Payments reported by contract payers must be confirmed by the payee for the system acknowledge it as paid.
In contract goal calculation, there are two columns (Plan and Actual). Plan represents the contract award and actual represents the contract payments.
49 CFR PART 26
· Under 26.29(a), recipients are required to include a prompt payment clause in DOT-assisted contracts. This clause must require prime contractors to pay subcontractors and return any retainage within a certain number of days of satisfactory completion of the subcontractors' work. This provision is a race-neutral requirement applying to DBE and non-DBE subcontractors alike.
· As 26.37(a) provides, recipients must implement appropriate mechanisms to ensure compliance with Part 26 requirements - including prompt payment - by all program participants. To do so, recipients must use legal and contract remedies available under Federal, state, and local law.
· 26.29(a) (1) and (2) mention certain mechanisms a recipient may use to implement the prompt payment requirement (i.e., penalties, a requirement for the recipient's written consent for delays). The rule authorizes, but does not require, recipients to use these particular methods.
· However, the fact that these two cited methods are not mandatory does not mean that enforcement of the prompt payment clause itself is optional. Under 26.29 and 26.37, recipients must use some effective means or other to ensure compliance with prompt payment requirements. If the recipient does not choose to use the two methods mentioned in 26.29(a) (1) and (2), then it must use other effective methods.
Section 26.29; 26.37(a)
IN IMPLEMENTING THE REQUIRED PROMPT PAYMENT CLAUSE, MAY RECIPIENTS REQUIRE PRIME CONTRACTORS TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE OF PAYMENT OF RETAINAGE TO SUBCONTRACTORS?
(Posted - 4/12/99)
ANSWER:
· Yes. The rule's prompt payment clause requirement specifically applies to retainage (i.e., a portion of the payment owed by the prime contractor to a subcontractor that is held pending completion of the subcontractor's work).
· In ensuring compliance with the prompt payment provision, recipients may require prime contractors to provide information concerning payments to subcontractors, including retainage.
