Approval of Work Suspension Order, Work Resumption Order, and Contract Time Extension for Civil Works Projects

May 29, 2020

DPWH DEPARTMENT ORDER NO. 42, S. 2020

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need to streamline the processes of this Department and afford authority and accountability to the Implementing Offices to act on matters relating work suspension, resumption and contract time extension. This will not only reduce logistics challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic when it comes to requests for suspension, resumption and contract time extension, it will also strengthen the accountability of Implementing Offices in ensuring that infrastructure projects are effectively and efficiently implemented to contribute to the country's economic growth and people's livelihood. Hence, the guidelines and procedures set forth in D.O. 144, series of 2016 is hereby amended as follows:

I. LEGAL BASIS

• Annex "E" of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) No. 9184 for locally funded projects

• Federation International des Ingenieurs-Conseils (FIDIC), General Conditions of Contract and Conditions of Particular Application, or any other guidelines for foreign assisted projects

II. DEFINITION OF TERMS

• Contract Time Extension (CTE) — is a written authority, issued by the DPWH Project Engineer and approved by the duly authorized DPWH officials, prior to the contract expiration, granting the contractor additional time beyond the approved completion date in order to carry out remaining works or any additional works, on account of other special circumstances that warrant such additional contract time.

• Work Suspension Order (WSO) — is a written order to the contractor issued by the DPWH Project Engineer/Engineer's Representative and approved by the duly authorized DPWH officials to suspend the contract work wholly or partly for such period as may be deemed necessary, for grounds provided under V (A) hereof.

• Work Resumption Order (WRO) — is a written order issued by the DPWH Project Engineer/Engineer's Representative and approved by the concerned Head of the IO to the contractor to resume construction operation covered by a previous Work Suspension Order, after the cause of or reason for the work suspension has been resolved.

III. DELEGATED AUTHORITY

The authority to issue Work Suspension Order (WSO), Work Resumption Order (WRO) and Contract Time Extension (CTE), including the determination of the inclusive period necessary for the said Orders pursuant to Sections 10.1 and 10.5 of the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 9184, is hereby delegated as follows:

A. For locally funded projects:

 

Approving Official	Cumulative Inclusive Period
District Engineer	- up to 60 calendar days (cd)
Regional Director	- Beyond 60 cd

 

B. For Central/UPMO projects:

 

Approving Official	Cumulative Inclusive Period
UPMO Cluster Director/Bureau Director	- up to 120 cd
Undersecretary for Technical Services/UPMO Operations	- beyond 120 cd

 

The above-stated officials shall issue the corresponding Orders within the time prescribed in the DoTS.

IV. DUTY OF THE PROJECT ENGINEER

The preparation of the desired WSO, WRO and CTE shall remain with the concerned DPWH Project Engineer. The DPWH Project Engineer shall ensure that all supporting documents are submitted pursuant to the prevailing Department Order for DoTS. Likewise, all approved CTEs shall be submitted to the Bureau of Construction for updating of construction schedule in the PCMA.

The DPWH Project Engineer shall use the format prescribed in Annexes A, B, C and E hereof in preparing said WSO, WRO and CTE, as may be deemed applicable.

V. WORK SUSPENSION ORDER

A. Grounds

1. For locally-funded projects, a WSO directing the contractor to suspend the contract work wholly or partly, for such period as may be necessary, shall be issued for the following reasons:

a. Force majeure or any fortuitous event that has taken place, which inflicts extensive damage and/or makes it difficult to proceed with the work, such as a devastating earthquake or flood, or

b. Failure on the part of the contractor to correct bad conditions which are unsafe for workers or for the general public, or

c. Failure of the contractor to carry out valid orders given by the procuring entity or to perform any provisions of the contract, or

d. Adjustment of plans to suit field conditions as found necessary during construction, or

e. There exist right-of-way (ROW) problems which prohibit the contractor from performing works in accordance with the approved construction schedule, or

f. Peace and order condition which makes it extremely dangerous, if not impossible to work, as certified in writing by the Philippine National Police (PNP) Station Commander which has responsibility over the affected area, and confirmed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Regional Director, or

g. The Government initiates major variations in the scope of the contract during its implementation to suit changes in physical and economic conditions, or

h. Other particular circumstances enumerated in the applicable clause of the contract, and such other conditions provided under item 9 Annex "E" of the 2016 Revised IRR of RA 9184.

