Review Claims

Version 7.1.1 Changes

• Modified the system to not require FHWA Concurrence or Non-Concurrence on Step By Step contracts if all Issues on the Claim are denied. The new Claims status for this case is called “FHWA Concurrence Not Required”.

Version 7.1 Changes

• Added an Issues Pending column to the grid that displays Claims records. This provides “at-a-glance” information at the Claim level to let users know if a Claim is ready to be processed or if decisions must first be made on the associated Issues.

• Enhanced the system to pop-up the comment window automatically for situations where a comment is required in order to save the record.

• On the General tab of the Review Issues window, a field displaying the Last Decision made was added to help users better determine what actions/decisions should be made next.

• Modified the system to blank out the compensation amount granted on compensation issues that are denied, even if the user attempts to enter a value.

• Improved the system message to remind users that if an issue has been saved in a Denied status, it can’t then be approved without first saving some kind of change to the record to have HiCAMS mark it as Pending. Once in Pending status the issue can be Approved or Approved as Noted, if desired.

• Modified the system to ensure that the Actual Controlling Operation field cannot be left empty or only contain spaces on time issues.

• Corrected a problem that occasionally caused the Claim history to display an incorrect status when system notifications were sent.

Version 7.0.1 Changes

• Corrected the system to process/edit all data changes first before attempting to perform the edits associated with decision changes. Previously, it was possible to approve a time issue while simultaneously deleting all time extensions for the issue.

• Adjusted the system to handle scenarios where the Claim Type is changed. Previously, it was possible to get a Claim in a state where it couldn’t be processed.

• Fixed a problem where the focus jumped to the first row on save actions where more than one issue or time extensions were created. Also corrected a similar focus problem that shifted the highlighted row when alternate sort orders were defined.

• Adjusted the system to ensure all data changes and processing were done correctly in instances where saves were initiated by changing the highlighted row to a different Claim.

• Modified the application to clear out compensation amounts entered that exceed the maximum field size of $999,999, 999.00.

• Added text to the header portion of the error message that occurs when a user attempts to Process a Claim that still has pending Issues.

• Corrected a sort problem on Action Date on the History tab of the Issue Details window.

Rewritten for Version 7.0

• Claims will now be found in the Contract Adjustments dropdown, with Supplemental Agreements and Force Accounts.

• There will be only two windows, one for Claims and one for Issues . The windows have been streamlined to provide high level tracking of the most important attributes of the Claims. Information formerly entered on the Delay, Suspension, and Disputed Work tabs will still be accessible for older claims by using the Query tool, but it will no longer be required to be entered.

• The users will be provided with the ability to enter the Requested and Granted Time and Compensation separately.

• Intents will no longer be entered into HiCAMS.

• Intent and Claim Acknowledgement Letters are no longer generated within HiCAMS.

• Issues will be able to be changed any time up to when the Claim is Processed or Voided.

• Issues will no longer be able to be Split from the Claim on which they were entered.

• The Claim will no longer automatically Process when the decision on the last Issue is made. It must be done manually.

• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) concurrence will be required for Claims on Step-by-Step projects. A Step-by-Step indicator has been added to the window.

• The Claims Tracking module will now include History tracking of the major events on a Claim or Issue. An attempt has been made to establish history records where possible from the existing data that was converted.

• The Claims Resolution Form will not be done by HiCAMS. It will continue to be created using the documents on the Construction Unit Home Page.

• Existing Claims and Issue data has been converted into the window and table structure.

• Because the changes to the windows, the data stored, and the processing logic were significant, the query tool has been customized to include the current fields of information stored as well as the data fields no longer used in HiCAMS. The fields no longer used by HiCAMS are denoted by an asterisk (*) at the end of the field name in the query tool. Inclusion of any of those fields in the criteria for the query will only retrieve data prior to 7.0. Inclusion of any of those fields in the display will show blanks if the data records retrieved were entered after the 7.0 release. None of the data existing at the time of the 7.0 release has been deleted or lost, but many of the fields of information will no longer be maintained in HiCAMS going forward, and can only be seen via the query tool.

• Complete details of the new Claims data entry process will be explained in the updated Claims User Guide .

Version 6.1 Changes

• The Claims and Intents letters have been corrected to display the current contractor on defaulted contracts.

Version 6.0.1 Changes

• Removed the error message that appeared incorrectly during Claim Approval delegation. The message stated "The selected staff does not have update access to claim Approval" and had been appearing even when the selected staff had the correct security.

