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Orange County
Hillsborough
North Carolina
Manager'sOffice Established 1752
Memorandum
To: Board of Orange County Commissioners, Department Directors
From: Bonnie Hammersley, Orange County Manager
Date: October 1, 2015
Re: Orange County Construction & Renovation Project Oversight Policy
On June 2, 2015, the Board of Orange County Commissioners requested that all County
construction projects return to the consistent practice of a thorough value engineering review
process. Value Engineering is a creative, organized effort, which analyzes the requirements of a
project for the purpose of achieving the essential functions at the lowest total costs (capital,
staffing, energy, maintenance) over the life of the project. The following policy codifies this
practice and other procedures that will provide a system of oversight and process control for
County construction projects. This policy will help the designated project management team
achieve a more consistent, efficient, timely, cost effective, and quality controlled outcome. The
standardization this policy delivers will also ensure more effective planning within the greater
County context, predictable project delivery, pro-active regulatory agency and project stakeholder
participation, adequate contingency planning, fiscal control, and consistent "inception to final
delivery"project management.
The responsibility for the administration and oversight of Orange County construction and
renovation projects is with the Asset Management Services ("AMS") Director under the direction
of the County Manager or his/her designee. County construction and renovation projects include
those appropriated or contemplated within the County Capital Investment Plan ("CIP") or the
annual County Operating Budget.
The AMS Director will work closely with Department Directors and my office to ensure the
appropriate construction project teams are assembled and resourced to design, construct, and
deliver high quality, reliable, and sustainable assets for Orange County. An illustration of a
typical project team and the roles of the AMS Director, the affiliated Department Director, the
Capital Projects Manager (working within the AMS department), the Departmental Project
Manager, regulatory stakeholders, and third party consultants and contractors are attached to this
policy.
For each contemplated construction and/or renovation project, the affiliated Department Director
involved shall notify the AMS Director of the appointment of a departmental project manager,
assist the AMS Director in assembling the appropriate collaborative project team, execute a
conceptual value engineering process to determine the need for the project, and to formulate a
proposal for the project. No construction or renovation project shall be undertaken or
commitment made, unless specific appropriations have been made in either the Capital Investment
Plan ("CIP") or annual County Operating Budget. For proposed projects or current project
2
amendments not authorized in either budget, prior approval by the Board of Orange County
Commissioners is required.
For both contemplated and appropriated projects, the AMS Director's duties shall be to provide
standard oversight and project procedures, guidance, assistance and advice to departments
engaged in construction and/or renovation projects. Such guidance shall include but not be
limited to 1) assembling the collaborative project team tasked with managing and delivering a
successful outcome; 2) administering project pre-development and design process protocol; 3)
agreeing with the affiliated Department Director on the selection of the authorized Owner's
Representative within Professional Services and Construction Agreements reviewed by the
County Attorney; 4) conducting and/or assisting internal and external regulatory review
facilitation and assistance; 5) value engineering; 6) preparing plans and specifications; 7)
obtaining cost estimates; 8) monitoring the preparation and assembly of all necessary forms and
documentation (with the exception of contract documents prepared by the County Attorney) to be
used for such purposes; 9) assisting in the appraisal of bids submitted; 10) assisting in inspecting
projects in progress in order to insure compliance with contract specifications; 11) assisting and
monitoring departments conducting construction and/or renovation projects in pre-auditing
invoices, pay applications submitted by contractors for progress payments and final payment,
proposed change orders, and project close-out documentation; 12) project progress
communications to the County Manager, staff, and the Board of County Commissioners; and 13)
providing such other assistance as may be requested by departments engaging in construction
and/or renovation projects.
Because of the unique nature of parks and trails construction and the existence of staff with
construction management experience and expertise in this area, construction management for
these capital projects will especially emphasize a team environment within AMS and the
Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation ("DEAPR") consistent with this
policy. This policy applies to master planned parks and trails projects with the following special
provisions: 1) long range master plan or concept plan exercises are considered planning and are
not subject to this policy until such time they are discussed and/or appropriated for construction as
part of the CIP process; 2) the AMS Capital Projects Manager will be associated with the master
and concept planning exercise team in support of the master plan creation, the formulation of
preliminary cost estimates, and other duties as requested by the master plan staff team; and 3)
professional sealing of parks and trail landscape project construction documentation performed by
a registered landscape architect employed by the County requires the landscape architect to
perform contractual Owner's Representation.
This policy applies to utility construction capital projects that are to be transferred by Agreement
to utility entities ("Transferee" entities - Municipalities, Orange Water and Sewer Authority, etc.)
with the additional requirements that the Transferee's project requirements, guidance, and project
team representation be incorporated into the team structure established by this policy. In addition
to assigning the Departmental Project Manager to the utility project, the Orange County Planning
and Inspections Director will be responsible for ensuring that the Transferee's project
requirements and team members are identified and incorporated within the project.
200 S Cameron Street —PO Box 8181 —Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278
Phone: (919) 245-2300
Fax(919) 644-3004
AMS 3
Typical Project Team Department
Director Director
-Overall Project, -Assigns
Process
Department
Oversight Project Manager
Capital Projects Department Project -Identifies
Manager Manager Programming
-Owner's -Monitor day-to-day Needs
Representative activity
-Monitors -Facilitates project
standard County communication
process
Regulatory Partners Third Party Vendors
-Plan review, -Design, Testing,
Compliance Engineering, and
throughout design Construction
process