11/12/2013
The Public Building Commission of Chicago (PBC) today presented its Quarterly Staff Report to the PBC Board of Commissioners for the third quarter of 2013 and it showed that the PBC program costs are consistently running under budget and they continued to achieve excellent minority and women owned business participation.
“This report shows that the PBC had another strong quarter and I am proud of the results we deliver,” said PBC Executive Director Erin Lavin Cabonargi. “We focus on innovative cost and schedule controls that allow us to consistently deliver quality public facilities on time and under budget and achieve higher than targeted minority and women business participation goals.”
Lavin Cabonargi also noted that in keeping with Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s sustainability goals, the PBC has achieved LEED certification for 58 projects so far in 2013, making Chicago a leader in the country on LEED-certified public buildings.
The Quarterly Staff Report includes extensive details on the PBC program for Q3 2013, including reporting on the status of market conditions, program cost and effectiveness, current projects, sustainable development, and M/WBE commitment and compliance.
Some highlights include:
- As of September 30, 2013, current multi-year program authority exceeds $2.6 billion in project development cost. Currently, projects were under budget by 7.16%, representing a variance of $188 million under the original undertaking budgets. A limited number of budget revisions have been authorized due to changes in project scope. Including these revisions, projects were under budget by 7.51%, representing a variance of $198.3 million under the revised undertaking budgets.
- Through the third quarter, the approved change order percentage for construction projects was 3.4%. This rate is within the industry standard change order percentage for new municipal and educational construction work at 3-5%.
- As a steward of the public fund, the PBC tracks all project costs throughout the life of a project. Through Q3 of 2013, PBC’s indirect costs averaged 16.21% of construction costs. These indirect costs are particularly cost effective on large scale projects and programs, averaging 12.92% of construction costs on projects where construction is $50 million or higher. This is consistently below the industry average of 25%
- The 3rd quarter report also highlighted PBC’s strong showing on sustainable design and construction practices. Through Q3 2013, the PBC has achieved LEED Certification on 58 municipally owned projects, with an additional 20 registered projects. The City of Chicago has more LEED certified municipally owned facilities than any other city in the nation. Notably, in Q3 2013, the Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy on the city’s Southwest Side achieved LEED Platinum Certification.
Also of note:
- Through Q3 2013, five projects achieved construction completion. The M/WBE participation achieved on the construction contracts for these projects as of Q32013 was 41.6 percent, representing more than $64.5 million.
- Professional Services contracts totaling $13.5 million were awarded in Q3 2013 with M/WBE participation of 69.8 percent and more than $9.2 million of the total award.
- Twenty six specialty consulting services contracts valued at $5.6 million were awarded on Q3 2013, with the total M/WBE participation at 84 percent and more than $5.6 million of the total award.
About PBC:
The Public Building Commission of Chicago manages construction and renovation projects for the City of Chicago and its sister agencies. Mayor Rahm Emanuel serves as the PBC’s chairman. Erin Lavin Cabonargi serves as the Executive Director of the PBC. Additional information about the PBC and its projects can be found at www.pbcchicago.com. You can also follow the Public Building Commission of Chicago on Twitter: @PBCChi and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PBCChi
