Manhattan city commissioners are looking at setting aside funds to cover unexpected costs for construction projects. The commission on Tuesday discussed adding a 5% contingency to all construction contracts to allow more efficiency in project management. The issue centers around change orders, which are amendments to the base contract between the city and an outside construction company. Currently, the city doesn’t have a set policy for how to address change orders, but the city commission typically has approved them if the total project cost exceeds $50,000. However, city engineer Brian Johnson said that process typically takes 4-6 weeks and can cause construction delays. The contingency commissioners discussed would reserve funds to direct toward changes to the construction contract and allow city administrators the flexibility to address changes as they arise in the field. Commissioners generally favored a 5% contingency but won’t vote officially on a policy change until incoming city manager Danielle Dulin can provide input. “I would like to charge Danielle to see if she couldn’t expedite the 4-6-week process because I hear a lot of people say that the city takes enough time as it is, “ said commissioner Karen McCulloh. Commissioner John Matta supported the change as long as the commission continues to receive reports on construction projects. “I’m probably fine with the 5% contingency as long as we have a way to review what’s happening,” said Matta. “As long as the numbers come in, fine. I don’t think there’s a problem.” City staffers will use the commission’s input as they craft a full policy manual resolution, which could take six months or longer to return to commissioners. The engineering department will continue working on drafting a formal change order and present it to commissioners later. Johnson added that the city is facing a significant shortage of engineers, inspectors and project managers, which is impacting project delivery. To address this, the city has hired more consultants, but that is more expensive than having dedicated staff. Evaluating and updating procedures related to change orders is one part of the city administration’s overall project management improvement efforts. The last policy manual resolution passed in 2020.
Source: themercury.com
