This policy is intended to delineate the responsibilities of the various University participants involved in Capital Improvement Projects, and to define the procedures that will be used.
Vice Chancellor Business Affairs
Updated November 1, 2005; Updated October 1, 1995; Effective April 1, 1989; supersedes former Administration Policy No. VCB1.10, “Capital Improvement Projects”
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Business Affairs
Purpose
This policy is intended to delineate the responsibilities of the various University participants involved in Capital Improvement Projects, and to define the procedures that will be used.
Scope
Applies to all university departments.
Policy
Definitions.
Capital Improvement Projects include new construction, renovations, repairs, and major maintenance to existing facilities; major landscape improvements; improvements to outside athletic and recreational facilities; land purchases; one-time major equipment purchases; and utility modifications (any of which are in excess of $300,000).
Stakeholders: those that have an interest in the project, either as ultimate occupants of the facility, or those that provide support to the design, construction, operation or maintenance of the facility.
Primary Stakeholders include the Project Representative(s) and departmental representatives that are intended to occupy the completed project.
Secondary Stakeholders include those that are responsible for the management of design, construction, physical maintenance or support of the project, either in construction or upon completion (ex: Facilities Planning and Design, Construction Services, Physical Plant, ITSD, Auxiliaries).
Project Representative: The person(s) assigned by the Vice Chancellor(s) responsible for the department(s) that is to be housed or accommodated in the project. The Project Representative(s) will follow the project through construction, acting as a liaison between the Primary Stakeholders and the Project Manager.
Project Manager: The Office of Facilities representative assigned to manage the design or construction of the project on a daily basis. The Architectural and Construction Services department will assign project managers.
Building Committee: A project steering committee composed of representatives from the various Primary and Secondary Stakeholder groups, chaired by the Capital Projects Coordinator. The Capital Projects Coordinator will convene regularly scheduled Building Committee meetings throughout the design phase of the project, in order to keep the committee apprised of developments and progress and to seek information or decisions as may be required. The Capital Projects Coordinator will schedule Building Committee meetings during the construction phase periodically, and on an as-needed basis.
Responsibility for Capital Improvement Projects.
All Capital Improvement Projects for the university are under the direction of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs. Specifically, the individual designated to be the primary contact is the Capital Projects Coordinator, who is presently the Associate Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs Facilities.
Design consultants (ex.: architects, engineers, surveyors, physical testing agencies) of any type may not be employed without written permission from the Capital Projects Coordinator.
Procedures
Request and Approval of Capital Improvement Projects
The Capital Projects Coordinator will coordinate preparation of all Capital Improvement Project Requests and manage the process. Capital Improvement Project Requests will be filed through UNC-General Administration for approval by the Board of Governors and the General Assembly. It should be understood that the request/approval process for Capital Improvement Projects may take approximately two years.
Receipt-Supported Requests: Receipt-supported requests may be filed any time upon approval of the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees.
Appropriation Requests: Appropriation requests are prioritized, prior to submittal, by the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees. Appropriation requests are filed on a schedule established by UNC-General Administration. This filing usually takes place in the spring of even-numbered years.
Design Phase
Upon approval of the project, a designer will be chosen through processes established by the UNCW Board of Trustees, consistent with requirements of UNC-Office of the President, the Office of State Construction and the State Building Commission. The VCBA and the Capital Projects Coordinator will meet with appropriate VC’s to discuss the project’s budget and schedule, and to identify the Project Representative and the Primary Stakeholders. The Capital Projects Coordinator will manage the design selection process and will involve the Project Representative and the Primary Stakeholders in the selection process for the designers. The Building Committee will interview potential designers and make a recommendation to the Capital Projects Coordinator for submission to the UNCW Board of Trustees. If the project warrants an IT/AV consultant or specialist, the ITSD representative will be involved in the selection of the consultant. All designers selected for capital projects must be approved by the Board of Trustees.
Once a designer is under contract, the Capital Projects Coordinator, through the Project Manager, will arrange for a series of meetings involving the Building Committee, the Project Representative, project Stakeholders, the designer, and any other personnel identified as requiring input into the programming of the project. The designer will develop the project program to identify the space needs of the Primary Stakeholders, support spaces required by Secondary Stakeholders, and other project parameters that may be required by the Capital Projects Coordinator. The designer will submit the project program to the Project Manager for review by the Capital Projects Coordinator, the Building Committee and Stakeholders, all of whom will forward written review comments to the Project Manager. The Project Manager will assemble comments into a review letter that will be issued to the designer by the Capital Projects Coordinator. The project will not proceed into the subsequent levels of design without approval of the Capital Projects Coordinator.