The DPWH shall not issue a WSO if the interruption is due to intermittent conditions which renders the site unworkable, such in case of unfavorable weather condition (Rainy), weather disturbances or its effect (river swelling, storm surge, etc.). Instead, a Monthly Time Suspension Report (MTSR) shall be issued indicating the said unworkable days and granting a contract time extension as provided in item V (C) hereof.

Considering that a certificate of site availability was issued by the IO prior to the start of the project, WSO due to ROW problem shall not be issued right at the start of contract effectivity.

2. For foreign-assisted projects, a WSO may be issued by the IO directing the contractor concerned to suspend the work wholly or partly under the contract, for any applicable reason/legal basis in accordance with FIDIC, General Conditions of Contract and Conditions of Particular Application, or any other applicable guidelines prescribed by the lending institution.

B. Suspension of Work Initiated by the Contractor

If the Suspension of Work is initiated by the Contractor for reasons stated in item 9.2 Annex "E" of the Revised IRR of RA 9184, the contractor or his duly authorized representative shall have the right to suspend the operation on any/or all project or activities along the critical path of activities after 15 calendar days from the date of receipt of the written notice from the contractor to the implementing office. Upon receipt of the notice, the DPWH Project Engineer shall immediately investigate the validity of the said suspension. The concerned IO shall act immediately to resolve the cause of suspension.

C. Monthly Time Suspension Report (MTSR)

A MTSR shall be issued instead of a WSO if suspension/unworkable days is due to unfavorable weather condition (Rainy), weather disturbances or its effect (river swelling, storm surge, etc.), or other conditions rendering the site unworkable occur intermittently.

The MTSR shall indicate the said unworkable days and grant contract time extension upon approval by the Head of the IO, provided that proper and complete documentation is compliant with the checklist in the DoTS for Civil Works.

The DPWH Project Engineer/Engineer's Representative shall prepare the MTSR, using the format in Annex D, for approval by the Head of the IO. MTSR for the current month should be prepared and approved in the succeeding month. The Project Logbook, Weather Chart and Geotagged pictures should be attached in the approval of MTSR in order to verify the workable and unworkable days.

Unworkable days due to unfavorable weather condition, other weather disturbances or its effect, as reflected in the MTSR, shall not be included in determining the cumulative number of days that the project was suspended with regard to the limits of authority in item III hereof.

(For example, in the following straight line diagram (Example-1), the designation for the work suspension order due to obstruction should be WSO No. 2 even though it succeeded the unworkable intermittent period due to rainy/unworkable days. In Example-1, WSO No. 2 (due to obstruction) shall be approved by the District Engineer.)

Example — 1

 

D. Continuance of Work Suspension Order (CWSO)

For locally funded projects, if the reason for the suspension was not resolved within the period provided in the WSO, the herein delegated authority shall issue, within 5 days before the lapsed of the WSO, a CWSO directing the continuance of the suspension of work under the contract.

The authority of the District Engineer and UPMO Project Director/Bureau Director in issuing a CWSO shall take into consideration the number of days provided in the WSO. In case the cumulative number of days provided in both WSO and CWSO exceed their authority provided in item III hereof, the CWSO must be approved by the Regional Director or the Undersecretary for UPMO Operations/Technical Services, as the case may be.

