School Renovations - Buena Park School District
Government
School Renovations
The Project
The Buena Park School District implemented a matching-funds program from the State of California to upgrade and remodel facilities including HVAC, roofing, paving, painting, carpeting, fire alarms, phone systems and restroom remodels. Since the level of matching funds varied from year to year, it was important to develop a flexible process for prioritizing projects.
A QPM Project Manager was responsible for managing the public bidding process, pre-construction bid walks, the formal bid opening and final selection of successful contractors. He also managed the process of actual facility improvements and all items from project start to closeout and acceptance of warranties. All work needed to be completed during the summer, with no flexibility for extensions as everything had to be done in time for the schools to open in the Fall.
The QPM Solution
Since prioritizing projects over the long term was a key goal for the District, the QPM PM reviewed all maintenance issues for all ten school buildings in the district and developed a 5-year maintenance plan. The plan was designed to be ongoing, with a 5th year added as each year elapsed.
The development of this plan allowed the District to plan efficiently for upgrades and repairs regardless of the State of California funding level, because projects had already been prioritized. All levels of school management – principal, teachers, etc. – participated in prioritizing projects. Their input was combined with notes from site visits to determine project priority.
The PM also established a new process for maintaining maintenance records for each school. An initial survey was done of each school’s needs, and a yearly maintenance plan was developed for key areas. An asbestos removal plan was incorporated into this process.
The Results
All maintenance projects were planned, scheduled and completed within the 9-week summer timeframe. All asbestos in all school boiler rooms was removed, and a new efficient HVAC system was implemented with modern controls, allowing more consistent temperature throughout the schools.
Due to his extensive knowledge of each building (gained through site visits and a careful review of all maintenance records), the PM was able to save the school district significant expenditures by incorporating needed upgrades into existing systems.
