Adapt to Increasing QC/QA in Private, Commercial, Municipal Work
BY Sandy Lender
How to adapt to increasing QC/QA requirements in commercial and maintenance projects
Commercial contractors performing non-department of transportation (DOT) work have noticed a trend toward mix design specifications and quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) parameters being included in contracts. Preparing the bid, and preparing to execute the project, increasingly involves attention to new requirements such as achieving a percentage of density or using a specific mix that was once considered only for state-level projects.
The concept affects more than new construction projects, and it’s not foreign to contractors who want to upsell quality in an environment where low-bid isn’t the only way to win the job.
Engineering a contract
At the risk of inserting myself into this article, let me explain that when I worked for a sealcoating contractor in Southwest Florida, we often prepared estimates for projects where competitors in the area were offering bids that didn’t match ours. Property owners would call to ask why material types, quantities and especially dollar amounts differed from other bids they were obliged to collect.
This was before hiring a third-party engineer at the property management level was trendy; the sealcoating company owners often went to local firms’ board meetings to educate the members on pavement management plans to help property owners better compare apples to apples.
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Jared Hislop of Andersen Asphalt, West Haven, Utah, is a current-day contractor putting his apples up against oranges, at times. He shared that Andersen bids to provide a quality job, regardless of whether competing companies in the area are likely to include similar materials or practices in their bids.
“We bid all jobs the same way with the same expectations of quality,” he said. “Obviously, there are some nuances to certain jobs. Quality is never negotiable.”
For example, in the “Andersen Asphalt Optimizes Efficiency with App Bitumio” article from the March/April 2024 issue, the Andersen team explained they’ve developed a unique process for spray-applied surface treatment wherein they clean ahead of the treatment by pressure washing the existing pavement, even if that means pressure-washing by hand in some cases. This may add time and cost to the project, but it also adds longevity to the pavement. With their preparation and application techniques, the team has seen five to 10 years of extra life for pavements compared to the two or three years most common in the industry.
Hislop more recently suggested to the audience, “Bid every job like there is going to be an inspection or QC standard and hold your crews accountable for providing a quality job. We have this standard and do not change how we bid. In most cases we will not be the lowest bid, but we’ve built a situation where we do not bid on price. People want to work with us because they know the quality they will receive.”
Now we’re entering 2026 and contractors throughout North America have been adapting to changes in bid requests. The past few years have seen an increase in private, municipal, county, and other non-DOT work, including DOT-level specs in contracts. There are reasons for this uptick in QC/QA, ways to accommodate it and benefits for the asphalt industry.
“We’ve also noticed some owners beginning to request density testing and additional quality control measures in their contracts.”—Kesmond Willert
Where the specs are coming from and what they influence
2025 was the first year Bryce Wuori, the CEO of Pavewise Inc., Bismarck, North Dakota, worked on a commercial project requiring a custom percent within limits (PWL) spec. “The Costcos and larger retail customers are adopting PWL and DOT-like specifications because they’re looking for a longer-lasting parking lot,” Wuori said. “Engineers and consultants who also work with DOTs are working with these companies to write the specifications in.”
It’s not just engineering firms offering spec or QC/QA advice to commercial entities, but materials and pavement engineers at all levels of agency ownership who are recognizing a way to standardize mix design and quality acceptance across the board. “Municipalities, counties and turnpike authorities that used to have their own specifications are starting to adopt DOT or state specifications because the testing facilities are already set up for these standards,” Wuori said. “A large asphalt producer like Reith-Riley might have 20 different mix designs because there’s one for the DOT, there’s one for the city, there’s one for the municipality, there’s a city patching mix, and so on. It’s cheaper for asphalt facilities if you start to provide fewer options for mixes to reduce complexity and cost. So, the industry move for specifications is toward what’s common.”
It’s as if the municipalities (and commercial entities) have discovered it’s less expensive for all parties involved if the plant produces one superior mix, which has been tested and verified, for the entire day, rather than switch midday to run 50 tons of a lesser quality mix.
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Commercial entities are also finding logic in asking for a mix or a process that has been state-approved.
