Outcomes Automation / Sample / Template
Right-of-way scope of work template, free in Word
A blank version of the sample ISOW (individual scope of work) on this site, built for land, permitting, and access work under a utility MSA. It has a project understanding, the scope of services, a not-to-exceed pricing table, assumptions and exclusions, deliverables and sign-off, and an attached verification checklist. Put it on your letterhead, or copy the sections into your client's form.
Word file · Free to use and change · Filled-in example on the sample page
What is in the template
Header block and five sections, plus the checklist
- Header block
- Client and department, work order number, requesting engineer, the rate-sheet revision the prices come from, and the document type.
- 1. Project understanding
- What the engineer asked for, restated in plain terms, with one sentence on what the scope does not cover.
- 2. Scope of services
- One task per priced line. Each task says what gets done and where its basis is: a line in the email, a cited reply, or a stated assumption.
- 3. Pricing
- Task, rate-sheet item, unit, quantity, unit price, and extended amount, with the not-to-exceed total at the bottom.
- 4. Assumptions, exclusions, and open items
- Each one labeled by kind, so a reviewer knows which lines to question. Permit and recording fees, construction, and restoration usually belong here as exclusions.
- 5. Deliverables and sign-off
- What gets handed over and when, plus the preparer's line and the client's approval line.
- Attached: verification checklist
- Every line of the scope, its basis, and the kind of evidence behind it: source fact, rate basis, inference, approved assumption, or open item.
How to fill it in so it survives review
The rules the desk applies to every scope
1
Quote the request, then price it
Start from the engineer's email as sent. Carry counts and distances the way they were written, so “~60 ft” stays “~60 ft” until someone confirms otherwise.
2
Name the rate-sheet revision first
Write the revision in the header before pricing anything. A scope priced on a superseded revision is wrong even when every total foots.
3
One task, one rate row
Every priced line points to an item on the rate sheet. A task with no matching row needs a question or a written assumption.
4
Ask before carrying a range
When the email says “3 to 5 permits,” ask which count the scope should carry and cite the reply. In the sample, the engineer confirmed four, and a fifth was written in as a documented change if the county split the crossing.
5
Write the exclusions down
List what the scope does not cover: usually permit and recording fees, construction, inspection, and restoration. Written down, the not-to-exceed means the same thing to both sides.
6
Check the math apart from the writer
Recompute every extended amount and the total independently. Then record the rate-sheet revision on the document, and the client template's revision if it has one, so any number can be reproduced a year later.
Terms used in the template
Plain definitions for anyone reviewing a scope outside the land team
- ISOW (individual scope of work)
- The priced scope for one project under a utility's master services agreement, prepared by the contractor for the utility to approve and fund. Other clients call the same document a task order, a work authorization, or a work order scope.
- MSA (master services agreement)
- The standing contract between the utility and the contractor. It sets the terms and usually the rate sheet, and each project is then priced as its own scope under it.
- NTE (not to exceed)
- The cap on what the work can bill without a change order. Work is billed as performed, up to the NTE.
- Rate sheet revision
- The version of the MSA's unit-price schedule in force on the intake date. Writing it on the document is what makes a number traceable later.
- TUA (temporary use agreement)
- Permission to use land for a limited purpose and time, such as construction access or equipment parking. Some clients use a temporary construction easement (TCE) for similar needs.
- Approved assumption and open item
- An approved assumption is a gap in the request closed by a cited reply. An open item is still unresolved when the document ships, and is marked that way.
- Change order
- An amendment to an approved scope or purchase order that shows the original and amended amounts. How change orders are built and priced.
Template questions
Can this template replace my client's form?+
Usually not, because most utilities require their own template. Use this file as the checklist of what belongs in a priced scope: copy its sections into the client's form, keep the pricing columns, and attach the verification checklist.
Is a scope of work the same as a statement of work?+
In utility MSA work the terms overlap. Whatever the client calls it, the document it funds needs tasks, quantities, unit prices from the current rate sheet, and a not-to-exceed.
Why attach a verification checklist?+
A reviewer needs to know which lines came from the request, which were inferred, and which were approved. The checklist names the basis for each line, which is also what lets a number be reproduced months later.
Or skip the template and forward the engineer's email
The scope comes back on your client's form, priced from your current rate sheet, checked against the source, and signed. It is $250 per scope, and under the pilot the first live document after set-up is free.