Version 6.0 Changes

• The window was modified to correct several display/formatting issues with quantity and amount fields.
• The error message that was displayed when trying to link claims and a link was not possible was changed to read ""The current Contract contains one Claim. Two or more valid Claims must exist before a relationship can be performed."
• The window was modified to retain the Claims menu when running the standard report in the Claims module. It had previously switched the menu bar to the HiCAMS menu bar.

Version 5.6 Changes

• The Decision process has been changed to clarify the system messages, and remove those situations where automatic denials were enforced by the system. For example, if a Claim Issue Approval is attempted without an Intent being associated, the system will now display the message, "A written notice of intent to file a claim is required prior to filing a claim and the intent must be associated to the claim. Selecting 'Yes' will override this edit and continue with saving the issue. You can then enter and associate the intent to the claim. Continue saving this issue?"

• The Staff Selection process has been enhanced relative to the delegation of Claim Review authority. When the Staff icon is clicked, the Staff List window will display and default the filters based on user login. When a Staff Member is retrieved and selected for delegation, the system will now perform a check on the staff selected to determine if they have Claim Review authority. If not, a warning message will display, but when the message window is closed by clicking OK, the delegation will still be allowed.

• A correction was made to the processing of Related Claims to ensure that the Claim Description is updated in both Contracts when Claims are related on two different Contracts.

Version 5.4 Changes

• Expanded the error messages received when an Intent is not associated with a Claim so that Claims would not be denied by mistake. A Cancel button has also been added. The error message now reads: "A written notice of intent to file a claim is required prior to filing a claim, and the intent must be associated to the claim.

  • Selecting 'Yes' will override this edit and continue with saving the issue. You can then enter and associate the intent to the claim.

  • Selecting 'No' will automatically Deny the claim since this type of claim requires an Intent to be filed first.

  • Click 'Yes' to continue entering/processing the issue or click 'No' to Deny it."

• Added a scroll bar to the Select Issues list when the number of issues exceeds 5.

Version 5.3 Changes

• When the Issue Type is Compensation and the Issue Reason is Overruns or Underruns, the Specification defaults to 104-5.

Version 4.3 Changes

• When you enter a contract time extension that is greater than the days you recommend awarding to the Contractor, you receive the following message, "The contract time extension cannot exceed the time recommended for this issue".

Version 4.1 Changes

• You can now forward a claim to the next level, even if the date an issue was split from the claim is less than the forward date of the claim.

Version 4.0 Changes

• The State Construction Operations Engineer or a designated proxy can update Construction Unit Dates after a claim is processed.

• When entering a Forward Date at any level, the HiCAMS system validates that the date entered is more recent than the previous review decision date.

• The Decision Mailed to DCE/Resident Engineer Office Date defaults to the last issue decision date.

• Personnel at a lower review level than the starting claim review level cannot void a claim.

• You can access Related Claims using the chainlink icon instead of the Related Claims button. Your related claims appear directly on the Claim window.

• You can access Issue Decisions directly from the Claim window by clicking the Claim Issues button.

• You can view all engineers on the Staff Tab without paging up and down.

• When saving a claim after entering a receive date, the window does not revert to the General Tab. It remains on the Approval Tab.

• You can only add claims to contracts that are Active, Completed, Pre-HiCAMS Active, or Pre-HiCAMS Completed.

• The new Contract Times Tab displays a list of the contract times of a particular unit of measure on a particular contract. This lets you extend an existing contract time when filing a claim for time. You can also extend multiple contract times.

• There is a new Line Item Tab in the Claims window. This window shows a line Item for compensation created by a claim against the contract.

• The New Work Order Tab opens a new window that displays the work orders for a claim line item that was created by a new approved compensation claim.

• You cannot enter Time Issues if no contract times exist for the designated time unit.

• The “Issue Type” label has been changed to “Filter by Issue Type”.

• Now, the State Construction Operations Engineer or designated proxy can update the Issue Specification when making a final decision.

• The Issue Description field displays data which you can edit.

• When you enter an Issue Decision Date, HiCAMS validates that the date entered is more recent than the Received Date.

• The Sort capability has been removed from the Decision Tab.

• The Resident Engineer and the Division Construction Engineer can choose to recommend approval or denial, even if they have the authority to approve or deny.

• The State Construction Operations Engineer or designated proxy can edit the Issue Decision Date after the information is saved. Also, the Issue Decision Date default to the Word Processing End Date, allowing the State Construction Operations Engineer or designated proxy to override.

• You must enter a Contract Time Extension Amount when entering issue with an issue type of time.

• The Select Issues button on the Issue Details window lets you select an issue from a list of all issues associated with a particular claim.

• At the level of whomever has final approval, a new window appears. It contains the new line item created and to be added to a contract when a compensation claim is approved.

Page last updated 22 August 2008