Design-Build for Renovation/Expansion of School Facilities: A Laboratory Approach

The mix is one of energy and action. Add to that mix the need to upgrade the aging facilities, with those same students present, and you have a laboratory for the effective use of design-build project delivery. The lab has many tests; safety, security, planning, noise and dust control, maintenance of operations, and of course teaching and learning. This lab is one which will put the owner, the staff, and the design-builder under the microscope. However, there is much good to be discovered. We look at school renovation and expansion much like a high school lab assignment using Purpose, Procedure, and Results.

Purpose

In simple terms, the purpose of a renovation/expansion project might be to upgrade facilities or to add student stations. But the deeper purpose of the project is driven at the school board policy level, and more likely to be ensuring facilities are safe, accessible, and that they promote effective learning.

According to School Planning and Management 2007 Construction Report, renovation and expansion of K-12 campuses represented 38 percent of the $20 billion school building market during 2006 nationwide. Such a significant volume of work on active campuses is likely to cause disruption to the educational process. This is where the speed and effectiveness of design-build come into play. The high school environment is a complicated lab and perhaps the ultimate test of design-build because so many variables are present. As a contrast, elementary students are much more closely supervised, and university students operate in campuses with more mature students. High school students, with their quasi-independence and active circulation, put the design-build team to the test. So, let’s consider the approach.

Procedure

Beginning with planning and procurement, the owner must make the key decision about delivery system. They must understand their own organization’s capabilities and decide on key issues including overall project budget, program parameters, and whether they will have the requisite expertise on staff. If not, they will need an agency representative to guide the process. The agency representative, or “Owner’s Rep,” should be a knowledgeable individual who knows the district’s standard, the design-build process, and preferably knows the school’s on-campus staff. Due to the complexities of hidden conditions and frequently a lack of existing documentation, renovation/expansion work is often difficult to award on a technical and price basis. The work is much more conducive to a Qualifications Based Selection (QBS) process. This awards the project to the design-builder who, by way of qualifications submittal and interview, demonstrates the greatest skills, ability, and experience to successfully accomplish the project. Typical for this type of project would be the use of DBIA’s contract and general conditions for a Guaranteed Maximum Price Contract between Owner and Design-Builder.

Once awarded, the design-builder and owner’s team must develop a thorough project definition and desired project outcomes. Particularly in renovation/expansion work, the school’s administrative and curriculum staff must be involved. This will add a dynamic to the process which is different than a “green field” project where the school’s staff in many cases will not be selected until the project is well underway. For purposes of our lab analogy, consider who might be involved in project definition and desired outcomes. In most districts the Facilities Director is the primary “owner” of the project process. Typically it is a member of the Facilities Department’s staff who serves as the Owner’s Rep. They are charged with the task of project execution and accountable for budget, schedule, and quality. So they figure heavily into the team equation. They may get support and input from district administration including the district’s financial officer. The school-based participants will certainly include the principal and facilities maintenance. One significant group that cannot be left out of the equation is the faculty, both classroom teachers and department heads. Good school design and hence good design-build begins with a clear understanding of the curriculum to be delivered and the impact of the project on the classroom teacher. After all, the project will be ongoing during the academic year. So, for purposes of the lab, these would be the stakeholders who would be working with the design-builder.

Two initial steps in the process of project definition include program verification and field verification of existing conditions. All too often teams launch into design without a very thorough exploration of the existing conditions. Every electrical panel, every ceiling cavity, every roof area, and every mechanical system component should be examined and considered for its value to the project or its need for replacement. It should be considered by the team that initial solutions, after sufficient research and investigation, may be deemed inappropriate or unnecessary for the project’s success. As an example, it may initially be believed the multiple area renovations should be accomplished, when in fact, demolition and replacement may be more effective educationally and financially. When consideration is given to cost and time of code upgrades, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) upgrades, seismic or hurricane resistance, and the desire for extended life cycle of school buildings, it is sometimes more effective to think in terms of demolition and a consolidation of program elements in new campus buildings. Such an alternative may also provide an opportunity for enhancing the aesthetics of an aging campus.

Once the project is defined, the design and project budgeting can progress. Again we have an opportunity for design-build to yield benefits to the owner. During the design process, the design-builder has the advantage of including the school maintenance staff and partnering with key subcontractors to invite their input on project phasing, sequencing of work, and intelligent selection of compatible system components. These partners can also provide early budgets in support of the design-builder’s estimate. Early involvement of subcontractors can also provide coordination discussions to ensure that scheduling is accurate. A result of the well-coordinated schedule will be a minimization of temporary space costs and minimized moving of classes. A frequent issue in renovation/expansion projects is the need for temporary or portable classrooms. In addition to being disruptive to the educational environment, temporary classrooms can be thought of as money that “leaves the system.” That is, it is a cost with no permanent capital infrastructure value. So effective scheduling, particularly for work performed during spring and/or summer break, can minimize that expense.

