City councilors agreed unanimously Tuesday to spent more than $4 million to hire construction managers for each of the new schools proposed to house half of Bristol’s elementary and middle school students.
The Torrington-based O&G Industries is slated to collect $2.15 million to oversee the work on the Forestville school project on Pine Street.
The West Bristol project off Matthews Street would be overseen by the Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Co. for $2.31 million.
Each of the firms will be responsible for keeping an eye on the $130 million project to build two kindergarten to eighth grade schools. They are to advise the building committees set up to handle the construction of each school.
School Superintendent Philip Streifer said it is possible to hire construction managers that guarantee that the price of projects won’t go higher than anticipated, but that costs substantially extra up front.
Since the current schedule calls for finishing the new schools in 2015, he said, it’s almost impossible to know for sure what they’ll cost so no firm will lightly or cheaply offer any guarantees.
But there is a chance the timetable will be moved up so that major construction would begin in 2011 instead of 2013. Officials have discussed the possibility in hopes of getting lower overall prices while economic times are tough.
If the city opts to change the schedule, the construction managers would earn about $200,000 less between them.
Gilbane is part of a privately held company that’s been in business since 1873. It prides itself in advising clients on how to lower energy costs and holding down carbon emissions.
O&G has been around since 1923. It touts its experience and expertise in the field.
*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
9 comments:
So after the land, architects and construction managers exactly how much money do they have left to build the schools themselves?
Why the cost difference between the management companies for essentially the same project??
Are these managers going to be held accountable for the final outcome of the projects(overall quality of the job) or are we going to do like every other town in the USA and take what we get ????
What is 7:11 a.m. even talking about? Does he really have a gripe, in advance of any construction efforts at all, about anticipated construction defects? That's a little nutty, if you ask me. What's the basis for this gripe anyway? Waking up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?
I have worked on numerous construction projects where these two companies were the site managers.They are both highly qualified,have excellent "track records" and have experienced production managers.As for quality of work,it was my experience that site inspectors for both companies were very knowledgable as to code.They were a good choice.
P.S.I'm retired,so NO I am NOT looking for a job(which I'm sure SOMEONE would imply)
I agree with Tim Gamache. I work in construction and I've interacted with these companies before. They have good reps, and seem to produce good work product.
7:11's concerns seem a little premature.
(I'm also not currently looking for work... knock on wood.)
There is now not going to be enough money to complete construction and furnishings for the two schools is there? Is another referendum coming or are they simply going to build until they run out of money?
A simple google search turns up an interesting history of Gilbane being sued for mold in thier projects. The Uconn law library and the neptune project for the state of New Jersey schools developement authority are just the two most recent cases.
Who will be watching the construction managers?
7:01 a.m.:
its the architect's job to watch the CMs; in addition to its design duties, traditionally, the architect acts as the owner's rep on a construction project and has a number of contract administration obligations.
Post a Comment