts let during the winter (12/20 <letting date ≤ 03/21)
Spring - contracts let during the spring (03/21 < letting date ≤06/21)
Summer - contracts let during the summer (06/21< letting date ≤ 09/21)
Fall - contracts let during the fall (09/21 <letting date ≤ 12/22)
Highway Type - Not currently used to calculate prices.
Urban/Rural - Not currently used to calculate prices.
Work Type - Work Type used to calculate the average unit price.
Unit Price - Average unit price calculated by the model. All item price outliers (i.e. price >
three standard deviations from the mean) are automatically excluded from the analysis before
the average price is calculated.
Number of Observations - Number of bids used to calculate the average unit price. NYSDOT
currently uses the three low bids from each contract. If the number of observations is 3, this
indicates that the calculation was based on the three low bids from one contract occurrence.
1/20/2021 1 of 2
APPENDIX C
Overview of the Bid History Catalog & Estimate Bid History Graph
for
Regression Item Prices
This section contains an overview of the information contained in the Bid History Catalog
when viewing the regression item price screen and in viewing the bid history graph when
an estimate is generated.
Model Number - Historical item price regression models are created from specific price
qualifiers and variables. Combinations of variables are used to create eight different regression
models and are shown in table 3-3 of the Estimators Users Guide. The variables include:
Quantity, Work Type, Area and Season. Model 1 includes a regression based on all contract
occurrences statewide regardless of the variables. The data considered in each model is
displayed in the Bid History Catalog view and for certain items in an estimate by selecting the
regression tab.
Quantity Level - Each item occurrence is assigned a quantity level using the following quantity
level definitions:
1 = Very Low, If the quantity level is 1, only the contracts that include item quantities
in the lowest percentile range (i.e. 5th < quantity < 25th) are used to calculate the
corresponding regression data.
2 = Low, If the quantity level is 2, only the contracts that include item quantities in the
second percentile range (i.e. 25th <= quantity < 50th) are used to calculate the
corresponding regression data.
3 = High, If the quantity level is 3, only the contracts that include item quantities in the
third percentile range (i.e. 50th <= quantity < 75th) are used to calculate the
corresponding regression data.
4 = Very High, If the quantity level is 4, only the contracts that include item quantities
in the highest percentile range (i.e. 75th <= quantity < 95th) are used to calculate the
corresponding regression data.
* = All If the quantity level is *, all contracts that include valid item quantities (i.e.
quantity level 1, 2, 3, or 4) are used to calculate the corresponding regression data.
All item quantity outliers (i.e. quantity <= 5th or quantity >= 95th) are automatically
excluded from the analysis.
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Area - Regional Office designation. Area 1 indicates that only contracts let in Region 1 were
used to calculate the regression unit prices.
Season - Each item occurrence is assigned a season based on the letting date. Only the
contracts let during the corresponding season are used to calculate the regression data.
Winter - contracts let during the winter (12/20 <letting date ≤ 03/21)
Spring - contracts let during the spring (03/21 < letting date ≤06/21)
Summer - contracts let during the summer (06/21< letting date ≤ 09/21)
Fall - contracts let during the fall (09/21 <letting date ≤ 12/22)
Highway Type - Not currently used to calculate prices.
Urban/Rural - Not currently used to calculate prices.
Work Type - Work Type used to calculate the regression unit prices.
Unit Price - Regression unit prices are calculated by the model. The model that has the lowest
Root Mean Square (RMS) for the specified variables will be chosen by the program and
displayed in the item header and in the graph when generating an estimate. A specified percent
of regression model outliers are automatically excluded from the analysis before the RMS is
calculated. A 0.2 level of improvement must be made over the base model before keeping a
regression model to generate unit prices. Models that are out of a range of three (3) standard
deviations compared to the average prices will be excluded. Regressions with positive quantity
coefficients (prices increases as quantity increases) will also be excluded.
Number of Observations - NYSDOT currently uses 30 as the minimum number of
observations (bids) used to calculate the RMS for each model. Not more than the three lowest
bids (overall) from each contract are counted as observations towards anyone item of work.
Models with less than 30 observations, after 10% regression model outliers have been
removed, will be excluded from the program.