ORD-2005-005 - Middle School #3 Capital Project Ordinance 01-24-2005-6a

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MEMORANDUM 0 TO: Board of County Commissioners John Link, County Manager FROM: Pam Jones, Purchasing and Central Services RE: Orange County Schools Middle School #3 Construction Cost Assessment DATE: January 21, 2005 As you may recall, OCS Middle School #3 was one of two schools for which Commissioners requested that Paul Thames and Pam Jones review plans and identify cost elements with significant cost increases. The review of the major construction elements for OCS Middle School #3 revealed no appreciable deviations from expected construction cost escalation within major building construction elements, with the exception of items such as structural steel, steel reinforcing, metal roofing, concrete and other masonry, which has increased almost 50°70 over the past four years. Further, according to construction data provided or published by the NC Department of Public Instruction ( NCDPI), school construction costs for calendar years 1996 through mid -2004, increased by an average of 35% for all schools statewide. NCDPI data also indicate that much of this increase (approximately 1917o) has occurred in the 2003 - mid -2004 interval. You will note that if the 35% "inflation" factor were applied to the Orange County School standards square footage costs (created and adopted in 1996), the 2004 cost per square foot would calculate at $128.25 per square foot. The square foot costs calculated from the bids received on December 7, 2004 would be approximately $132.45, approximately 3% over the present value school standards. While the source of this 3% over the standards present value cost was not readily apparent, it was noted that the standards include limited, if any, green building components. Green building adds value and has a payback for the long term; however, some elements have an identifiable up front cost in excess of traditional building methods. At a minimum, $80,000 of "green components" can be identified in the 12/7/04 bid alternates through such things as solar water heating system and photovoltaic system. These items are recommended in the bid award amount and are calculated in the $132.45 square foot cost cited in the attachment. For your information, the attached spreadsheet compares construction standards cost, to the present value of the construction standards cost, as well as the preliminary cost projections provided by the architect in September 2003, the updated projections based on the final program of the school in September 2004 and the actual bids received on December 7, 2004.