Hanover County, Hanover County Courthouse

Hanover County, Virginia, needed assistance completing their high-profile county courthouse project that was 10 years in the making due to cost and fiscal constraints. The Hanover County Facilities Department and county administration requested MBP assist them in managing this large project to ensure they provided their citizens with the best value possible for their tax dollars.

Challenge

The project was a $28 million, 115,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art courthouse that combined the General District Court, Circuit Court, Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, and the Commonwealth’s Attorney offices into one building on the county campus. There were two floors above ground with six courtrooms, associated judges’ chambers, office and support spaces, and a basement level with prisoner holding cells. In addition, there was shell space for two future additional courtrooms. The site included a storm water management basin, parking for employees and the public, separate enclosed parking for the judges, and a sally port for transferring detainees.

Solution

MBP assisted Hanover County with delivering this high-profile project on-time and under budget. Hanover County engaged MBP to help them through this process and to serve as the department’s construction expert and owner’s advocate.

Throughout the project, MBP’s Construction Manager (CM) provided an unparalleled level of customer service as the owner’s advocate. The CM coordinated and oversaw the efforts of multiple county organizations, the design team, general contractor, utility companies, and specialty consultants helping to keep the project on track. Progress meetings were scheduled for twice a month. The CM communicated regularly with the architect and contractor between progress meetings to keep communication flowing. This allowed the contractor to identify critical/time-sensitive RFIs for the architect to focus on and to discuss any issues that could impact progress to keep the risks down and the project moving. This ability to keep the project team working toward a common goal was directly responsible for the on-time completion of this project.

MBP provided the county with quality management that exceeded typical inspections through the added services of mechanical commissioning and building envelope commissioning. The CM kept the commissioning agent and building envelope commissioning agent up to date on work occurring on site to better coordinate visits and to see major milestones in the work. For example, the building envelope commissioning agent was on site quickly after the first portion of the roof air barrier was installed. The agent advised that the installation was not being protected properly and asked that the roof manufacturer be called to the site. The roof manufacturer made a visit and had the contractor replace a portion of the roof work, which was not in compliance, before it was covered up and became a post-construction problem. Because of MBP’s thorough mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP), and envelope commissioning services, the project team was able to alleviate concerns about the envelope and MEP systems.

In conjunction with the architect, MBP saved the county over $309,000 during the change order process. This amount exceeded the contract amount for the CM to be on-site full-time for the duration of the construction. Additionally, MBP helped the county negotiate down a considerable time delay claim due to the late delivery of permanent power to the building. The contractor originally requested a 48-day extension to both the substantial and final completion dates, yet with the help of MBP, the county and the contractor agreed to a 30-day extension of the substantial completion date, with minimal additional general conditions (GCs) in the amount of $20,037. MBP determined that there were concurrent delays by the contractor during the time permanent power was delayed and thus the entire request was not justified. Keeping this time extension to only 30 days on the substantial completion date allowed the move schedule to remain as planned. Hanover County residents had expressed concern over the county spending such a large amount of money on a single project. Due to MBP’s diligence in the change order review process, the County could show tax dollars were being spent wisely.

Although not part of the original services MBP was contracted to provide, the on-site CM took over the move management and installation of furniture, fixtures, equipment, and audiovisual equipment for the facility. Moving three different courts, the County Clerk, County Records Staff, and Sheriffs Court Security along with the County’s sensitive court records from various locations on the campus without shutting down daily operations was a major challenge. The records relocation was an exceptionally complex process in which every book had a shelf specifically built for it. The CM ensured each book was stored in its correct location. The last day of the records move ended at 3:00 am. The CM stayed to the end to ensure the space was ready that morning for the next vendor to start the cleaning/relocation process. The CM’s ability to identify the needs and timing for the move of each of the six judges and their staff, develop a system for moving each department and their secured records, and procure and provide move management enabled the courts to continue daily operations without interruption.

Result

Hanover County engaged MBP to help them through this process and to serve as the department’s construction expert and owner’s advocate. MBP fulfilled this task coming on board at the 95% design phase and managing the process from design completion to construction closeout. A high-quality building, that came in under budget, and had an on-time opening date made the project a success for the facilities department and something not only the project team,
but also the citizens of Hanover County, could be proud of.

MBP conducted a constructibility review on the 95% design documents. The review team provided nearly 600 comments to help the county and design team identify portions of the construction documents that needed more information or better coordination to lessen the risk of construction change orders. Eight construction bids were received with a difference of only 6.6% between the high and low bid and only .09% between the two lowest bids. This was a direct result of MBP helping to ensure the documents were clear and concise.

During construction, MBP’s CM developed a relationship with the senior members of the county staff, elected officials, judges, the sheriff’s department, and others that provided flexibility in managing the project. The MBP CM was frequently consulted by members of the county’s staff throughout the project for advice and opinions which proved to be valuable as recommended solutions, rather than just identifying issues. The CM provided a monthly budget analysis for a committee of the Board of Supervisors that was heavily involved in the courthouse project from beginning to end. This analysis included all potential and approved changes for the contractor, additional design costs, and potential additional scope requests. This allowed the committee to keep track of not only the general contractor’s costs but the entire project team’s costs and understand full cost exposure throughout the project.

“In the planning stages of hiring a construction manager for the new Hanover County Courthouse, I underestimated the true value of hiring a firm with the diversity of professional trade expertise available for reach back support. MBP’s on-site representative is a professional with a keen ability to leverage their MBP colleagues with real life experience levels and perspectives to proactively address a multitude of issues. This “one team” approach has given Hanover County extremely valuable representation on this highly visible project.”
John A. Budesky
Former Deputy County Administrator
Hanover County