VI. WORK RESUMPTION ORDER

Upon the resolution of the cause or reason for the issuance of WSO or CWSO, the DPWH Project Engineer, even without a request from the contractor, shall prepare a WRO — using the format in Annexes B-1 to B-3 (Locally funded projects) and Annex B-4 (Foreign funded projects) hereof, whichever is applicable — directing the contractor to resume work under the contract, subject to the approval of the Head of the Implementing Office, and to the requirements of the DoTS for Civil Works checklist and prescribed timeframe.

VII. CONTRACT TIME EXTENSION (CTE)

A. Application

1. A corresponding CTE shall be granted only if it is in accordance with the provisions of Section 10 Annex E of the Revised IRR of RA 9184/FIDIC/Conditions of Contract or any other applicable guidelines, with complete documentary requirements in accordance with the checklist of the DoTS for Civil Works. It has to be approved by the duly delegated DPWH official in view of the approved work suspension order or its continuance, subject to evaluation, among others, to consider utilization/exhaustion of predetermined unworkable days, bond extension, quit claim for damages, and their effect on the approved PERT/CPM/PDM Network Diagram schedule in order to reflect the official revised contract time and expiry date as a result of such work suspension order or its continuance.

2. The issuance of a WSO/CWSO is not an automatic basis for contract time extension. The expiry date shall only be revised if the Contract Time Extension has been duly approved by the authorized officials.

3. In designating the CTE due to approved WSO, Monthly Time Suspension Report due to intermittent rainy/unworkable days and other reasons, the numbering shall be made in a consecutive order (Refer to Example 2).

Example 2

Note: The Implementing Office is a District Engineering Office (DEO).

4. The CTE corresponding to the WSO may be approved by the official with whom the authority has been delegated even prior the issuance of WRO, provided that the CWSO has been approved. The WRO shall be issued by the implementing office, regardless of the cumulative period of the WSO and CWSO. (Refer to Example 3).

Example 3

Note: The Implementing Office is a District Engineering Office (DEO).

5. The IO shall act on each claim for Contract Time Extension from contractors including investigations of the circumstances and justifications, if any, and disposition — i.e., approval/disapproval/reduction/modification/recommendation — within the prescribed time under the DoTS of each office, Section 10.1 Annex E of the Revised IRR of RA 9184, Section 20.1 of FIDIC, Section 5.a of RA 6713 (within 15 calendar days), or any other applicable guidelines prescribed by the lending institution (for foreign funded).

6. The Project Engineer shall prepare the prescribed form for Contract Time Extension attached herewith as Annexes E-1 to E-5b as may be applicable.

B. Request for CTE

1. The request of the contractor for CTE should be in accordance with Section 10, Annex E of the Revised IRR of R.A. 9184. It shall be made prior to the expiration of the contract time. Requests made after the official expiry date shall not be granted. During the implementation period, request for contract time extension shall be made within thirty (30) calendar days for locally funded projects, or within twenty-eight (28) cd for foreign funded projects, after work operations has resumed or after the circumstances leading to such claim had arisen. The contractor shall ensure that notices with prescribed supporting documents were delivered and duly received by the implementing office within the said period. Failure to comply shall constitute as a waiver of the contractor to any claim for time extension pursuant to Section 10.1 Annex E of the Revised IRR of RA 9184 and Section 20.1 of the FIDIC.

2. The concerned Project Engineer shall issue a certification once the pre-determined rainy/unworkable days are exhausted. Said certification shall be attached in the processing of CTE. In case the contract has no pre-determined rainy/unworkable calendar days, the Project Engineer shall issue a certification stating that the contract has no pre-determined rainy/unworkable calendar days to be attached in the processing of CTE together with the copy of Special Conditions of Contract/Program of Works.

In the course of project implementation, rainy/unworkable days including work activities for the day must be properly recorded and documented in the Project Logbook, Project Weather Chart and Geotagged Pictures duly signed by the DPWH Project Inspector and Project Engineer. Any excess in the number of rainy/unworkable days pre-determined by the DPWH as indicated in the contract may be subject to additional time extension for approval of the concerned DPWH officials in accordance with their prescribed limits of authority. No corresponding time extension shall be granted due to unfavorable weather condition, if the same did not affect any critical activity.

