Friday, July 27, 2012
The Construction Phase
Now that you have hired your architect, discussed all the attributes of your building project (including all the sustainable issues and more discussed in the blog), you are ready to build your project. This will be the longest and most intensive phase of the project. You will be working not only with the architect and their staff, but also the contractor, city inspectors, your materials testing firm, possibly the state department of transportation if you front a highway, the county health department and others.
The first step is to have the architect issue a 'Notice to Proceed'. Usually you have a pre-construction meeting with all the subcontractors and general contractor to go over the parameters of the project, discussing who is the contact person for each entity, shop drawing submittals and pay application submittals and the timing of each. The Notice to Proceed is critical because it sets the date that the project construction officially starts. All parties agree on this date at the pre-construction meeting. Unless you have a starting date, there is no way to prove the ending date, which sometimes can be controversial.
The pay applications are the monthly requests from the contractor for the work in place and any materials that are stored on site. The architect reviews the monthly pay apps and approves the work, or has the contractor make revisions if there are discrepancies. Notice that you are paying for materials that are stored on the project site. We do not recommend that you pay for materials stored off site unless they are in a bonded and insured warehouse. Even then, we usually limit the amount of materials stored off site to special occurrences that cannot be avoided. The pay applications will show the amount of work completed and the amount in retainage. The normal amount of retainage is 5% of the total amount of the contract. This amount is withheld each pay period and held to the end of the project to insure that all the work has been completed to everyone's satisfaction.
As the work progresses, the contractor will have questions that will arise. These are put forth to the architect in an 'RFI', or Request For Information. It is critical that the architect respond to these RFI's in a timely fashion so that the construction of the project in not impacted. Weekly on site job progress meetings should review all outstanding RFI's and their progress. The weekly meetings should also discuss and review the construction schedule. If progress has been impeded by any issue, it is critical for the contractor to show you how they intend to make up for the lost time. If the delay is weather related, it rained or it is too muddy to work, then the contractor must log that occurrence and request and extension of time to the architect.
This of course depends on how the contract is written, if you are allowing weather related days to extend the contract time or not.
My next blog will discuss the change order process and how to close out a project.
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It is interesting to me how many pieces need to move in rhythm when comes to a construction project like this. Even more interesting is how one facet that is off pace can bring the whole project to a crawl. Seem that an effective administrator would need to set up a system that makes sure everything is going smoothly and efficiently through effective communication among all the group involved
ReplyDeleteM Nelson (TSU)
It is refreshing to know that there are numerous safeguards in place to protect the schools from delayed production or lost materials. You mentioned that the contractor must log weather-related delays and other occurrences. Where is the log kept and who has access to it? Is there someone in place at schools who also signs off to the accuracy of the log?
ReplyDeleteCAndrew - Tarleton State University
the log is kept by the contractor, copies should be given to the owner and the architect at the regular job site meetings. The architect is the person in charge of verifying the weather day claims and would respond to the claim in writing back to the contractor.
DeleteDo RFI forms cost money? As I was researching RFI’s I came across an article on free RFI forms. There was a debate of whether these free forms were legal or not. Are these forms obtained from the contractor? Does the form have to be worded a certain way?
ReplyDeleteA. Agunbiade (TSU)
I've never paid for an RFI form. most contractors have developed their own format. it just needs to be something that clearly states the issue. most of the time the contractor will add verbiage as to what the implications might be....added money or time of the proposed change.
DeleteAs a building Principal, I appreciated being invited to the weekly meetings during our most recent bond project. Though I could not attend every time, it was great to be "in the loop" in regards to the project and give input. I'm not sure if this is standard practice, but I think it should be. I was then able to answer questions from our parents and staff in regards to the project.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your blog, I did not realize the immense number of factors (e.g., meetings, RFIs) that went into a newly constructed building. Honestly, I was slightly overwhelmed that keeping up with these tasks would be ‘in addition’ to normal administrative duties for a superintendent and/or district facilities manager. Will an architectural firm advise a school district of their duties during the construction phase?
ReplyDeleteH. Ortiz (Tarleton State University)
the architect will definitely need to talk to the district about who the contact person will be for the district. if it is a large project, the supt of schools will most likely not have the time to fully engage in the process. Larger projects are sometimes handled by Program Manager firms, companies that are hired by the district to oversee the day to day work. The architect's standard contract has the obligation of observing the work on a weekly basis. If the district wants additional observations to occur by the architect, this is an added cost to the A/E fee.
DeleteThere is a tremendous amount of communication that has to take place in order to construct a facility. If the line of communication is not there, you can definitely foresee a disaster waiting to happen. When we had a new Intermediate building built there was a discussion about the contractors being able to get the building finished by the date projected. I forget how many thousands of dollars would have been given back to the district if they didn't get it finished. They were able to get it finished on time and did not have to reimburse the district.
ReplyDeleteHeather,
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize how much went into constructing a new facility either. As a superintendent, you would have to have a great team to work with to help you keep up with all of the factors that go along with construction.
I wonder if, in practice, the RFI process actually slows the process down and adds expense. Intuitively it seems that if a question arose, that the contractor could simply inquire directly with the architect either by phone or email, but I do see value in a documented process so that communication problems could not result in the blame game. In a process as complicated as building a school, misunderstandings that could occur related to the design might be best dealt with using this process. Is the RFI process simply an industry practice, or is there some rule or regulation that requires that it be adhered to - is it a part of the contracts that the architect and contractors sign with the school district?
ReplyDeleteJerry Racioppi - Tarleton State University
the RFI process is an industry practice, it has developed as a means to increase and document the flow of communication. The specifications of most architects require this process simply because you cannot rely on phone calls or verbal instructions. not all RFI's result in a change in the documents, most are simply clarifications. Those that result in changes to the documents usually involve money and time and those must be accounted for.
DeleteThis particular blog was interesting to read. I do not believe I ever considered the tedious process and safeguards involved in a newly constructed building. Administrators who are often "very busy" must be very diligent in the process. In both a personal (building a home) and professional (serving on a committee for planning and building a new facility), architects often change the plans and your expectations are often miscontrued, confused, etc resulting in inconsistencies. In my experiences these have been minor but enough for me to wish I had either be more detail oriented; or had someone who had more experience assisting me with the process.
ReplyDeleteHowever this blog focused more soon particular processes I find it beneficial to have the particular administrative duties intact to ensure quality and integrity between the school system and the architectural firm(s).
R. Hall
Tarleton State