Working with GLWA — A Detroit Contractor's Complete Reference

The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) is the regional utility that owns and operates the water and sewer transmission infrastructure serving Detroit and 127 surrounding communities across southeast Michigan. Any contractor doing utility construction — water main, sanitary sewer, wastewater, or related civil work — on a GLWA or DWSD project will interact with GLWA's contracts, standards, and procurement system.

This article covers what a contractor needs to know: who GLWA is, what they build, how their specifications work, how contractors get paid, and how to get in front of their solicitations.

What GLWA Is

GLWA was created in 2016 when the City of Detroit restructured the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) into two separate entities. GLWA took over the regional wholesale and transmission infrastructure. DWSD retained the local Detroit distribution and collection system.

The practical difference for contractors:

• Work on GLWA infrastructure uses GLWA contracts, specs, and procurement.
• Work inside Detroit's local distribution and collection system is a DWSD contract.
• Many projects involve both — a transmission main replacement, for example, may require coordination between GLWA and DWSD engineers.

GLWA's service area covers roughly 3.8 million people. It is one of the largest water and wastewater systems in the United States.

The System

Water

GLWA operates five water treatment facilities drawing from Lake Huron and the Detroit River. The system includes major transmission mains, pumping stations, and storage reservoirs that feed local distribution systems operated by member partners.

GLWA maintains an active Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), updated annually, that identifies multi-year infrastructure investments. The CIP is where construction contract opportunities originate — new water main, pump station rehabs, treatment plant upgrades, and facility work. GLWA publishes its current and historical CIP at glwater.org/CIP.

Wastewater

GLWA's Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) in Detroit is the largest single-site wastewater treatment facility in North America. It serves 76 communities and processes hundreds of millions of gallons per day. Interceptor sewers, pump stations, and combined sewer overflow infrastructure throughout the region round out the wastewater system.

The Master Specifications

The GLWA Master Specifications (Version 2.1) is the governing construction specification library for all GLWA projects. It spans 3,586 pages across five volumes and 17 divisions organized under the CSI MasterFormat standard.

Structure at a Glance

For specialty trade contractors, Division 2 (site work) and Division 15 (mechanical/piping) are the highest-impact sections.

How Spec Sections Are Referenced

Project contract documents call out spec sections by number. A water main rehabilitation bid might reference 02221 (Trenching, Backfilling and Compacting), 02620 (Water Main Services), and 15061 (Ductile Iron Pipe). Each section follows the same three-part structure: General, Products, Execution.

The specs are not modified for individual projects. When a project has site-specific conditions that differ from the Master Spec, the design engineer issues a Provisional Specification. Provisional specs govern whenever there's a conflict — always read them first in the project documents.

GLWA maintains the official, current version at glwa.org. The November 2017 V2.1 release is the baseline, with supplemental specifications posted separately.

Getting Paid: Pay Applications and Progress Schedules

Section 01050 — The Billing Cycle

Payment on GLWA contracts runs on a 30-day cycle. Each month, the contractor submits a Progress Schedule Submittal package with three components:

• Payment Submittals (monthly) — the pay application, detailed cost breakdown, activity reports, and schedule of values.
• Revision Submittals (quarterly) — updated CPM schedule, logic diagrams, and short-term schedule.
• Proposal Submittals (as needed) — documentation supporting change order requests or claims.

The initial schedule (Rev 0) is due five days after the second payment period closes. The Detailed Cost Breakdown is due separately within 10 days of Notice to Proceed. Rev 0 sets the baseline — delays in getting it accepted directly compress early billing.

Progress meetings occur monthly within five working days of the payment cut-off date. The contractor must bring a 3-week look-ahead schedule in bar chart format and a written narrative on construction status. These are contractual deliverables, not optional updates.

Section 01025 — How Work Is Measured

GLWA contracts use these payment structures:

• Lump sum — covers the bulk of the work at a fixed price. No additional compensation for field conditions or coordination unless you have an approved change order.
• Unit price — paid on actual quantities installed. Unused unit price items are deleted via change order at closeout. You don't keep the budget for work you didn't do.
• Cash allowances — paid at actual invoice cost, excluding contractor overhead and profit.
• Provisionary allowances — held by the Owner for unforeseen conditions. These are not contractor contingency. Access requires a Construction Change Directive from the Contracting Officer.

Submittals

Section 01080 — What You're Required to Submit

Submittals come in two types.

Administrative submittals (due early, before construction proceeds):

• Project Management Plan
• Progress Schedule
• Schedule of Values and Detailed Cost Breakdown
• Quality Control Plan
• Safety Plan, Confined Space Entry Plan
• Subcontractor Consent Requests
• Insurance and Bond documentation

Technical submittals (specific to the work):

• Shop drawings
• Product data and certifications
• Test reports and mock-ups
• Material samples

You cannot fabricate, procure, or install anything until the relevant technical submittal has been reviewed and approved by the Engineer. Ordering materials before approval is at your risk — any resulting costs are yours.

Quality Control

Section 01060 — QC Program Requirements

The contractor is responsible for a formal QC program meeting ISO 9000 and 9001 standards. The QC Plan must be submitted at least 14 days before the pre-construction QC coordination meeting. No separate payment is made for QC — the cost is embedded in your lump sum and unit prices.

Shutdown protocol: Any work requiring an operational shutdown of existing facilities requires a written inventory of labor and materials submitted 30 days in advance, followed by a written shutdown approval request 14 days before the proposed date. No shutdown starts without the Engineer verifying all materials are on-site.

Warranties and Closeout

Section 01170 — Warranty Requirements

Warranties apply to all work, even where not explicitly called out in a spec section.

• Baseline: One year from Project Substantial Completion, covering workmanship, materials, and design performance.
• Manufacturer warranties run concurrently with the contractor's warranty at a minimum of one year.
• If any warranted item fails and is repaired, the one-year warranty period restarts for that item from the date of repair.
• At Final Completion, submit two complete binder sets of all warranties, bonds, and service contracts organized by spec section with full contact information and failure procedures.

Bidding and Procurement

GLWA uses Euna Procurement (formerly Bonfire) for all public solicitations. Registration is required to bid on any GLWA contract.

Steps to get in front of GLWA work:

1. Register at glwater.bonfirehub.com.
2. Set up solicitation alerts for the product/service categories you cover.
3. Monitor open opportunities, addenda, and public contracts through the portal.
4. The GLWA Buyer of Record listed in each solicitation is your only point of contact during procurement — no side conversations.

GLWA publishes an annual procurement report and a full searchable contract database through the portal. GLWA's FY2025 Annual Procurement Report is available at glwater.org/vendors.

What This Means in Practice

GLWA contracts carry significant administrative load. CPM scheduling, monthly submittals, QC plans, and warranty binders are contractual deliverables — not paperwork you do when you have time. They gate your ability to bill, and deficiencies compound fast.

Contractors who treat documentation as separate from field operations consistently underperform on GLWA projects — at pay app review, at progress meetings, and at closeout. The specs assume you have systems in place. If you don't, the gap becomes visible quickly.

Sources

• GLWA — Water System
• GLWA — Wastewater System
• GLWA — Doing Business with GLWA
• GLWA Master Specifications, Version 2.1, November 2017 — glwa.org