Government Center Blends Bridging, CM and PLA

By Tony Illia

	(Photo courtesy of Solano County)

Solano County is a small but lush agricultural valley nestled deep in Northern California’s rolling hillside situated midway between San Francisco and Sacramento. The flourishing county, estimated to be the state’s fastest growing in percentage terms, recently brought its various government departments together under one roof as part of a $113.5-million ‘smart-growth’ consolidation effort. The undertaking is the 155-year-old county’s largest ever and used an unconventional design-build delivery that included a construction manager, bridging documents and a project labor agreement.

The project consists of a six-story, 300,000-sq-ft administration building coupled with a five-level, 1,008-space parking garage equipped with a solar electric system and electric vehicle hook-ups, plus an adjacent two-story, 43,000-sq-ft probation building and a 25,000-sq-ft public plaza. An existing cogeneration plant was upgraded from 1.4 MW to 3 MW to power the complex. The entire county campus stretches nearly three city blocks in downtown Fairfield, the county seat, and is located next to the County Courthouse and Justice Center, placing all important governmental functions close to one another.

The sleek administration center building, the project’s crown jewel, opened in phases from Nov. 12, 2004 to Feb. 27, 2005. It now houses over 800 county employees, combining 16 departments from 15 different locations spread across two cities. "The project embodies smart-growth strategies as an infill development located within walking distance of a multi-modal train station," says Kanon Artiche, county architect. "The project has also played a role in downtown Fairfield’s economic and redevelopment goals, attracting more investment in the area."

Despite its size and complexity, the project was completed early and within budget. Its timely completion was critical for county officials who had long outgrown their old 33,000-sq-ft headquarters, built in 1911. The county, which consists of seven cities spread across 906.6 sq miles, had leased office space scattered throughout the valley and was paying $86,500 a month in rent. The government center consolidation provides easy access to public services and room to grow, with roughly 10% of the building left as unfinished interior space.

After two years of studies and planning, the county in November 2001 hired Los Angeles-based Johnson Fain Partners for $2.97 million to develop the project’s bridging documents, a step that some design-build purists see as controversial. They believe bridging documents are an unnecessary expense that amounts to designing the same project twice, thereby diluting benefits from the process.

But backers of the approach say it ensures a consistent level of quality, preventing a design-build team from cutting corners. It also can help guarantee that the owner’s objectives are met, while expediting the permitting the process. "Drawing-up detailed documents with the client is a fairly elongated process that can reduce problems down the road [by] eliminating things falling into cracks," says Scott Johnson, principal of Johnson Fain.

On this project, bridging documents also were used as a means to rally public support. By clearly defining the materials and finishes of the building’s public areas, such as the exterior, elevators and hallways, the public could see what they were getting and watch it come to fruition, says Artiche. As a result, the documents were very general for some services, such as electrical and mechanical, while very specific in identifying marble flooring for the lobby and cherry wood paneling in the county boardroom. The design ranged anywhere from 20 to 50% complete, depending on the project component.

Avoiding Snags

County officials in November 2001 hired San Francisco-based URS as construction manager to help facilitate the design-build process. The use of CM’s with design-build is fairly common but some practitioners feel that it only adds another layer of bureaucracy to the decision-making process, which can slow down progress. Yet good CMs can expedite work by anticipating and solving potential problems before they occur. Since the project was the county’s largest job and a very visible symbol of the community’s hopes and ambitions for the future, it was critical that things turn out right, Artiche says. The decision to hire URS for $3.27 million was an easy one, he says.

With its CM and architect in place, the county then issued request-for-qualifications to design-build teams in June 2002. Eight firms were evaluated on experience, financial strength and background before being narrowed down to three teams that detailed costs, design, schedule and construction. The winner was selected on a "best-value" basis, where price played a secondary role. There was a prioritized wish list of items not included in the project scope that was viewed as added value by the county and it added points to the teams’ overall score based on how many items were included in their proposal.

On Nov. 19, 2002, the county awarded a $76.7-million guaranteed maximum price contract to Clark Design Build of California Inc., a joint-venture led by Clark Construction Group LLC, Bethesda, Md., with Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz (KMD) Architects, San Francisco. "The county was looking for a design-builder who could provide the highest quality and the most enhancements," says Lou Palandrani, Clark’s principal-in-charge. "So we offered Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification as a job enhancement." The contract eventually grew to $83-million due to owner-driven scope-of-work additions, which included a sewer line relocation and tenant improvements.

