Construction Equipment Guide
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Sat February 10, 2001 - West Edition
It seemed that it would never happen, but it finally did. On Sept. 9, 1999, the state of Arizona Schools Facility Board (SFB) adopted the Building Adequacy Guidelines, better known as Students First. Actual construction is expected to begin this year with the board anticipating to spend just more than $1 billion over the next three years to build and/or renovate more than 1,200 schools in the state.
The first step in the award process was the assessment of each school’s needs. Consultants visited each school in Arizona to inspect the school’s condition and evaluate the amount of repair needed or the requirement for facility replacement. These assessments are now complete and the first awards should take place in February 2001.
According to Dave Young, Schools Facility Board Project Coordinator of Heery International, in addition to replacement schools, there will be a number of prepackaged projects ranging from $10 to $20 million. It is expected that 35 percent of the projects will be for up-grading HVAC systems, 15 percent for roof replacement, with the rest divided up between lighting, fire alarms, fencing, drainage problems and space deficiencies.
The most interesting part of this program is that the State has authorized nine construction management firms to provide project management assistance to the school districts, with bidding handled through the State Procurement Office. The board foresees saving the taxpayers of Arizona more than $50 million using this project delivery system. Abacus Project Management, which has several offices in the West, including its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, AZ, has been in business since 1990 providing project management services to both public and private sector clients. According to Corrin B. Spiegel, marketing manager, Abacus’ first assignment will have them focused on the needs of schools in the Metropolitan Phoenix area.
Vanir Construction Management Inc., with corporate offices in Sacramento, CA, is one of the nation’s leading program/project/construction management firms. Bob Wyllie, vice president and area manager, stated that his firm had not received an assignment as of yet, but they are prepared for any assignment throughout the state.
DMJM, Gilbane, Jacobs/Chanen, Kitchell, all Phoenix-area firms; G.V. Enterprises in Glendale, AZ; and Pinnacle One in Tempe, AZ, are the other six firms chosen as SFB project managers.
The districts will hire architectural firms to design the projects approved by the School Facilities Board and the SFB project manager assigned to the project will consolidate the bids. The SFB project manager will be certain the specifications are competitively bid and the award will be made in accordance with state procurement rules. In some cases, districts will be authorized to handle their own bidding and then submit it to the SFB project manager or the SFB staff for review and approval. Companies are placed on a bid list by notifying all school districts in the state, as well as the State Procurement Office and the SFB staff. Generally bid specifications prepared for these projects will be posted on the SFB Web site. It is suggested that companies review the site daily.
For more information, visit www.sfb.state.az.us.