OCMI’s cost estimating team has supported Clark County School District (CCSD) for a decade on its 2015 bond program. From the start of the program, we began tracking the construction costs of each new school, as well as expansion, renovation, and re-site projects. When we started working with Washoe County School District (WCSD), we added this information to our database to support statewide cost estimating for Nevada’s two largest school districts. Creating this robust database, a “Project Tracker,” has given OCMI a tool to convey to school district stakeholders clearly, concisely, and directly how construction costs have fluctuated.

Over the past decade, construction costs have escalated on average 5 percent per annum, material and skilled labor availability has fluctuated, and inflation has impacted the cost of school construction. Our Project Tracker breaks down and categorizes parametric costs by CSI division to track cost increases or fluctuations on similar projects, which allows the school district to forecast accurately. OCMI has completed supplementary analyses on CMAR and design-bid-build costs, a value engineering study of the education specifications, and prototype re-site studies to inform our cost database further.

For every project OCMI’s estimates for CCSD and WCSD, we input our estimated construction costs for the specific project, along with the delivery method, construction start date, bid date, and construction duration, as these all affect the total cost. Any outliers in price per square foot of line items are identified and reconciled with any fluctuations due to scope changes, recent material cost fluctuations on other projects, or errors in the CMAR estimate. This allows us to identify the affected divisions and logically explain the delta to the district stakeholders, with the multi-year data to back up our estimates.

OCMI completes 360° assessments of the bid results in granularity by reviewing the 1% and 5% subcontractor bids. When available, we assess the schedule of values that provide divisional and subdivisional subcontractor feedback. This information is used to calibrate our unit rates continuously and aids in our contractor reconciliation process.

A CCSD elementary school replacement is one example of how we’ve effectively used our historical cost data. CCSD engaged OCMI at the 60% construction document design stage on this CMAR project because the contractor’s unit rate costs were higher than anticipated. We conducted a side-by-side analysis of the CMAR estimate with our estimate based on our Project Tracker data and found cost divisions that were out of alignment. Because of the analysis, the CMAR contractor adjusted their total construction estimate down by about $2 million, a little less than 10% of the total construction cost.

New and replacement CCSD elementary and middle schools are based on prototypes, while renovations fluctuate based on the schools’ age and maintenance. High schools and technical schools in the district are bespoke. For prototype schools, early cost estimates breakdown anticipated costs by division (i.e. the building envelope to gross floor area ratio, fenestration percentage, PV systems, site-specific amenities, etc.), allowing OCMI to advise the project team on why costs may be higher for a specific school than a typical prototype. The school then has the detailed information to justify an additional funding request. HVAC and roof upgrades are the primary drivers of renovation projects.

Our cost database is a powerful tool that provides comprehensive and accurate cost estimates at early design stages to scope and forecast these school projects accurately and quickly. This allows the school district and design team to prioritize scope or decide if additional funding is warranted and do so earlier in preconstruction.

In addition to cost estimating, OCMI provides scheduling, constructability review, change order review, and value engineering to CCSD for their bond program and construction management services for site-funded projects within the district.