Recommended Do's and Don'ts for School Construction
| Do | Don't |
|---|---|
| Base all facility decisions on the district's long range facility master plan. | Make facilities decisions solely on the basis of the initial cost. |
| Base facility decisions on a life cycle cost analysis of all feasible alternatives. | Think that value engineering means substituting a cheaper product for what was specified by the designer. |
| Employ a competent clerk of the works. | Rush. This is a complex, high cost undertaking, the results of which will last a very long time. |
| Evaluate all feasible alternatives to resolve a facility concern. | Assume that a design-build contract will save money. |
| Have your attorney review and modify the standard AIA contract documents to protect your interests. | Allow mixing of contract documents from different sources e.g. AIA, ACG, DBIA etc. |
| Include as many aspects of high performance school design as possible. | Trade construction quality for more space or an earlier completion date. |
| Include training for your maintenance staff on new equipment and materials. | Allow the designers to include materials, systems, components, or structural features that cannot be easily maintained by your staff. |
| Insist on an integrated whole building design. | Use a fast track schedule for design and construction. |
| Provide funding up front for site investigation and at least 50% of the design effort. | Expect design professionals to work for nothing. |
| Provide strict control on the approval of change orders. | Try to get by with a contingency budget of less than 5% for new construction and 10% for renovations. |
| Prioritize where the money goes in the project. Give high priority to the roof and HVAC system. | Lock into a final cost before completing a preliminary design and geo-technical testing of the site. |
| Request assistance from the Office of School Building Aid, (603) 271-2037. | Forget to apply for School Building Aid before construction begins. Applications prior to the district meeting are strongly encouraged. |
| Require as-built drawings in an electronic format that you can use. | Forget to notify your insurance company about the new building, addition, or renovation. |
| Require construction bidders to bring the project manager and construction superintendent to interviews. | Allow construction managers to complete any portion of the actual construction with their own staff. Such firms are general contractors in disguise, and you have the wrong type contract. |
| Require formal commissioning of all building systems prior to acceptance of the work as substantially complete. | Acquire property, even donated land, without basic environmental and geological evaluations. |
| Specify Energy Star labeled equipment. | Use unit ventilators in the HVAC system. |
| Use Qualifications Based Selection (QBS) to hire an architect. | Hire design professionals solely on the basis of lowest cost. |
Provided by: Office of School Building Aid, New Hampshire Department of Education
New Hampshire Department of Education
101 Pleasant Street | Concord, NH | 03301-3494
Telephone: (603) 271-3494 | TDD Access: Relay NH 711