Wuori said, “The Costcos and Piggy Wigglys of the world figured it out [what to adjust in contracts] via the engineers who also do consulting for the DOTs. It’s easier for Costco to ask, ‘What’s the mix the state requires in this environment that lasts and is commonly used on state projects?’ The private owner is asking this and moving into this concept, too, instead of putting time and resources into figuring it out themselves through research and testing.”
The best common denominator mix, which has already been tested and verified by a state-DOT approved lab, and which is being run by the local asphalt plant, is probably the least costly and easiest to specify for multiple agencies/owners. The local engineering firm that works with the DOT knows this and can help the private owner, commercial business, city planner, etc., select materials accordingly.
In the Northeast, even the residential entities are getting in on the quality control game. Bill Stanley, the owner of American Pavement Specialists, Danbury, Connecticut, has performed work where the homeowner’s association (HOA) has sought out specs for the contract. “We’re seeing a lot of those customers having an engineer come in, analyze their existing roadways, do core testing, check what the foundation looks like underneath the pavement, and then the engineer will write the spec,” Stanley said. “And we are seeing quite a bit of that.”
The increase in quality-centric contracts engineers are influencing is speckled throughout the country. Trinity Hunt Partners, a private equity firm based in Dallas, acquired in July a majority investment in DACS Asphalt & Concrete, headquartered in Denver. DACS specializes in commercial paving solutions, offering proactive maintenance and repair services to customers across Colorado, and a spokesperson for the company responded to this issue saying, “To date, DACS has not seen a noticeable increase in commercial property owners or HOAs requiring agency-style specs in our market. Most of the projects we are involved with still follow standard paving practices, and don’t require any verification. While there are exceptions—such as larger national accounts, certain cities that have required this for a couple years now, or engineering managed projects—it is not something we’re seeing across the board.
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“With that said, DACS is always prepared to meet higher specification requirements when they arise. DACS actively works on permitted city and general contracting projects, all of which involve oversight by engineering firms. As a result, DACS is equipped to coordinate with engineers and third-party testing firms for compaction testing, mix designs, and detailed striping or sealcoating specs as needed.”
As with any evolving practice, not every engineer hits the mark every time. Shane Farlin, Sr., the owner of Quality Asphalt & Maintenance LLC, Battle Creek, Michigan, has seen both positives and negatives with the details entering contracts in his region. “We are noticing an increase of engineering firms, but more on the side of prepping specs in contracts even on smaller projects like crack sealing and sealcoating, though it’s still minor here in Michigan,” Farlin said. “On our side, it has been frustrating because even the engineering companies more times than not don’t seem to understand some of our processes; they misplace materials and practices in ways that have little true improvement for clients but exponential cost increases.”
An example he gave was of being asked to route every crack in a parking lot prior to filling. Another example was being asked to use ASTM D3405 hot-pour sealant in ADA parking spaces. “These are just some fast, off the hip observations in our market,” Farlin shared. “Though I do agree that having QC vastly improves our industry overall and would help us from losing bids to other companies that cut corners.”
How to manage commercial contract specs
The improvement of the industry that Farlin mentions is something all sources pointed to, and that improvement begins with collaboration to manage the specs in the contracts and the outcomes of the projects.
Kesmond Willert of Bowes Construction Inc., Brookings, South Dakota, shared that Bowes has seen more commercial property owners using engineering firms to help prepare contract documents prior to soliciting bids. “We’ve also noticed some owners beginning to request density testing and additional quality control measures in their contracts,” Willert said. “This typically comes into play on larger projects, generally those over the $200,000 range.
“It’s important that engineering firms and contractors work collaboratively, respecting both the technical design and the practical realities of construction,” Willert continued. “From an owner’s perspective, if you have a strong, reputable contractor in your area, trusting their expertise is valuable and can save you money in the long run. At the same time, when contractors indicate that additional engineering input would be beneficial, that guidance should also be taken seriously. Also, as an owner, hiring an engineering firm ensures that you are getting exactly what you are paying for and what has been planned. Ultimately, contractors have a responsibility to communicate clearly when engineering support is necessary, so projects can move forward efficiently and successfully.”
Keep in mind, the engineer can only recommend what he knows. “The engineer will put in specifications he’s familiar with,” Wuori said.
