08-13-2009, 02:02 PM
The Naalehu cost does sound high but I thought there are restrooms in the project along with special needs classroom, special ADA requirements, admin space, computer lab, faculty rooms, and a bunch of other things that were not just "classrooms". Isn't the cost also inclusive of the solar/green requirements? And what does a LEEDS silver certification demand of construction? All these are not just building six simple classrooms. The cost also, from my understanding, not only includes all the associated design and consolidation cost into the existing campus, but it includes all the cost associated with dealing with Hawaii's County transfer of their land to the State of Hawaii. Wasn't there some issues related to the deed that cost money to resolve so the State could move forward?
In looking at the gym project, there are anticipated environmental expenses far above what any similar civilian project requires. Safety and health is also an expense above civilian projects. I'm sure some contractor is inflating cost, but usually I find government projects cost more because they have specific requirements (almost always due to citizen demands) that requires 3 steps for everything a civilian project can accomplish in 1 step. Lets say your building your house, nothing requires you to go through 30 steps for fiscal approval, 20 steps for design approval, 25 steps for competitive bidding, or all the other things that laws and regulations require government to do that civilians don't have to do. Not to mention if anyone in the process feels something isn't right they can challenge the financials, design, studies, planning documents, bidding, bid awarding, etc., etc., etc. As a civilian you tell the other contractor "buzz off" and that's it. Government can't do that. Many times excessive items are in a project because the people demand it. How many want solar/green/renewable stuff to be used by government? Or they expect a certain amount of items to be local? or any number of other design, material, and methods that cost more than what they would pay if it was their house?
Another way to look at this is you need to buy a truck for work, what is your process? Now what is governments process to buy a truck? They just don't tell some road worker to run to a dealer and find something good, used or new and whatever will work for them. Government needs to develop specifications for that vehicle. they need to prepare bid documents. They need funding approval. It has to go before a review to avoid conflicts of interest. They need to follow a specific process for the bidding. They award the bid in a specific manner. And they hope another dealer doesn't claim the specs or bidding process were designed to favor that manufacture or was in violation of Title this and Section that, screwing everything up. They also have to contend with the possibility that after buying the vehicle somebody sues because it's not handicap accessible, or a organization sues because it's not environmentally this or that, or some Council person doesn't force the truck to be parked until the government can resolve the issue that the color of the seats is an offense to that person's religion.
Cost adds up on public projects that have nothing to do with inflated cost, just that the process itself is expensive.
Now we're all saying gym, but is it just a gym?
In looking at the gym project, there are anticipated environmental expenses far above what any similar civilian project requires. Safety and health is also an expense above civilian projects. I'm sure some contractor is inflating cost, but usually I find government projects cost more because they have specific requirements (almost always due to citizen demands) that requires 3 steps for everything a civilian project can accomplish in 1 step. Lets say your building your house, nothing requires you to go through 30 steps for fiscal approval, 20 steps for design approval, 25 steps for competitive bidding, or all the other things that laws and regulations require government to do that civilians don't have to do. Not to mention if anyone in the process feels something isn't right they can challenge the financials, design, studies, planning documents, bidding, bid awarding, etc., etc., etc. As a civilian you tell the other contractor "buzz off" and that's it. Government can't do that. Many times excessive items are in a project because the people demand it. How many want solar/green/renewable stuff to be used by government? Or they expect a certain amount of items to be local? or any number of other design, material, and methods that cost more than what they would pay if it was their house?
Another way to look at this is you need to buy a truck for work, what is your process? Now what is governments process to buy a truck? They just don't tell some road worker to run to a dealer and find something good, used or new and whatever will work for them. Government needs to develop specifications for that vehicle. they need to prepare bid documents. They need funding approval. It has to go before a review to avoid conflicts of interest. They need to follow a specific process for the bidding. They award the bid in a specific manner. And they hope another dealer doesn't claim the specs or bidding process were designed to favor that manufacture or was in violation of Title this and Section that, screwing everything up. They also have to contend with the possibility that after buying the vehicle somebody sues because it's not handicap accessible, or a organization sues because it's not environmentally this or that, or some Council person doesn't force the truck to be parked until the government can resolve the issue that the color of the seats is an offense to that person's religion.
Cost adds up on public projects that have nothing to do with inflated cost, just that the process itself is expensive.
Now we're all saying gym, but is it just a gym?