Leadership Matters Summer 2015

that develop in construction while maintaining the transparency in contracting demanded by the public. Construction Management After years of battles between design quality versus construction cost with the District caught in the middle, the industry developed alternative means of project delivery. Construction Management has gained significant traction over the last 20 years as an alternative to Design/Bid/Build. In this method the construction period services handled by a General Contractor are now the responsibility of the Construction Manager (CM). There are several major differences however. The CM is ideally selected at the beginning of the design phase in a Quality Based Selection process. Your Architect should be familiar with the process and can assist the District in

projects that reduce energy consumption or operating costs such as insulating exterior walls, installing computerized energy control systems, or replacing inefficient lighting, where the project pays for itself over time through higher efficiency. A major strength of this delivery method is a single provider for all phases of the project through an Energy Services Company or ESCO. Licensed Architects or Engineers are still required to seal permit drawings, but may be contracted by the ESCO so that the District enters into a single vendor agreement. The District trades the checks and balances of the other methods for a single point of responsibility. Since this delivery method has no checks and balances between designer and contractor as in the previous two

delivery methods, the School Code contains several requirements to insure that the District receives fair value. Requests for Proposals (RFP’s) for these contracts must be published in the Capital Development Board Bulletin and a local publication at least 30 days prior to the date they are due. These competitive proposals

Editors note: If you don’t have a District Architect and want to get one, or if you need to find a design firm for a single project, the IASA has a number of School Service Associates in the Architecture field. Contact us for a list of Service Associates. Assistance in preparation of this article came from JC Rearden, AIA VP Operations Wm. B Ittner Architects and Mike Waldinger Hon AIA Exec. VP AIA Illinois

preparing a solid Request for Qualifications and help with the selection process. Once selected the CM becomes part of a three party team- Owner/ Architect/Constructor. This team collectively manages decision making, design, budgeting, bidding, and

construction. Contractually the District has separate agreements with the Architect, the CM, and

must be evaluated by an Architect or Engineer retained by the District who does not have a financial or contractual relationship with the ESCO. The cost of the improvements must meet or exceed the operational cost savings within 20 years. Like low bid, the ESCO has an incentive to provide systems or materials that cost the least amount of money. In order to make sure that the District receives the best value, ask your independent evaluator to help prepare the RFP with a particular emphasis on specifying materials and systems that will provide sufficient durability to outlast the 20 year payback period. The independent evaluator can also be the District Architect, who has a familiarity with your facilities, or the District Architect may be retained by the ESCO, in which case a third party must be retained by the District to evaluate RFP’s. We hope that this brief description sheds a little more light onto the role of the District Architect. Fundamentally, the Architect’s goal is to assist the District in obtaining the best value in facilities and infrastructure that will meet the long term need of the District. Our School Facilities are an important component in the vital mission of public education, it’s up to all of us to make sure we have outstanding learning environments.

potentially with individual trade contractors. Strengths of this process include the ability to select the CM based on qualifications and past performance rather than low bid, closer involvement of the CM during the design phase for budgeting and scheduling purposes, and the ability to evaluate individual trade bids versus a single lump sum bid. In some locations where qualified General Contractors with the experience and capability to handle a large construction project are in short supply the CM can provide the opportunity for smaller local contractors to compete for work on the project. The Architect’s responsibilities in this delivery method are similar to Design/Bid/Build, but the relationship between Architect and CM is more cooperative, while maintaining healthy checks and balances between designer and builder to ensure that the District receives the best value from the process. Districts benefit from the Architect and CM each contributing their perspectives and exercising their professional responsibility to protect the District’s interests. Guaranteed Energy Savings Contract or Performance Contract This form of construction delivery is the most recent, and as the name implies, is intended for

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