Through all the recent ups and downs of the economy, the K-12 sector has continued to provide significant opportunities for the construction industry, with billions of dollars put towards school construction and renovation projects.
Across the country, school construction projects face a lot of the same challenges, including tight schedules, limited budgets, student and staff safety, and the need to accommodate ongoing educational activities during construction.
While these building projects face a lot of the same challenges, different regions of the country approach K-12 construction quite differently. When thinking about differences, the Southern and Western states tend to deliver projects in unique ways.
The South
Construction Manager at Risk (CM-at-risk) is a well-known delivery method for K-12 school construction projects in North and South Carolina and throughout many of the Southern States. CM-at-risk allows school districts to select contractors based on qualifications rather than putting projects out to bid by general contractors.
In the Carolinas, for example, CM-at-risk has been an accepted and popular delivery method in North Carolina for some time, but has only gained acceptance in South Carolina in the past 10 years. Before that, the traditional design-bid-build approach was the norm, which is what initially gave rise to program and project management firms throughout the region.
One of the biggest advantages of CM-at-risk is that it allows the school district to select a contractor based on qualifications and experience, rather than waiting for a drawn-out bidding process. However, there is usually a premium associated with this method.
We recently sat down with two of our leading K-12 experts for more detail and specific delivery examples during an episode of the Construction Insiders Podcast. Our team suggests that while CM-at-risk can be a useful delivery method for K-12 construction projects, it is important for clients to carefully consider the costs and make comparisons with other methods before moving forward.
The West
In the West, project delivery methods like design-bid-build with pre-qualification, design-build, and lease-leaseback are more popular. In addition to these unique delivery methods, a variety of management strategies are also used here.
The first model is staff augmentation, which is typically used by bigger clients. Under this model, the client will issue a job requisition with a fixed hourly rate. A pool of consultants submits resumes, a few candidates are shortlisted and interviewed, and a particular candidate is selected. This model provides flexibility to larger clients and allows them to bring on people as required. It also helps in getting the best talent from the market through various firms. However, one disadvantage of this model is that the client shoulders the burden of managing the team rather than having a company assume responsibility.
A second popular model is CM agency, which is usually done by clients with smaller inhouse teams. While using this model, the client hires a team of consultants, utilizing a qualifications-based selection process, to manage all aspects of the project on their behalf.
In this model, the team generally works on a time and material basis, with fixed hourly rates over a specified period to establish the overall contract amount. This model provides individual and company accountability with all team members on that team from the same firm.
While there are a lot of differences, effective communication, deep experience, and collaboration between all stakeholders – including school administrators, architects, contractors, and community members – are critical factors to the success of any K-12 construction project.
Cumming’s dedicated K-12 team includes more than 300 management professionals supporting more than $4 billion in school facilities work annually. The comments shared above reflect this team’s collective experience across the United States.