HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 9528 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9528
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council December 11, 2012
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SUBJECT: USE OF FIELD ORDERS AND CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
rF ALLOWANCES ON CITY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
The City Council has encouraged staff to seek ways of expediting the delivery of infrastructure
projects throughout City government. Staff has responded by re-engineering numerous project
delivery processes, scheduling techniques, and project management approaches to move
projects into construction more quickly.
When projects enter their construction phase, unforeseen issues may arise that can result in
project delays, inconvenience to our citizens, and delay of payments to contractors unless
handled in an expeditious manner. Previously these unanticipated issues have been corrected
through the use of project change orders that are approved either administratively by staff or by
formal action of the City Council. Historically, a change order requiring an M&C could take over
60 days to process and over 35 days for administrative approval, forcing the contractor either to
delay work on the project or to proceed with the work at his/her sole risk while waiting for
approval by the City.
Staff is recommending the use of an expanded field order program which will be paid from pre-
approved construction project allowances incorporated into the original contract prices. This
approach has been used on a limited basis on some of the City's facilities and park improvement
projects. The field order program will be instituted across the City for public works projects, but
use of the allowance approach will be at the discretion of the various departments.
The construction project allowance is a pre-determined, fixed level of funding that is included in
the construction project bid package by the City at the time of advertisement and is made a part
of the proposed project construction contract price presented for approval and award by the City
Council. The construction project allowance would then be available for use on the project for
field orders, subject to administrative approval, without further action by Council. The use of the
construction project allowance funds will be monitored by staff, authorized by the department
head or his/her designee, and approved by the appropriate Assistant City Manager. It is
anticipated that the approval and payment of field orders under this approach will take less than
half the time of the current project change order process, and will be further expedited with the
implementation of an electronic routing and approval process that will replace the traditional
paper system.
Changes to a project's scope or time, and changes that require funding beyond that previously
appropriated, will continue to follow a revised change order process which includes an increased
administrative approval authority of $100,000 (M&C G-17765, Dec. 11, 2012). Moreover, the
current prohibition against an increase of a project's original contract cost beyond 25 percent
remains in place.
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9528
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council December 11, 2012
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SUBJECT: USE OF FIELD ORDERS AND CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
rF ALLOWANCES ON CITY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
The City's conversion to this field order/allowance model is strongly supported by the contracting
community and has been developed by the affected departments (TPW, Water, PACS) with
review and advice from the Law Department. Staff presented an overview of the use of
construction project allowances to the City Council's Infrastructure and Transportation Committee
earlier in the fall and advised that an Informal Report would be provided to the entire City Council.
If you have any questions about these recommended changes, please contact Doug Rademaker,
Deputy Director — Program Management Office, Planning & Development Department at (817)
392-6157.
Tom Higgins
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS