Construction Procurement Toolkit: Utilizing Job Order Contracting
Limiting your construction procurement to traditional project delivery methods can stifle your facilities progress. Think about construction procurement like a toolkit. You can do a lot with a hammer, but if it was the only tool in your belt, you wouldn’t be equipped to patch drywall. It takes many tools to make a dent in the challenges of maintaining public facilities. In a recent webinar with Facility Executive, we spoke to some public service and facilities management experts who have turned to an alternative procurement method with great success.
Another Tool in Your Construction Procurement Toolbox
Gordian’s Job Order Contracting (JOC) solution helps to alleviate procurement challenges and allows you to build and maintain crucial facilities and infrastructure with less hassle. Simply defined, JOC is a unique Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract that allows multiple projects to be completed through a single, competitively-awarded contract.
Job Order Contracting enables contractors to complete a substantial number of individual projects with a single bid. The Tasks within these projects are based on Unit Prices, calculated using localized labor, material and equipment costs, meaning no more hidden charges and surprise costs for project owners. Contractors bid an adjustment factor to a catalog of Tasks with preset Unit Prices, called the Construction Task Catalog® (CTC). Once a contract is awarded, the contractor can perform a variety of projects, always using the preset prices in the CTC.
From one competitively-awarded contract, you’re able to complete an indefinite number of projects. These projects include but are not limited to:
- Straightforward new construction – Building new structures with limited design needs.
- Time-sensitive projects and emergency construction – Contractors are on hand when the job is needed. Projects can be scoped and priced well in advance of limited scheduling windows for completing the work, such as school breaks. And in disaster or emergency situations, contractors are ready to respond immediately and will be paid the preset competitive prices. No negotiating high emergency rates.
- Maintenance, repairs, renovations and alterations – JOC contracts can be put in place to specifically address maintenance work, quickly eliminating your backlog of pending work and helping you keep up with current requests.
- Replacement-in-kind projects – These projects generally require little design work and can be scoped and priced quickly. Using Job Order Contracting saves the time and cost of preparing full plans and specifications and conducting a formal bid process.
JOC’s Value Realized: Smooth Sailing at Ocean Beach
A wicked combination of winter storms and high tides caused rampant erosion on San Francisco’s Great Highway. Waves ate away at the bluff next to the highway until an exposed manhole toppled over, destroying a catch basin and a stormwater pipe. Given the urgency of this project, San Francisco Public Works opted to use Job Order Contracting to complete the work. A collaborative Joint Scope Meeting between the agency, their awarded JOC contractor, Yerba Buena Engineering, and a Gordian representative determined the best way to mitigate the erosion. This cooperation, along with JOC’s flexibility and pricing transparency, contributed to the project’s success.
Jason Chin is a licensed engineer in the state of California and manages Construction Contract Services at San Francisco Public Works, which includes their Job Order Contracting program. Jason reiterates JOC’s role in successful completion of the Ocean Beach project. “With conditions changing on a day-to-day basis, or even more frequent than that, we wouldn’t have been able to put a design-bid-build package together and wait for the procurement to happen.” It’s important to note that JOC is a supplemental tool, not a replacement tool for procuring construction and repairs. Remember, a hammer can’t solve every problem. Having an extra project delivery method at hand allows owners to resolve projects on a case-by-case basis, using most appropriate procurement option.
Jason continues, “JOC was certainly helpful in making this project successful and smooth. The collaboration that happened between Public Works and our JOC contractor, Yerba Buena Engineering, was seamless. We were able to use the contractor to do the work quickly because they were familiar with the processes, having worked out at that location on other projects over the past several years. Their familiarity, our trust with them, having them ready in a contract, was a great benefit for us to make this project happen.”
JOC’s Value Realized: Connecting Flights With Ease at Tucson Airport
City of Tucson leaders partnered with Allegiant Airlines to provide the city with a new, low-cost airport terminal addition. To prepare for the new airline, the Tucson Airport Authority chose to use the Arizona State Job Order Contracting program because it provided quick and accurate procurement of the project. The terminal was completed on time and within budget, allowing Allegiant Airlines to begin providing low-cost flights to and from Tucson. The new terminal has had a major impact on the city’s economic growth and tourism.
Mike Smejkal, Vice President of Planning and Engineering for Tucson Airport Authority, explained why the agency chose Job Order Contracting for this project. “Really the main driver for choosing Job Order Contracting was our timeline. Being a public entity, we often use traditional design-bid-build, but that was not going to be an option for this project. The Job Order Contracting method allows us to fulfill our public bid process and meets those requirements in the beginning, so we don’t have to do it for each individual project.” Having the contractor readily available to begin work saved Tucson Airport Authority valuable implementation time.
One of the other advantages with the JOC program was the collaboration between teams on such a time-sensitive project. Mike explains, “We had the contractor almost in a design-build scenario. They were able to start pricing things out, start looking at it as the designer was still working through the designs. They had the ability to sit side-by-side with the design team and make suggestions that resulted in a quicker build that was value-engineered to be the most cost-effective solution.” Transparency, collaboration and on-time delivery were the big wins for the Tucson Airport Authority.
Job Order Contracting: An Alternative Project Delivery Tool
Shrinking budgets and growing to-do lists are all too common in the world of public facilities and services. Nevertheless, the public demands these construction projects are completed. As another option in the project delivery toolkit, Job Order Contracting can help.
Watch this On Demand Webinar “Construction Without Limits: How JOC Helps Create Award-Winning Facilities” for more expert information on how JOC overcomes traditional construction procurement challenges for tremendous results.
