A contractor aggrieved by a final written decision of the department Engineer may appeal in writing to the ALJ, who holds a hearing and then writes a report and recommends a decision to the Secretary. The procedure to be followed in making appeals to the ALJ is set forth in the Standard Provisions for Highways and Bridges at Subsection 7.16.

The majority of appeals before the ALJ involve road and bridge contract disputes as, for example, contractor claims for additional payment due for extra work, alterations in the work, changed conditions, increased or decreased quantities and the like. Appeals may also arise from contractor petitions to the MassDOT Highway Division Administrator to favorably exercise her discretion-for example, to allow an equitable adjustment in the contract price for costs of delay not the fault of the contractor.

The following list of approved contract appeal decisions is indexed by contractor, contract number, subject matter, disposition and date. The full text of each decision may be seen by clicking on the disposition.