Alternative contracting methods suited to larger school projects prove successful in pilot program.

By Ralph Rohwer, Heery International

Timing is everything when it comes to building design and construction. Until recently, Washington’s public schools were limited in how they could deliver new school facilities. State regulations obligated school officials to use a traditional design/bid/build approach.

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The challenge with this approach is that decisions regarding vital issues such as phasing, project length and how to separate construction zones from occupied zones generally occur before the contractor comes on board. The timing of these decisions, made without the benefit of contractor expertise, can hinder the delivery of a complicated facility.

Thanks to an experimental shift in regulations, Spokane Public Schools was one of a handful of schools that applied for and was granted the opportunity to demonstrate the general contractor/construction manager process. The projects selected were large, complicated renovation and addition projects. Rogers High School was a historic renovation to an existing 80,000-sq-ft facility with a 180,000-sq-ft addition. One of the greatest challenges was limited room for staging construction. Effective program phasing was critical to keep students safe on an occupied site as well as accommodate seasonal weather conditions.

Because this was a new delivery method for the design and construction team—Heery was the only consultant with GC/CM expertise— it was important to explain the process and secure buy-in from all participants to maximize program efficiencies and minimize any potential conflicts.

The contractor was hired while NAC Architecture was in schematic design so it could provide advice about the length of time for phases, coordination of schedules, overall timeline and budget. The program manager’s role was to balance the interests of everyone concerned to protect the owner’s needs along with the design and budget. Guiding public sector GC/CM newcomers through the many unfamiliar terms and procedures in this new delivery method is critical to success.

Allowing the contractor to come aboard early made great sense. With complicated renovations, it’s invaluable to have a contractor’s perspective up front, especially when site logistics are critical to a project’s success. Since both Rogers and Shadle Park high schools were being renovated with students in attendance, it was important for Spokane-based contractor Garco Construction to play a role in determining where students would be throughout the construction.

Additionally, having the contractor aboard early enabled the district to determine existing conditions before going into construction. One discovery, for example, was that an earlier addition was structurally insufficient and had to be torn out. That information was shared with the project structural engineer, who then incorporated it into the design. The program management team’s understanding of the state’s fund-matching programs was also critical to success. Many projects in the state of Washington are funded with matching dollars. Given rising costs, state matching funds were a necessity for project completion.

At the time, the state approval process didn’t reflect the GC/CM procurement method. It was incumbent upon us to keep an eye on the documentation process to verify that the required forms were completed correctly.

The district has reaped a myriad of benefits from using GC/CM. One is an enviable guaranteed maximum price, something other school districts found difficult to obtain. Despite a volatile marketplace, both GMPs averaged less than $200 per sq ft. In fact, due to outstanding subcontractor bids, Rogers was bought out for $2 million less than the GMP. Shadle was delivered for slightly less than the GMP.

Those prices were possible through Garco’s up-front education about GC/CM procedures as well as the team effort made to create a strategy during the design process to help the district achieve optimum subcontractor bids. Since Spokane opted to deliver its schools through the experimental GC/CM program, the state has decided the method is a viable one for schools. State approval to proceed is required along with prior experience using this delivery method. This permission hinges on having at least one consultant with GC/CM experience.

Without question, GC/CM offers many benefits. Spokane learned how incentives could be implemented effectively and how they could contribute to the project’s success. In the traditional design/bid/build approach, the liability for errors belongs to the owner. With GC/CM, the owner and contractor share the risks and rewards.

Spokane, in fact, was financially rewarded through this program, and used the returned money to fund smaller district projects that had been cut from the initial program scope.