During the first phase of design (schematic design), heavy involvement will be required from the Stakeholders as the designers translate the programmatic data into floor plans and outline specifications. If a Construction Manager at Risk (CMR) delivery is to be utilized for the construction of the facility, the selection of the CM will take place during the schematic design phase. The CM will be chosen through processes established by the UNCW Board of Trustees consistent with requirements of UNC-Office of the President, the Office of State Construction, and the State Building Commission. The Building Committee will interview potential Construction Managers and make a recommendation to the Capital Projects Coordinator for submission to the UNCW Board of Trustees.
During the next design phase (design development), the floor plans and other building elements including utilities will be further refined and finalized, and elevations will be developed. Specifications will be developed to capture the requirements of the various building components. The Building Committee, Project Representative and Stakeholders will be asked to review plans for compliance with the program that guided the schematic development. Floor plan changes (and scope changes in general) following the approval of the design development phase expose the university to additional design costs. As such, requests for design changes will be scrutinized carefully. Responsibility for any increase in cost may be attributed to the department or division requesting the change.
The next phase (working drawings) is largely a technical phase and culminates in the preparation of final construction drawings and specifications ready for bid. The Capital Projects Coordinator, through the Project Manager, will schedule meetings between the Building Committee, Project Representative, Stakeholders and designer to review project progress and work out details as may be necessary. During this phase, changes become particularly difficult to execute without involving the entire design team. As in the design development phase, changes during this phase expose the university to additional design costs. As such, approval of proposed floor plan changes will be scrutinized carefully. Responsibility for any increase in cost may be attributed to the department requesting the change.
In each of the phases of design:
The designer must submit the plans and specifications to various State agencies for review and approval to move to the next phase of design.
The Building Committee, Project Representative, and Stakeholders will be asked to review the designer submissions for compliance to their requirements, and to issue written review comments to the Project Manager for consideration and incorporation. All comments will be shared with all parties to ensure compatibility and consistency.
The designer must produce an “opinion of cost” reflecting their best estimate for the cost of the project on bid day. Approval of the project to the next phase will be withheld if the designer’s opinion of cost exceeds the construction funds available.
Upon review by the VC’s of BA, ITSD, and other appropriate areas, and approval of the Building Committee, Project Representative, Stakeholders, and regulatory agencies, the project will be bid. Approval by the Building
Committee, Project Representative and Stakeholders will be documented through a sign-off process. The bidding function will be managed by the Capital Projects Coordinator. If a Construction Manager has already been selected, the CM will begin bidding the various trade packages. If a CM has not been selected, the total project will be bid. The Stakeholders are welcome to attend the bid opening. Following the bid opening, the Capital Projects Coordinator will manage the preparation and execution of the construction contract. This process takes approximately one month. Once the contracts are fully executed, the Capital Projects Coordinator will move the project into the construction phase. In conjunction with the State Construction Office (for projects over $2M) the Capital Projects Coordinator will direct the designer to issue a "Notice to Proceed."
Construction Process
The Construction process is managed by the Construction Services department. For projects over $2M, the State Construction Office will also be involved. During the construction process, the Stakeholders will direct all questions to the Project Manager and will be allowed to personally visit the project site only when accompanied by the Capital Projects Coordinator, or the Project Manager. A Project Representative may be designated that will visit the site on behalf of the Stakeholders to observe construction progress. The Project Representative will document in writing variances to the plans or concerns that he/she may discover during the site visits to the Project Manager who will then transmit the concerns to the designer. The designer is responsible for issuing directives to the contractor. No directions regarding the project may be transmitted to the designer other than through the Project Manager. This is necessary to protect the technical and fiscal integrity of the project (that is, so as not to cause undue change orders from the designer or contractor).
Completion of the Project.
Upon completion of the project, the Capital Projects Coordinator and the Office of State Construction (for projects over $2M) will inspect the project for compliance with the plans and specifications. Secondary Stakeholders will be asked to inspect portions of work pertaining to technical requirements they may have. The project will be turned over to the user after this final inspection and formal acceptance of the project by the Board of Trustees (Board of Trustees may approve acceptance by a report from the Chancellor or may delegate acceptance to the Chancellor).
Equipment Acquisition
Funding for Movable Equipment: For projects other than renovations, a portion of the funding is set aside for movable equipment, if adequate funding is available. The Capital Projects Coordinator will work with the Building Committee, Project Representative, and Stakeholders to identify the specific amount of funding to be set aside for movable equipment.
Selection of Movable Equipment: When project funding allows the procurement of Movable Equipment from the project budget, the Capital Projects Coordinator, through the Project Manager, will manage the procurement of suitable furnishings and other movable equipment with the input from the Building Committee, Project Representative and Stakeholders. When moveable equipment is purchased with funds other than those taken from the project budget, it is the responsibility of the Primary Stakeholders and the Project Representative to procure suitable furnishings and other movable equipment in close coordination with the Project Manager. In all cases, moveable equipment will be purchased through the normal university purchasing procedures utilizing selection guidelines where they exist. It is recognized that the procurement process on movable equipment quite frequently can take six or more months.
