Georgia Underground Utility Contractor Selection Checklist

Start with scope fit

Define the utility or pathway, project location, route, construction methods, materials, access, known conditions, restoration, testing, documentation, schedule, and owner requirements before evaluating a contractor. Ask the bidder to identify which portions it proposes to self-perform, subcontract, coordinate, furnish, or exclude.

Relevant fit depends on the actual package. Experience with short private conduit routes does not automatically establish fit for a public roadway crossing, complex duct bank, deep utility trench, or fiber activation package. Compare evidence to the scale, method, environment, and responsibility level of the work at hand.

Legal and licensing verification where applicable

Determine which Georgia and local classifications, registrations, permits, or business authorizations apply to the exact project and contracting arrangement. Requirements can differ by work type and role. Ask the bidder for the legal entity name, applicable license type and number, qualifying-party information if relevant, status, and any limits needed for review.

Verify the applicable classification and current status directly with the issuing authority. The Georgia State Board of Utility Contractors provides official board and licensure resources. A buyer should use the state’s official verification system and seek qualified legal or procurement advice when applicability is unclear. This checklist makes no Golden Road credential claim.

Safety documentation and project controls

Request safety materials appropriate to the planned work and buyer requirements. Depending on the project, review the bidder’s relevant written programs, training records, competent-person assignments, incident reporting process, emergency contacts, daily planning approach, equipment inspection process, subcontractor controls, and site-specific plan deliverables.

Do not infer field performance from a certificate title alone. Ask who will lead safety on this job, how project hazards will be addressed, which documents must be submitted before mobilization, and how the bidder handles stop-work, incidents, near misses, and corrective action.

Insurance documentation review

Have the buyer’s risk adviser identify required coverage types, limits, endorsements, certificate holders, additional-insured language, primary/noncontributory terms, waivers, completed-operations periods, and notice requirements. Request current documents from the appropriate issuing source and check that the named insured matches the contracting entity.

A certificate is not the policy, and this guide cannot determine adequate coverage. Resolve discrepancies, exclusions, expiration dates, and project-specific endorsements before award with the buyer’s insurer, broker, counsel, or other qualified adviser.

Bonding documentation and financial requirements

If bid, performance, payment, maintenance, or other bonds are required, issue the form, amount, timing, surety requirements, and obligee information with the procurement package. Ask for project-specific confirmation rather than relying on a general statement about capacity.

Verify bonds and surety details through the parties designated by the buyer. Bonding requirements are contract and procurement decisions; their presence or absence does not by itself establish contractor quality or suitability.

Relevant project evidence

Ask for examples that a bidder is authorized to share and that resemble the proposed method, product, conditions, access, jurisdiction, and scope. Useful evidence may include anonymized scope summaries, contract references, closeout samples, photographs with context, or owner-approved contacts. Confirm what the contractor actually performed rather than attributing the entire project to one participant.

Request dates, delivery role, self-performed portions, major constraints, change handling, and the result the reference can verify. Do not accept unverified footage, project counts, safety rates, client logos, or outcome claims as fact.

Estimating assumptions, inclusions, and exclusions

• Issue the same drawings, specifications, addenda, quantities, known conflicts, and schedule inputs to each bidder.
• Require a line-item scope for mobilization, construction methods, materials, excavation, fluids or spoil, restoration, testing, and closeout.
• Identify permit, traffic, locating, private-facility, design, engineering, survey, geotechnical, and inspection responsibilities.
• Ask for exclusions, allowances, unit assumptions, alternates, subcontracted work, owner-furnished items, and third-party dependencies.
• Define the process for differing conditions, reroutes, quantity changes, delays, and written change authorization.

The companion underground-utility RFQ scope checklist helps buyers issue comparable inputs before this selection review. The permit and 811 responsibility guide helps separate authorization and locate-workflow questions that bidders should not be expected to infer.

Subcontracting, schedule, and resources

Ask which work will be self-performed, who the proposed subcontractors are, what approvals are required, and who remains accountable for coordination and closeout. Apply the same document and evidence review to critical subcontracted scopes.

Review the proposed start, duration, sequencing, crew plan, named supervision, equipment sourcing, material lead times, work windows, mobilizations, weather assumptions, and concurrent commitments. A schedule should expose dependencies and decision dates, not merely provide a completion promise.

Communication and change control

Identify the project manager, field contact, escalation path, reporting frequency, meeting cadence, submittal and RFI process, daily documentation, notice requirements, and decision authority. Establish where approved documents live and how field teams receive revisions.

Require written handling for scope changes and unknown conditions. The process should state who can authorize cost or schedule impacts, what supporting records are required, and whether work proceeds, pauses, or shifts while a decision is pending.

Closeout and acceptance review

Define turnover before award: inspections, test records, restoration acceptance, material documentation, photographs, bore or trench records, as-built inputs, warranties, lien or payment documents where required, training, spare materials, punch-list timing, and final file format. Assign who prepares, reviews, corrects, and accepts every deliverable.

Connect payment milestones to objective contract requirements. “Work complete” can mean civil placement, restored surfaces, accepted tests, delivered records, or final owner approval; the agreement should distinguish those events.

Reference checks that test the proposed role

1. Confirm the reference is authorized to discuss the project and the bidder’s actual role.
2. Ask whether the work resembled the proposed method, conditions, value, and responsibility level.
3. Ask how assumptions, changes, safety communication, schedule pressure, documentation, and closeout were handled.
4. Verify which portions were self-performed and which were subcontracted.
5. Record the date, reference role, answers, and any evidence that requires follow-up.

Use the same core questions for every finalist. A reference check is one input; it does not replace legal, licensing, safety, insurance, bonding, and project-document review.

Comparable contractor worksheet

Review Golden Road’s underground-utility contractor service pillar to understand the civil scopes available for discussion, then apply the same due diligence you would use for any bidder. More buyer tools are available in the resource hub.

Source, scope boundary, and reviewed date

• Georgia Secretary of State: State Board of Utility Contractors

Reviewed August 10, 2026

This is a buyer due-diligence tool, not a representation that Golden Road or any other bidder holds a specific credential, coverage, bond, capacity, project history, or legal qualification. Buyers should verify current documents and applicable requirements directly with issuing authorities and qualified advisers.