Introduction
Welcome to the MDOT AASHTOWare Project Construction & Materials Software Manual!
AASHTOWare Project Construction & Materials is a fast, easy-to-use, web-based system for documenting construction progress, initiating contractor payment, and communicating with your agency's central office administration applications. Construction & Materials focuses on refining the work flow of construction contract management at all agency levels. With Construction & Materials, the field office can manage field-gathered data and then interface with a central office. Construction & Materials allows several users to update contract information, and it implements a shared database to expand an agency's data sharing ability. This user's guide is the key to discovering Construction & Materials’ vast capabilities and is a valuable resource both for novice and experienced users.
For more background information regarding AASHTOWare Project software visit the AASHTOWare Project webpage or the AASHTOWare Project Construction & Materials webpage.
Construction Technology News
November 3, 2025
Hopefully we all survived National “How Do I Change the Clock on my Microwave” Day!
A big thank you to everyone for completing all of the year end estimates in a timely manner.
System Configurations
This Month, there were no System Configurations/ Updates, due in part to year end reporting and the DBE and Small Business Program updates that are required due to new federal rules. This has pulled resources that typically are allocated for system configurations/ updates.
Other Announcements
- There is new section in our APCM Wiki that focuses on Shadow Contracts. Please refer to this section to learn about shadow contracts and how to request one.
- Sunday, November 16th, the Server Team will apply the OS patches to the MDOT Production servers from 8:00am – 12:00pm. Servers and databases will not be available during this process.
- We also would like you to know we are currently working closely with DTMB & InfoTech in regards to payment estimate processing times. We understand that system slowness on estimate days is consuming value time and resources.
Did you know?...
We often get the question 'Can I change a system generated pay estimate exception that is auto populated as overridden?' The answer is no. If a user changes the system generated override, an error will occur when trying to save the changes, which will then prohibit the user from processing the pay estimate. If this error occurs, the user will need to delete the pay estimate and regenerate a new estimate, in order to address the pay estimate exceptions correctly.
So, what should Office Technicians do with an auto-overridden exception from a double whammy? The auto-overridden exception is auto locked by the system and cannot be changed. The exception will show as overridden with a system populated comment and should be left alone. Do not change the status or comment. Process all other exceptions as you normally would, but there is no action needed on the auto-overridden exceptions.
To view previous news articles, visit the Construction Technology News Archive.
Recent Updates
Recent Major Changes
The table below is a list of Major changes.
| Updated | Page | Summary | What Changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Work Reports | Removed Material Comments and Sources section and updated New section related to Posting Item and Material Quantities to a Daily Work Report | See what changed here. | |
| Contract Administration | New section related to Adding Subcontracts | See what changed here. | |
| Created new page for related content | N/A | ||
| Uploaded manual. | N/A |
Recent Minor Changes
The table below is a list of Minor changes.
| Updated | Page | Summary | What Changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Change Orders | Updated content related to verifying funding source. Funding field is no longer shown on the screen in APCM, Related bullet point removed from following Change Order Sections: | See what changed here. | |
| Change Orders | Updated content related to verifying funding source in the following Change Order Sections: | See what changed here. | |
| Daily Work Reports | Added note specifically related to Approving Daily Work Reports | See what changed here. | |
| Main Page | Update related to the release of AASHTOWare Project 5.00 | See Construction Technology News | |
| Special Topics | Created new Special Topics Page for Final Project Review Reporting | See what changed here. | |
| Contract Administration | Created section related to Transferring Contracts Between Offices | See what changed here. | |
| Contract Administration - Closing and Archiving a Contract | Updated steps for Closing and Archiving a Contract. | See what changed here. | |
| Mobile Applications | Provided content related to Syncing Contracts with Mobile Inspector | Next section added [here] | |
| Change Orders | Minor updates to clarify use of New Items tab for a change order. | Changed title of Contract Items section and added explanation note to adding new items. | |
| Access and Roles - Available Roles | Added page to main menu and added role names and descriptions to page. | Tables for abbreviations and role names | |
| Contract Administration - Closing and Archiving a Contract | Updated the Workflow Phase selection when archiving a contract. | "Archived Contract" was changed to "Finance Closeout" |
Tracked Known Issues
Most Recent Identified Known Issues
| Issue Number | Area of Impact | Description | Date Identified | Workaround | Fix Plan | Fix Status | Manual Reference Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | System Wide | When running a report that outputs in an Microsoft Excel file or other Microsoft Office file format, the report does not download and the system provides an ".htm" file that shows an error | 6/15/2022 | N/A | User needs to udpate Microsoft Edge settings | Closed | Updating Microsoft Edge Settings for Reports |
| 4 | Payments, Insufficient Materials | An update appears to have cause some materials that previously were approved to now show as insufficient. | 9/1/2022 | N/A | The issues has been verified to be inconsistent sources listed on DWRs and Sample Records. Office Technicians and Inspectors are advised to take note and care when recording material sources in the system. Reports are being developed to assist with data verification. | Closed | |
| 5 | Payments, $0 priced items | $0 priced items can cause the create payment estimate process to stop when a $0 priced item has any type of payment estimate exception that causes a payment item adjustment (insufficient material, overrun, etc.). | 11/2/2022 | Office Technicians are encouraged to process all material approvals and change orders prior to creating estimates. A DWR temporarily backing out the posting of the $0 priced item, with a negative posting, can temporarily allow estimates to be created until the proper material approvals and change orders for the $0 priced items can be processed. Once material approvals and change orders are processed to avoid payment exceptions, a followup DWR can be made to restore the original item posting. | TBD | Pending | |
| 6 | DWR, Item Quantities | On a DWR, an error is being returned when trying to post item quantities to the third decimal place. (example: 0.123) | 3/15/2023 | N/A | An emergency ticket has been submitted to DTMB to allow three decimal places for postings. | Pending | |
| 7 | Subcontracts, Approval Dates, DWR, Item Quantities | The 4.8 upgrade process appears to have caused data loss of the already entered approval dates for subcontracts. This is preventing the posting of quantities to subcontractors. | 3/15/2023 | The approval date can be manually re-entered to allow postings. | An emergency Ticket has been submitted to DTMB to restore the missing data. | Pending |
Tracked Issues Complete List
The complete list of tracked known issues can be found on the Known Issues List page.
Support Information
AASHTOWare Construction & Materials Helpdesk
[email protected]
Preamble
This manual provides guidance to administrative, engineering, and technical staff. Engineering practice requires that professionals use a combination of technical skills and judgment in decision making. Engineering judgment is necessary to allow decisions to account for unique site-specific conditions and considerations to provide high quality products, within budget, and to protect the public health, safety, and welfare. This manual provides the general operational guidelines; however, it is understood that adaptation, adjustments, and deviations are sometimes necessary. Innovation is a key foundational element to advance the state of engineering practice and develop more effective and efficient engineering solutions and materials. As such, it is essential that our engineering manuals provide a vehicle to promote, pilot, or implement technologies or practices that provide efficiencies and quality products, while maintaining the safety, health, and welfare of the public. It is expected when making significant or impactful deviations from the technical information from these guidance materials, that reasonable consultations with experts, technical committees, and/or policy setting bodies occur prior to actions within the timeframes allowed. It is also expected that these consultations will eliminate any potential conflicts of interest, perceived or otherwise. MDOT Leadership is committed to a culture of innovation to optimize engineering solutions. The National Society of Professional Engineers Code of Ethics for Engineering is founded on six fundamental canons. Those canons are provided below. Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall:
- Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.
- Perform Services only in areas of their competence.
- Issue public statement only in an objective and truthful manner.
- Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees.
- Avoid deceptive acts.
- Conduct themselves honorably, reasonably, ethically and lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the profession.
Additional information about MDOT Construction Practices and Policies can be found on the Wiki Construction Manual.
For additional information about the AASHTOWare Wiki and to submit revision suggestions, please contact the AASHTOWare Construction & Materials Helpdesk.