Hislop also saw areas for caution and collaboration. “There are two problems we see with this approach: 1) in some instances the engineer is unfamiliar with the exact needs and realities of a certain job and 2) they do not hold the contractor accountable once the job is complete. Either instance can hurt the contractor who is trying to provide a higher quality product, which is why it is so important to create strong relationships with the engineering firms to define minimum quality standards.”
The example Hislop offered was of a sealcoating contract where the spec might call for material to be sprayed at 25 square feet per gallon. Contractor XYZ’s bid might come in too low to meet that spec; however, because it is the low bid, they end up winning the job. When the job is complete, nobody holds the contractor accountable for having applied the material at 60 square feet per gallon, which is why they were able to bid so low.
“We never try to be low bid,” Hislop said. “Our price is our price. However, if all contractors are accountable to the spec, our bids would be a lot more competitive than they appear to the customer.”
“Municipalities, counties and turnpike authorities that used to have their own specifications are starting to adopt DOT or state specifications because the testing facilities are already set up for these standards.”—Bryce Wuori
Bennies all around
At the end of the day, seeing private owners as well as city, county and municipal agencies enforce more consistent specs and QC/QA for the commercial contracting side of the industry offers a unique opportunity to enhance the whole industry’s image. As Wuori stated, it offers an opportunity to upsell quality as a value-added service in the private sector as well.
“We see both benefits and challenges with an increase in QC/QA requirements from property owners,” Willert said. “On the positive side, it helps keep the industry consistent, honest, and focused on delivering long-lasting asphalt pavement. From a contractor’s standpoint and owner’s standpoint this keeps an even playing field in the bidding realm, in the sense that contractors are quoting the work equally, as well as the owner being able to obtain the best price for their project. However, it can also create challenges when engineering firms become too rigid—what looks feasible on paper may not always translate effectively in the field, which can sometimes lead to project delays, deadlocks, or increased project costs.”
“It helps the contractors in that they’re bidding apples to apples,” Stanley said. “If you called me to pave your parking lot at your car wash, we would walk in, do an assessment and write up a spec that we thought would be sufficient for you. The next guy’s going to come in and say something completely different. You know, he wants to do 6 inches deep—4 inches of material on the bottom, 2 inches of asphalt. I might have said 8 inches deep—4 inches of material on the bottom and 4 inches of asphalt. If you’ve been bidding work like that, that goes away. Now everyone’s bidding the same project, even though it’s not always right and even though a lot of times they can’t afford it. But it does take the guesswork out of it.”
Another way the trend toward additional specs in contracts can help the contractor is in the final results. “Ryan Homes, Toll Brothers, these multi-national home builders—they install a lot of roads and in their townhouse, condo community type places, when they complete their project, they would pass along the report to the homeowners association, and they like to have the testing in place,” Stanley said. “It sort of covers your butt quite a bit, because if they bring an inspector on site, he usually checks three things: temperature, thickness, and the density. If a paving contractor hits all three of those, when the job’s completed, it’s signed off on, and you’re done. You don’t get ‘the call’ a year later.”
Having the density test requirement in the contract takes “a big burden off the contractor,” Stanley said, when a third party confirms you’ve done the job properly and signs off on it.
With experienced contractors bidding on the proper elements in the contract as they should, executing projects with quality in mind, and receiving the stamp of approval from inspectors or other third-party entities, the industry will have no choice but to excel.
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“Eventually the contractors that are underbidding and underperforming work will weed themselves out,” Hislop shared. “It may take a couple years for the customer to experience the difference, but it will happen.
“I recommend bidding the job at the required spec,” Hislop continued. “Then if there are items that need to be called out, educating the engineer and customer in a value-driving way usually pays off, even if you lose the bid. Approach it with a mindset of, ‘even if you do not use me, you should be aware of this.’ Providing value with no strings attached will go a long way.
“I think weeding out the contractors that are just trying to make a quick buck is good for the industry as a whole. Any industry should be focused on providing a high-quality product to their customers. The contractors that perform quality work, provide the best customer experience, and build these expectations into their standard processes will win out and be able to sell into the larger jobs where the customer expects this and is willing to pay a little more.”