Summer Sprint: School Construction?
The 10 or so weeks between the last day of the school year and the beginning of “the next” year are a race against time for school boards, leaders, and constructors who are striving to complete essential renovations, address maintenance challenges and upgrade learning spaces in time to welcome students back. During “summer sprint,” time is extra precious, which has led more school districts around the country to adopt Qualification-Based Selection (QBS). If you are aiming to win more work with schools in your region, read on for insights.
Managing the Volume of Small and Mid-Size Projects
At School Construction News, Josh Curran, Vice President and Director of K-12 Construction for Chicago-based F.H. Paschen observes that during the summer, “the core challenge for local districts is not just the work itself, but the sheer volume of projects that must be delivered simultaneously.” Multiple small to mid-sized improvements in just one public school building might range from HVAC replacements to refreshing classrooms, installing new lighting, and upgrading a playground. That’s a lot to juggle–especially in school districts where resources are already tight.
As a result, Curran explains, more school districts are shifting to Qualification-Based Selection (QBS), enabling them “to choose a trusted partner based on their expertise, capabilities and past performance rather than just the bottom-line low-bid dollars and cents. By prioritizing a contractor’s ability to deliver, districts can mitigate the risks associated with the compressed “Summer Sprint” window, while ensuring they’re keeping an eye on delivering value for taxpayers.”
According to School Construction News, the specific operational benefits of QBS methods, such as Construction Management (CM), and Job Order Contracting (JOC), include:
- Accelerated Delivery: With a building partner already in place, the work can start in weeks rather than months, ensuring no time is wasted….
- Transparent Pricing: These methods provide the fiscal accountability and budget control that school boards require.
- Reduced Administrative Burden: A single procurement process can cover multiple summer projects, cutting down on the staff hours needed to manage the workload.
- Quality Consistency: Working with a trusted, experienced team ensures that standards remain high even when the schedule is tight.
- Solves the “No Bidder” Problem: Small and mid-sized projects (like a single door replacement or emergency repair) often fail to attract quality bidders….By having an established partner, you’re guaranteed to have a high-capacity, pre-qualified builder that is ready to respond to any scope….
- Flexibility and Scalability: These models are ideal for the small projects that dominate summer renovation lists as well as larger capital programs phased over multiple summers.
Good To Know: Higher Quality, Lower Costs
A study by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC)
found that compared to traditional cost based procurement (focused on pricing), the use of QBS for public projects ultimately produced lower project costs and reduced schedules. The rate of change-orders decreased from 10% to 3% on average. According to ACEC, advantages of QBS include:
- Better plans and specifications, resulting in higher quality contract documents that make bidding on and carrying out construction easier
- Innovative, cost-effective design solutions at a fair market value, resulting in lower overall project costs; minimizing delays, cost overruns and litigation; and lowering operating and ownership costs
- Solutions that best meet the needs of the project, emphasizing public health, safety and quality of life
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