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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
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
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
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
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.
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