(a)    (1)    The Department shall advise the Board of Public Works and any unit of the State government in connection with any engineering question or matter concerning a public improvement.

(2)    The Department shall supervise any engineering question or matter concerning a public improvement.

(3)    Any contract, plan, or specification for any public improvement that involves an engineering question:

(i)    shall be submitted to the Department; and

(ii)    is subject to the approval of the Department.

(4)    At the request of the Board of Public Works, the Department shall advise the Board of Public Works on any contract that exceeds $500,000 if the contract involves an engineering question or a matter concerning a public improvement undertaken by the University System of Maryland, Morgan State University, or St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

(b)    The Department shall:

(1)    represent the Board of Public Works at the opening of bids for a public improvement;

(2)    tabulate and record the bids; and

(3)    advise the Board of Public Works on the bids.

(c)    The Department shall supervise each appraisal related to a public improvement.

(d)    (1)    The Department shall collect and maintain a complete and accurate file of drawings and plats of the location of all public improvements.

(2)    The Department shall collect and maintain records of construction costs and progress on each public improvement.

(3)    The Department shall adequately store and protect any original drawing, plat, record, or specification.

(e)    The Department shall examine and approve or disapprove each plan and specification prepared in connection with the preparation or execution of a contract for a public improvement.

(f)    (1)    The Department shall inspect and approve or disapprove any material, equipment, and methods used in making public improvements and shall inspect each public improvement during the course of construction or repair.

(2)    The duty of the Department under this subsection does not relieve an architect or engineer of any supervisory responsibility for which the architect or engineer is employed.

(g)    (1)    The provisions of subsections (a), (b), (e), and (f) of this section do not apply to State correctional facilities as defined in § 11-101 of this article.

(2)    In accordance with §§ 10-102 through 10-105 of the Correctional Services Article, the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services shall perform the duties specified in subsections (a), (b), (e), and (f) of this section for State correctional facilities.