Movable Equipment List: In coordination with the Capital Projects Coordinator through the Project Manager, University Purchasing Services will work with the stakeholder department to develop a Movable Equipment List for the Capital Improvement Project. It is not the intent of a capital improvement appropriation to fund a new program but rather to provide a facility to house an existing program. Therefore, the Movable Equipment List should include only such equipment as necessary to make the facility functional. The total cost of the items on this list, including tax, must not exceed the allotted amount. Purchasing Services will submit the Movable Equipment List to the Capital Projects Coordinator.
Requisitioning of Equipment: Upon notification of approval of the Moveable Equipment List by the Capital Projects Coordinator, the stakeholder will prepare a Requisition Input/Authorization Form and forward the completed input form to the Capital Projects Coordinator. The requisition will be transmitted to Purchasing through the Capital Projects Coordinator.
Telecommunications/Data, CATV, A/V, Campus Wide Access
The project budget will include all infrastructure necessary to support the provision of the telecommunications/data systems, CATV systems, A/V systems and Campus Wide Access Systems, if adequate funding is available. Appropriate IT/AV Reserves for materials and labor required for work provided by UNCW ITSD (Telephone, Data, A/V, and CATV) and Auxiliary Services (Campus Wide Access Systems) will be established during the planning process by the Capital Projects
Coordinator in consultation with the Building Committee, ITSD and Auxiliary Services Stakeholders.
The work provided by UNCW ITSD and Auxiliary Services will generally include the following:
Telecommunications: The cost of labor and materials to install and to connect new and existing telephones and computers will be included in the project IT/AV Reserves. Also, the cost of labor to install cross connections (furnished by the contractor) between the rack mounted feeder blocks and voice blocks for the telephone system will be included in the IT/AV Reserve. The cost of new telephone handsets will be paid by the department assigned to the building.
Data: The material and labor cost for the provision of the data electronics (Ethernet and wireless Ethernet switches), and the labor cost for the installation of patch cords (furnished by the contractor) between the data electronics and the data cables will be included in the IT/AV Reserve.
A/V: The Capital Projects Coordinator will consult with the Building Committee and the ITSD representative to determine for each project, which of two procurement models is to be used. The procurement models are: (1) The entire A/V system will be provided as a part of the construction contract; (2) The A/V infrastructure (conduit, cabling, equipment racks, and junction boxes) will be provided within the construction contract and the A/V components and their installation will be provided by UNCW. In the first model, the Project Manager will coordinate directly with the ITSD representative to ensure the design is consistent with the university’s needs. ITSD will assign a representative to assist in the review of shop drawings and the periodic review of the work as it is being installed. In the second model, an appropriate IT/AV Reserve will be established by the Capital Projects Coordinator in consultation with the Building Committee, and the ITSD representative for the labor and material costs for the purchase and installation of equipment by UNCW A/V.
CATV: All components of the cable television system will be included in the design of the project and included in the project budget.
Campus Wide Access: All components of the Campus Wide Access System required at each building, except for the IP converter box, card readers (door/vending/copier, etc.) and the final terminations of cabling between electronics and equipment will be included within the construction contract. The cost of labor and material to make final terminations and for the provision of the card readers by UNCW Auxiliary Services will be included in the Reserve.
The Project Manager will coordinate the timing of necessary hookups with UNCW ITSD and UNCW Auxiliary Services.
Procurement of ITSD Related Labor and Materials: ITSD will provide the Construction Services project manager with a written quotation for materials and labor to accomplish the work. The quotation will be of sufficient detail as to clearly define the work required. The Construction Services project manager will prepare a Requisition Input/Authorization Form and forward the completed input form to the Capital Projects Coordinator for transmission to Purchasing. Purchasing will issue an “N” purchase order to ITSD. ITSD will procure materials through Purchasing and will submit interdepartmental invoices for the work to the Construction Services project manager to be billed against the purchase order.
Moving
The Capital Projects Coordinator will advise the user of the date scheduled for moving in or out of a building. Upon notification, the user should follow standard UNCW moving procedures outlined in Procedure AUX 9.40. If additional assistance is needed, the user may contact the Moving Services Supervisor (extension 3620).
Problems
Following occupancy of the project, the user of the facility will report any operational shortcomings, deficiencies, or malfunctions in the facility to the Work Order Desk at the Physical Plant (extension 3101).
General Assistance
The Capital Projects Coordinator will be available to provide assistance during any part of the Capital Improvement process, including the period following occupancy.