AASHTO | Roadmap for Developing Programmatic Agreements

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WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN DEVELOPING
SUPPORTING MATERIALS
Developing supporting materials must be a deliberative,
well thought-out process. It is important to include items
you feel will help facilitate the success of the PA, but not
so much as to make it cumbersome and difficult to apply/
relate. It also provides an opportunity to explain certain
sections/statements in the PA or other guidance that
is important, but not appropriate for inclusion in the PA
itself. Based on feedback of DOTs that have successfully
developed and implemented PAs, there are several
ideas to consider when developing supporting materials:
• Idea #1 – Provide an Outline of the PA and its contents
• Idea #2 – Provide a Background and User Guide
• Idea #3 – Define the Applicability and Scope of the PA
• Idea #3 – Provide a Definitions Section
• Idea #4 – Provide a Frequently Asked Questions Section
• Idea #5 – Provide the General Requirements for
those who use the PA
• Idea #6 – Consider your Audience
Also, some “lessons learned” are presented below
based on those DOT’s involved with developing
supporting materials for their PA.
LESSONS LEARNED
Avoid interpretation problems by clearly
defining actions and providing examples
(correct and incorrect)
Take advantage of using supporting materials
for information that is not crucial to the agreement
itself – allows the PA to be concise, and provides
flexibility in updating/modifying materials without
re-writing the PA
In addition to making the supporting materials
accessible to the agencies, also provide a location
where they could be easily accessed by new staff
members or future users