3. The request for CTE shall be submitted to the approving official to be supported with complete and proper documents in accordance with the checklist in DoTS for Civil Works. Otherwise, the said request shall be denied.

C. Granting of Contract Time Extension

1. The IO shall act on each claim for Contract Time Extension from contractors including investigations of the circumstances and justifications, if any, and disposition — i.e., approval/disapproval/reduction/modification/recommendation — within the prescribed time under the DoTS of each office, Section 10, Annex E of the Revised IRR of RA 9184, Section 20.1 of FIDIC and Section 5.a of RA 6713 (within 15 calendar days).

2. A Variation Order (Extra Work/Change Order) with a corresponding additional contract time due to additional quantities, change of methodology or change of materials, should be approved by the concerned DPWH Official in accordance with the limits of authority in approving Variation Order. Such additional contract time due to Variation Orders shall not be covered under the limits of authority as prescribed in Section 4.4.2 hereof and it should not also be included in the numbering of contract time extensions due to WSO/MTSR. As such, granting of contract time extension using the forms in Annex E-1 to E-6 hereof is not necessary since the said additional contract time is already reflected in the Variation Order Form. However, it shall be considered in determining the revised contract duration.

VIII. TIMEFRAME IN THE REVIEW/EVALUATION AND APPROVAL OF THE DPWH FOR WSO, CWSO, WRO, and CTE

1. All Offices concerned in the preparation, review, evaluation and approval of all requests relative hereto, shall observe the timeframe stipulated in Annex F of this issuance.

2. Any personnel/official of the DPWH who will take more than fifteen (15) days to submit its recommendation or decision on any request covered under this order, shall be held administratively liable.

Relative to the provisions of the D.O. on the Document Tracking System (DoTS), all request of the contractor shall be duly registered in the DoTS and duly recorded in the Receiving Logbook of the Implementing Office (Records Section/DoTS Center). Likewise, the letter request of the contractor should be stamped with "Received" by the IO indicating therein the date and time it was received.

Failure of the concerned DPWH personnel to implement the provisions of this Order shall, after due process, make them liable to the penalties prescribed for violation of reasonable office rules and regulations in Rule 10, Schedule of Penalties of the Revised Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Services dated December 2011.

Likewise, this Department Order will not in any way hinder the Bureau of Construction (BOC) to inspect at random or regularly the issued WSO/CWSO/WRO and CTE granted by the IOs if it has the reason to believe that this order is not followed.

This Order supersedes D.O. No. 144 Series of 2016 and D.O. 106 Series of 2018 and other previous issuances to the contrary and shall take effect immediately.

(SGD.) MARK A. VILLARSecretary

ANNEX A-1

IO's LetterheadWork Suspension Order No. ___

 

ANNEX A-2

IO's LetterheadWork Suspension Order No. ___

 

ANNEX A-3

IO's LetterheadWork Suspension Order No. __

 

ANNEX A-4

IO's LetterheadWork Suspension Order No. ___

 

ANNEX A-5

IO's LetterheadWork Suspension Order No. ___

 

ANNEX A-6

IO's LetterheadWork Suspension Order No. ___

 

ANNEX A-7

IO's LetterheadWork Suspension Order No. ___

 

ANNEX B-1

IO's LetterheadWork Resumption Order No. ___

 

ANNEX B-2

IO's LetterheadWork Resumption Order No. ___

 

ANNEX B-3

IO's LetterheadWork Resumption Order No. ___

 

ANNEX B-4A

IO's LetterheadWork Resumption Order No. ___

 

ANNEX B-4B

IO's LetterheadWork Resumption Order No. ___

 

ANNEX C-1

IO's LetterheadContinuation of Work Suspension Order No. ___ (a)