Planning for safety is another area where design-build excels on renovation/expansion projects. With hundreds of students and dozens of faculty on campus, safety becomes a major concern. Typical green field projects have safety plans that involve safety equipment, fall protection, and safe work procedures. Renovation/expansion projects must consider safety barriers, safely securing electrical equipment, maintaining clean ductwork and overall air quality, movement of material, and the potential for the work becoming an attractive nuisance. Add to the equation a workforce that must be trained not to interact with the students and the importance of skilled field supervision takes on an added dimension of importance. In some states newly enacted legislation will require that all workers on school campuses must be screened and fingerprinted with law enforcement. In such cases an employee badge system will need to be used.

Particular to high schools are special-use classrooms such as science labs. They are challenging for the design-builder on two levels. They are typically few in number and offer little in the way of flexibility. Temporary or portable classrooms can be adapted for science demonstration, but they make extraordinarily poor labs. Also science labs are the most system-intense areas of the projects. Science casework, plumbing, gas, and fume hoods require more time to renovate than do typical classes. Other areas are high intensity and virtually year-round in use. For instance replacing a gymnasium floor or renovating the school’s kitchen may require multiple shift work. Good coordination and planning between the field staff who will accomplish the work and the design staff will make or break those renovations.

Coordination of campuswide upgrades in chilled water piping and other improvements such as parking area changes will require not only design and construction coordination, they require the coordination of the school’s administrative staff. A good exercise is to anticipate each stage of operations and develop a coordinated maintenance of traffic plan. High school students can be unpredictable drivers on a good day, but when mixed with construction traffic it can become a dangerous snarl. The design-builder’s staff will need to plan for sequencing construction and for deliveries at non-peak times for the school. An unfortunate coincidence of typical timing is that early morning concrete pours coincide with arrival of students. A good superintendent will coordinate all the activities and closures with the school administration.

As the work progresses in a renovation/expansion project, new work is invariably uncovered. At the beginning of the project the owner and design-builder need to address in the contract how additional work due to uncovered conditions will be handled. Similarly, they will need to agree on a system for handling project contingency dollars. It can be tempting to close out contingency dollars on a percent complete basis, but it is not wise to do so until late in the project. Uncovered or unknown conditions can come at any stage, and the project team will need adequate funds to remedy those situations.

Turnover of completed areas must be well planned and communicated. Systems for inspection by the design professionals, inspectors, and owners must be considered in the project schedule. Once a date is set for student occupancy of a given phase, the design-builder must adhere to the date to maintain credibility with the principal and the community of students and faculty. This is nowhere more evident than in campus sports facilities. Close coordination between the construction staff and the design team is needed to bring new football/soccer facilities or gymnasiums on line. No design-builder wants to delay opening games of high school sports.

As the project comes to a close, turnover of operations and demobilization begin, and project completion is most frequently documented via a punch list. Final project closeout and completion of every punch list item can be a source of great irritation to high school principals. If work must continue in the active school spaces questions arise about supervision of workers and access to areas of campus. The design-build team needs to exercise diligence in the most expeditious completion of punch list items to allow the campus to return to its educational mission with a minimum of disruption.

Results

With attention to planning and coordination as well as good project communication, design-build can deliver extraordinary results for school renovation/expansion projects. America’s school infrastructure will continue to need the integrated thinking of design-builders to solve complex problems on active campuses. Projections include $8 billion per year for K-12 schools.

The photos provided depict current projects in Brevard County, FL, and at The Villages, FL. The school in Brevard County is over 30 years old with a full interior and campus renovation. The project includes a new football stadium and a phased renovation of a mall-type interior. The Villages High School is only four years old and is undergoing expansion that was planned in the original master plan. The two-story classroom addition is designed using tilt-wall construction for speed and efficiency. Brevard County has used design-build delivery for renovation/expansion projects for over 10 years. The Villages has used design-build exclusively for its entire school system. In both cases the owner chose to use design-build project delivery on an active campus with students present every day. The projects have progressed effectively and are meeting both their phased turnover dates as well as the owners’ expectations. Interim report cards have been very favorable, and the team expects to receive all “A’s.”

INFO: Haskell (www.thehaskellco.com)