Standards Explained

The First Edition of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission’s Regional Construction
Standards (Standards) was published in December 1999. In December 2010, the Fifth and latest
edition was published, with new editions anticipated every 3 to 4 years.

The cities and counties that make up the Region of Hampton Roads, Virginia, have recognized the
need to develop uniform construction standards for improvements in public rights-of-way. The intent
was to develop standards that would accommodate most of the “typical” construction projects in the
region. Therefore, these documents are intended to support the majority of issues communities face in
building minor roads, drainage, and utilities. Large utility pipelines, major roadways, and vertical
construction (including buildings) are not intended to be addressed by the Regional Construction
Standards, although projects have adapted the Standards for “vertical” applications. In a nutshell, the
Standards are intended to provide quality construction throughout the region, simplify the bidding and
construction administration process, and reduce construction costs.

The development of the document relied on the collective industry knowledge and skills of many
individuals in the region. The Full Committee is the governing body and consists of up to 34 voting
members, including up to two voting representatives from each of the 16 cities and counties in the
Hampton Roads Planning District and one voting member from the Hampton Roads Sanitation District
(HRSD) and the Hampton Roads Utility and Heavy Contractors Association (HRUHCA). The Virginia
Department of Health - Division of Water Programs (VDH), the Virginia Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ), and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) are invited to
participate in Full Committee meetings and provide comments.

Technical Review Committees (TRC) were established by the Full Committee to provide technical
reviews of the Standards. During the development of the First Edition, three Technical Review
Committees were formed and met on a regular basis. The TRCs consisted of up to 15 members with at
least one member of the Full Committee who served as the Committee Chairperson. The three
Technical Review Committees focused independently on:

• Front End Documents (bidding and contractual arrangements),
• Technical Specifications, and
• Standard Details.

After the publication of the First Edition, only one TRC was needed to oversee technical issues
associated with the entire document. At key stages of the project, Focus Groups were convened to
provide critical input. One group was comprised of municipal Attorneys and Purchasing Agents whose
task was to review the Front-End portion of the document. The second group included consulting
engineers, contractors, and suppliers who reviewed the entire document, with emphasis on the
technical specifications and the standard details.

The TRC continues to collect information from jurisdictions that have used the document with an
emphasis on reviewing Special Provisions to determine common elements that could be incorporated
into the next Edition. The more comprehensive the Standards become, the fewer Special Provisions
will be required for future projects. A standard format was developed for the jurisdictions to use in
preparing Special Provisions.

Modification to the Standards may be proposed by interested parties by going to the HRPDC website
and downloading the “Proposed Revision Form”. The completed Proposed Revision Form is returned
via e-mail and allows the user to offer potential changes with supporting information for initial
consideration by the TRC. A “Proposed Revisions Log” is also maintained on the HRPDC web site to
provide the status of Proposed Revisions. The website also contains a section called “Publication
Updates” which displays Proposed Revisions that have been ultimately approved by the Full
Committee. The Standards do not test or approve products. Product reviews are performed at the
locality level. Each locality must then decide if the Publication Update should be incorporated into
their “Standing” Special Provisions.

HRPDC provides training on the use of the document on a quarterly basis at their Chesapeake Office
in the Board Room. The training lasts approximately 3 hours. Participants are presented with a
Certificate of Completion for the completion of the course and are awarded 3.0 Professional
Development Hours (PDHs). There is a nominal charge for these training sessions to recover the
reproduction costs of the Training Manuals that are provided.

The document may be obtained electronically at www.hrpdcva.gov. or by purchasing a “hard copy”, for a nominal charge at the offices of the HRPDC. The front end documents are available in Microsoft
Word software, while the technical specifications and standard details are available in Acrobat Reader
(.pdf) format. The user must acknowledge all modifications to the Regional Construction Standards
and should illustrate changes in the Front End documents using strikethroughs and bold for deletions
and additions, respectively. The user is entirely responsible and completely liable for misrepresentations to this document. In October 2008, the document was copyrighted to prevent unauthorized modifications to the document.

Hundreds of projects have used the Regional Construction Standards ranging in construction value
from under $40,000 to over $20 million for roadways, drainage, sewer rehabilitation, VDOT Urbanfunded roadway improvements, streetscape, water distribution system replacement, sanitary sewer,
storm water management pond, site plans, and demolition.

Updated November 16, 2011

©1999-2008 Hampton Roads Planning District Commission
Read our Privacy Policy
Site maintained by WHRO - Public Telecommunications for Hampton Roads
For site problems, contact the webmaster.