Long-term pavement performance is highly dependent on its initial condition. High initial roughness leads to higher maintenance and rehabilitation costs, to shorter service life, and to significant reduction in riding quality. A performance-based specification applicable for new and rehabilitated warranted pavements is developed and presented here. The primary purpose of this specification is control of the initial longitudinal roughness of pavements, which will lead to smoother pavements and hence satisfactory long-term performance. In this specification, pavement roughness is measured by using Class I or calibrated Class II profilometers, such as infrared and laser profilometers. Tests are performed on each asphalt layer before the next layer is constructed. Three criteria are considered in the specification: surface tolerance, roughness indices, and repeated waves. It should be noted that this specification focuses on the functional performance of pavements and does not directly address their structural performances. A user-friendly software is developed to implement this specification. The software is capable of simulating straightedge inspections, calculating roughness statistics, and performing frequency analyses, such as power spectral analysis. With the software, a pavement section can be evaluated, tested, and analyzed in few minutes. Highway agencies as well as contractors will benefit from implementing this specification. Highway agencies will benefit by being able to achieve the goal of having safe, smooth, and economic pavements, and contractors will benefit by reducing maintenance cost during maintenance and warranty periods. Also, contractors will get quick results and meaningful feedback to the paving operation. A payment structure, including bonus payments for extended service lives, is included in the specification. This payment structure is based on the long-term effects of the initial roughness on the pavement life-cycle costs. The bonus program will encourage contractors to achieve higher levels of quality.