By John McCallum
Editor 

School board gets alternate construction method overview

 

Last updated 3/16/2017 at 10:09am



Passage of the Cheney Public Schools’ $52 million capital facilities bond last month presents some interesting logistic issues, and perhaps none more important than the obvious requirement — that all four buildings need to be open for education during construction.

Because of that, the school district may be able to utilize a seldom used construction method allowed by state law: the general contractor/construction manager contracting (GCCM) process. It’s a method that, if properly employed, could save the district time and money on its upcoming projects.

At its first meeting in March last Wednesday, the district’s board of directors heard an overview of how the process works from representatives of the Central Valley School District, which is using GCCM on six of its current 10 projects. CV Deputy Superintendent Jay Rowell said it’s only been the past couple of years that school districts have begun using GCCM, which has been around since 1991.

Project construction takes one of three forms, the most prevalent being the design/bid/build where an architect firm designs the building, which then goes out to a sealed-bid process by general contractors. Bids are opened, the lowest most responsive bid price is generally selected, and the project begins.

Under GCCM, the general contractor is selected through an application/interview process and brought onto the project early in a collaborative effort with the owner and the design team to plan and execute the work from virtually day one.

“(It’s best) if you can have the general contractor on board before the end of schematic design,” Rowell said.

State law allows the use of GCCM for public projects if the owner meets one of six criteria. Cheney meets two: complex implementation of scheduling, phasing and coordination as well as the construction taking place in an occupied facility that “must continue to operate during construction.”

Rowell said he and CV’s planning principal, Jerrol Olson, looked over Cheney’s bond and felt a good use of GCCM would be with the expansion and renovation work proposed for the high school. To use the process, the school district must submit an application to the state’s Project Review Committee, which examines the proposal and can ask for additional information or clarification.

School district officials then travel to Olympia to make a 20-minute oral presentation to the committee, which is open to the public. The committee then has 10 minutes to ask additional questions before discussing the project during the open meeting, after which an informal decision is given verbally and followed up with a written decision within 10 days.

“It can be a little intimidating, but it’s also a lot of fun,” Rowley said of the presentation.

Olson said Central Valley’s experience with the GCCM process has shown savings through better scheduling, phasing of specific parts of construction as well as cost estimating. Value engineering is achieved because designers look at plans one way while contractors will view them in another, often finding and proposing construction methods not familiar to architects.

Olson added that as the owner, Cheney Public Schools will have more control over the construction process, particularly when it comes to costs, which are negotiated at almost every step and include a guaranteed maximum price not to be exceeded.

“(You) don’t see as many change orders,” he said. “When you go over GMP (guaranteed maximum price), it’s on the contractor. When you’re under, the savings go to the district.”

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.

Author Bio

John McCallum, Retired editor

John McCallum is an award-winning journalist who retired from Cheney Free Press after more than 20 years. He received 10 Washington Newspaper Publisher Association awards for journalism and photography, including first place awards for Best Investigative, Best News and back-to-back awards in Best Breaking News categories.

 

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