 

ANNEX C-2

IO's LetterheadContinuation of Work Suspension Order No. __ (a)

 

ANNEX C-3

IO's LetterheadContinuation of Work Suspension Order No. ___ (a)

 

ANNEX D

Monthly Time Suspension Report

 

ANNEX E-1

IO's LetterheadContract Time Extension No. ___

 

ANNEX E-2

IO's LetterheadContract Time Extension No. ___

 

ANNEX E-3

IO's LetterheadContract Time Extension No. ___

 

ANNEX E-4a

IO's LetterheadContract Time Extension No. ___

 

ANNEX E-4b

IO's LetterheadContract Time Extension No. ___

 

ANNEX E-5a

IO's LetterheadContract Time Extension No. ___

 

ANNEX E-5b

IO's LetterheadContract Time Extension No. ___

 

ANNEX F

Timeframe in the Preparation/Review/Evaluation and Approval of Work Suspension Order, Continuance of Work Suspension Order and Contract Time Extension

1. For District Engineering Office Implemented Projects

a. For approval by the District Engineer (up to 60 days)

 

30 days	10 days	5 days
Request shall be submitted within 30 days after the contractor became aware of the circumstance and prior to expiry	Investigation, Preparation, Endorsement and Recommendation by the Implementing Unit (DEO)	Review/Approval of the DE

 

b. For approval by the Regional Director (beyond 60 cd)

 

30 days	10 days	5 days	5 days
Request shall be submitted within 30 days after the contractor became aware of the circumstance and prior to expiry	Investigation, Preparation, Endorsement and Recommendation by the Implementing Unit (DEO)	Review/Endorsement of the DEO	Review/Approval of the RO

 

2. For Regional Office Implemented Projects

a. For approval by the Regional Director (no limit)

 

30 days	10 days	5 days
	Investigation, Preparation, Endorsement and Recommendation by the Implementing Unit (RO)	Review/Approval of the RO

 

3. For UPMO Implemented Projects

a. For approval by the Project Director (up to 120 cd)

 

42 Days (FIDIC)	42 days	7 days
Request shall be submitted by the Contractor within 42 days after it became aware of the circumstance	Investigation, Preparation, Endorsement and Recommendation by the Consultant and Project Engineer	Review/Approval by the UPMO Cluster

 

b. For approval by the Undersecretary for Operations (beyond 120 cd)

 

42 Days (FIDIC)	42 days	7 days	2 days
Request shall be submitted by the Contractor within 42 days after it became aware of the circumstance	Investigation, Preparation, Endorsement and Recommendation by the Consultant and Project Engineer	Review by the UPMO Cluster	Approval of U/Sec.

 

4. For Central Office Implemented Projects other than UPMO

a. For approval by the Bureau Director (up to 120 cd)

 

30 days	8 days	7 days
Request shall be submitted within 30 days after the contractor became aware of the circumstance and prior to expiry	Investigation, Preparation, Endorsement and Recommendation by the Implementing Unit	Review/approval of the Bureau

 

b. For approval by the Undersecretary for Operations (beyond 120 cd)

 

30 days	8 days	7 days	2days
Request shall be submitted within 30 days after the contractor became aware of the circumstance and prior to expiry	Investigation, Preparation, Endorsement and Recommendation by the Implementing Unit	Review/approval of the Bureau	Approval of U/Sec.

 

5. For Work Resumption Order

a. For approval by the Head of Implementing Office

 

15 days	X Days		Note1: Implementing Unit is the Section implementing the project, e.g., Construction, Maintenance, etc.
Request shall be submitted by the Contractor within 15 days after it became aware of the circumstance	Approval by the Head of the Implementing Office		Note2: All days indicated herein is the maximum to complete action

 

Approving Office	Number of Days to Complete Action (X days)
DEO/RO	5
Bureau/UPMO (Cluster)	7