ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 5, 1996 TAG: 9605060072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
The authority planning Southwest Virginia's first regional jail may not use the traditional procedure of hiring a general contractor for the job based on bids.
The New River Regional Jail Authority heard from representatives of the Richmond-based Brown & Root Building Co. Friday on using a procedure called contract management instead.
Ben Hudson of Brown & Root said a general contractor usually subcontracts much of the work on a project the size of the $24 million jail, with half the cost coming from the state. A contract manager works with potential subcontractors earlier in the process, during the design phase, to control costs.
About halfway through the process of working drawings, Hudson said, a contract manager would provide the authority with a guaranteed maximum cost proposal. If bids come in over that proposal, he said, "we eat that price."
If bids come in over projects under the general contract procedure, he said, it becomes necessary to go back and redesign the project, which eats up both time and money.
Hudson said the contract manager also virtually eliminates the need for change orders during construction. "We've got an opportunity to minimize that situation up front," added Robert Pronier, regional operations manager with Brown & Root.
Pronier said the process also would allow for maximum use of contractors from the area to be served by the jail, currently designated to serve the city of Radford and counties of Pulaski, Giles and Grayson.
Sometimes, he said, a local contractor might be too small for a project like the 240-bed jail. "We may team that contractor with another contractor, or we may use their labor force," he said.
Because the cost is fixed early in the process, Pronier said, "it allows you to start construction early."
The use of local contractors also lowers overhead by cutting such costs as travel and accommodations for officials from a distant home office, said Maura Dunn, a former state Department of Corrections employee now with Brown & Root.
She said details needed by potential subcontractors are decided early in the process, as are requirements for local people to work at the facility after it is finished.
In Wise and Dickenson counties, where the unemployment rate has been exceptionally high as coal mines use less manpower, local officials have stressed the need to hire local people for a state prison to be built in that region. She said Brown & Root has been working with those officials, the Department of Corrections and others to get local people trained, to have them get their GED high school equivalency certificates and meet the other requirements for jobs 18 months before the prison is built. Job fairs will be held in those two counties May 29 and 30 to acquaint local people with the job requirements, she said.
The authority also approved advertising for a jail superintendent to be hired during the construction process, after a job description is drawn up.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 linesby CNB