School Board Special Meeting

Dustin WrightstaffBut something called a design build approach and then finally a construction manager at risk approach and sometimes people call it a C-mar All of these have different potential advantages and disadvantages. I'll start with the design build because that one is not an option for us right now without completely restarting because essentially what you do is you hire one firm that takes care of the design work, the construction work, and does it all together. We've already hired firms that are doing the design work for us and they're doing it very well. The design bid build that we're currently on is you engage in two contracts. contract is for the design work and so we have contracts for both of our schools for that design

Additionally, if there are any issues during the building process that are related to design changes or issues with the design that are not able to be built, that can lead to additional costs that were not originally budgeted for. The construction manager at risk process is one that is now available to us in the City of Fairfax, and it's still two contracts, like a design bid-build. is that you bring the builder into the process much earlier so if we were to pursue a process like this we'd be looking at bringing a builder into our City of Fairfax projects during the next phase of design which is called schematic design we're currently finishing up conceptual design and we're going to go into schematic design in the very near future one of the advantages

of this is then we would have a builder that could be working with our designers during the design process. A second advantage that you'll hear me talk about towards the end of this presentation is that through a construction manager at risk, you also agree on a guaranteed maximum price for your project. So a GMP is agreed on through that process with the construction manager at risk, which I think brings a lot of advantages to planning our costs and to knowing where our risks are financially over the course of a four to five year project. I'd be remiss if I didn't share with the board that there are multiple things to consider when making decisions like this and thinking about the path forward.

avoids delays, and minimizes additional costs associated with restarting the project. It's my recommendation that we incorporate modest budget adjustments of approximately $3 to $5 million per school to allow for targeted enhancements. These investments would support elevate the quality functionality and distinctiveness of our schools. And it's my recommendation that we consider through the procurement process transitioning to a construction manager at risk delivery model to establish that guaranteed maximum price, to introduce the contractor expertise earlier in the process, to increase our flexibility while maintaining cost discipline, and to reduce risk of delays and costs overruns. It's my hope that this

Lauren BartelmeYeah, I guess my question is to both of you about the construction manager at risk. So I know when we started the contracts with both of you, our only option with the city was the design bid build. So I was curious about both of your firm's experience with that model instead.

Dustin WrightstaffThank you. And I would just add two quick pieces of context first the there's a very large project under consideration of the city of Fairfax the Willard Sherwood community center that is currently scheduled to utilize a construction manager at risk procurement process and then second any contract that would be with a construction manager at risk would come before this board for approval

that's a great question i don't i think if if anything it would allow the cost to come down slightly because we'd be holding less of those contingencies because that at risk part of the construction manager at risk is that that moving over to their side but i still think we're in the right ballpark budget-wise whether it's the design bid build or the construction manager at risk i think these that are the appropriate ones for the board to consider. So it's not necessarily a cost savings, and I don't anticipate drastic cost increases if a different procurement approach is selected. And if there are significant costs that we're trying to keep as a board in a City of Fairfax School Division, which I think lines up with what we've been doing all along,

Yeah, that's a great question. And so I'm going to take a first crack at it and then I'll look to my friends or maybe I'll get the scientific head nod that I'm we have not done any procurement bid process on a builder yet. So that process would not have to start over because it has not begun. For design work, I think our contracts are able to shift at this point in the process where we are. What I would say for this board is there's some time sensitivity to making a decision to go to a construction manager at risk, and we're okay. We're in that window. but you typically want the construction manager on board either during at the latest during the schematic design or at the very latest at the end of schematic