Montgomery County Intermediate Unit 23

MCIU 23 Construction Manager Services Request for Proposal August 2 nd , 2022

5.7 HOW WILL YOUR FIRM MINIMIZE CHANGE ORDERS?

DEI’s constructability reviews during design are a multi-disciplined effort aimed at minimizing change orders, eliminate conflicts or ambiguities in the bid documents, and to properly distribute responsibilities to the multiple prime contractors. We conduct this review and then provide a written report of itemized drawing and specification comments along with suggested changes or corrections to the architect and Owner. We prefer to meet with the architect and Owner to review the comments and discuss their implementation. We then ask the architect to respond to each comment with their action for the project record. In this way, change orders are reduced or eliminated even before construction starts. Examples of the content reviewed include:  Compliance of architectural, electrical, mechanical, sprinkler, egress and security systems for Owner criteria, constructability, and maintainability.  Conformance with and clear description of project phasing requirements and related public, staff, and operations traffic patterns.  Coordination with multiple prime contract work performed under separate projects and work performed by the Owner.  Adaptability to Pennsylvania competitive bidding, including a review of the front-end contract documents, unit prices and allowances.  Potential for delays resulting from long lead items, conflicts with other projects or complex construction requirements.  Clear assignment and coordination of work between multiple prime contractors. The goal of the constructability review is to ensure that the bid documents are clear and concise, a trait DEI projects are well known for. Eliminating these conflicts and ambiguities reduces the potential for change orders during construction. The result of DEI’s involvement and effort is an excellent set of bidding documents that attract

competition for the project and result in project savings. During construction, potential changes and their impact on the project cost are scrutinized closely between our project manager, the architect, and the Owner. If a change is necessary, we work with the architect and contractors to mitigate the costs or reach the best value option. Next, pricing is sought from the contractor or directly from a vendor. DEI will provide you with a “ballpark” number or a complete independent estimate well before the actual proposal is received from the contractor. Once received, a detailed breakdown of the cost proposal is reviewed comparing it to our own internal database. If the labor, materials, equipment, and mark-up are appropriate, the options are discussed with the Owner’s project team to select the most suitable course.

Construction Management Services Methodology 8 | P a g e