Solar panels on the 1,008-space parking garage help power 20 electric vehicle hook-ups.
Landmark 100-ft tall administration building is currently undergoing LEED certification. (Photos courtesy of Solano County)

The 100-ft-tall administration building, which is currently undergoing LEED certification from the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council, incorporates several sustainable features. These include use of recyclable materials like concrete, steel and gypsum board, plus a "gray water" recovery system. The building also exceeds California’s Title 24 Energy Efficiency Standards by using high efficiency fans and lamps, low ambient lighting systems and a photovoltaic panel system for solar energy. "We wanted this to be a model for responsible environmental practices to thepublic," says Artiche. "The overall project goal was to create a landmark building."

The steel-framed, glass-sheathed building’s iconic look is marked by a distinctive six-story inverted pyramid at the main entrance. There also is a large double-height oval lobby anchored by a monumental staircase with broad landings, and decorated with publicly funded artwork. The project underscores community commitment by serving as a public gathering space for exhibits, press conferences and receptions.

While the building’s dynamic appearance has scored big with locals, getting to that point proved tricky. The design-build team faced an aggressive 27-month design and construction schedule, which was compounded by the county’s phased move-in plan, where employees occupied the upper floors of the main building while construction was being completed below.

The county had seven office leases expiring, and faced $462,000 in potential penalties if it did not move out. Design-build enabled project officials to fast-track the schedule, shaving an estimated 1.5 to 2 years off a traditional design-bid-build process. "Basically design-build gave us single-source responsibility while saving as much time as possible on the project, which was schedule driven due to our expiring leases," says Artiche.

The fast-track schedule was aided by a union-only project labor agreement negotiated with the Napa-Solano Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents 17 local unions with 20,000 workers. Some believe that PLAs add unnecessary costs to the project by limiting competition among subcontractors. Yet proponents say the measure streamlines projects by establishing uniform work rules and grievance procedures and ensuring an ample supply of skilled labor.

The union council had used PLA’s previously on several private projects and some school projects, but this was the first combining a PLA with design-build "The state enabling language for design-build usage favors PLAs," says Lou Franchimon, council business manager. "It requires a labor compliance program or a collective bargaining agreement." He notes that any contractor can participate on the job but all construction workers must be obtained through union hiring halls. "Our people represent the guys on the work site and we need to know who they are," he says.

The government center project logged 400,000 manhours over 2.5 years without a single lost-time injury. The jobsite swelled to 250 craftsmen, with 30 subcontractors and suppliers onsite during the height of construction activity. "We didn’t have any grievances or problems at all. This project went absolutely smoothly," says Franchimon. "The PLA meant 80% of their work force came from local halls. The money spent on the project is going to people who live and spend their earnings within the community."

Team Players

For the project to ultimately work, there had to be a team atmosphere and shared goals. URS recognized that open dialogue and communication was the key to developing trust among the parties involved. With so many stakeholders and moving parts, the project easily could have spun out of control. "The key was to understand all of the team issues," says Albert King, URS project manager. "We were a day-to-day facilitator. There were many times that this project could have derailed. But the big success story of this project was keeping all the parties pulling in the same direction at the same time."

Many projects often have firms defensively positioning themselves from the beginning, creating a paper trail for future claims or litigation. In order to break down those barriers, decision-making ability was given to firms at the lowest level. If things couldn’t be resolved there, it traveled up through a chain of command until it was resolved. URS would intervene when needed in order to prevent grudges or dissension from becoming an embedded attitude. A critical component of the project were the daily, weekly and monthly meetings with subcontractors, suppliers project officials and community stakeholders.

The partnering came easily as several of the companies already knew each other from previous projects. URS and Clark, for instance, also worked together on the recently completed $171-million, 750,000-sq-ft Caltrans District 7 headquarters building in downtown Los Angeles, another design-build job. And Johnson Fain had dealt with Clark on the $225-million, 1.5-million-sq-ft Capitol Area East End Complex in Sacramento, the state’s largest design-build project. So they were all established design-build practitioners with team-building attitudes.

"We had a good ongoing relationship coming into this project. And we had the benefit of working through a similar projects," says Johnson. "So our personalities meshed well. We understood how one another worked both personally and professionally."