重庆交通大学毕业设计中英文翻译.docVIP

Legal Environment for Warranty Contracting Introduction In the United State, state highway agencies are under increasing pressure to provide lasting and functional transporting infrastructures rapidly and at an optimum life-cycle cost. To meet the challenge, state highway agencies are expected to pursue innovative practices when programming and executing projects. One area of the innovative practices is the implementation of long-term, performance-based warranties to shift maintenance liabilities to the highway industry. Use of warranties by state highway agencies began in the early-1990s after the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) decision to allow warranty provisions to be included in construction contracts for items over which the contractor had complete control (Bayraktar et al. 2004). Special Experiment Project Number 14(SEP-14) was created to study the effects of this and other new techniques. Over the past decade, some states have incorporated this innovative technique into their existing programs. Projects have ranged from New Mexico’s 20-year warranty for the reconstruction of US550 to smaller scale projects, such as bridge painting and preventative maintenance jobs. These projects have met with varying degrees of success, causing some states to broaden the use of warranties, whereas others have abandoned them completely. Several states have sacrificed time and money to fine tune the use of warranties. However, on a national level, there is still a need for research and the exchange of ideas and best practices. One area that needs further consideration is the legal environment surrounding the use of warranties. Preliminary use in some states has required changes to state laws and agency regulations, as well as the litigation of new issues. This paper will discuss the laws and regulations needed to successfully incorporate warranties into current contracting practices and avoid litigation. The state of Alabama is used as an example of a state consideri