Campus alterations, a self sustaining unit, is the University’s in-house provider for small projects including renovations, providing cabinetry or shelving, accommodating new equipment, electrical or mechanical upgrades, signage, flooring or correcting space deficiencies. This work is done by skilled trades personnel to professional standards.

Alterations consists of approx 72 trades persons including 16 leads and 4 supervisors both on main campus and at Health Sciences. It also includes 6 project managers and a scheduler, 3 billing staff and 3 general admin staff for a total of 84 persons. It has a $15-$20 million biennial turnover. Work is completed on main campus, in leased space around the University, UW Towers and the UW Medical Center.

By statute, minor improvement or renovation projects performed by Campus Alterations must not exceed $55,000 in construction labor for multi trade work or $35,000 for single trade work. The cost of equipment and/or furnishings purchased by the client for the project need not fall within this limit.

Requests for work are initiate by campus clients using the on line FS-WORKS system or a phone call to the work order desk.

There are three ways to get work accomplished through Alterations, 1) fixed price (single trade/shop direct or multi trade), 2) time and material (commonly referred to as T&M) and 3) catalogue (unit) pricing.

1) Fixed price (general outline)

The client and Alterations commit to a defined scope at a fixed cost, on an agreed to schedule, based on pre-project development. The fixed-price contract shows the amount of Campus Alterations work which will be encumbered and billed to the requester’s budget. Work can be revised by change order, either adding to, or reducing the original scope.

The fixed-price cost does not include correcting unforeseen conditions. If it is known or it is likely that asbestos or lead will have to be abated, a price for abatement and for hazardous materials testing will be shown on the contract document as a separate charge. Unknown or changed conditions (inc. hazardous material abatement) discovered later will be added to the project contract by change order in consultation with the client.

1a) Fixed price (shop direct /single trade)

For single trade work, a site visit by alterations representative (usually a lead) or occasionally, contact via a phone call or e-mail, can delineate the proposed work with the requester. At this time, more cost effective alternates may be discussed and a scope established. It is assumed that this preliminary scoping conversation will take no longer than half an hour and is offered as a ‘free’ service to our clients. However, once the scope is established and the client is requesting a fixed price, the estimating effort starts. This estimating effort¹ is charged at a flat $75.19/hr and is billed directly to the budget indicated on the work request, regardless if the project moves forward or not. The fixed price becomes a contractual agreement between the client and Alterations. If a client does not wish to expend funds on an estimate but rather put those funds towards the actual work, the work order can be executed and billed on a time and materials basis (see below).

¹Please Note: The cost of the estimating effort is not a new charge. Up till Sept 2007, the cost of estimating was included in the overall charge rate, now it is simply part of the individual work request.

1b) Fixed-Price (multi trade)

Generally, a project that requires participation of two or more trades is managed by an Alterations Project Manager due to resource scheduling requirements. Project Managers are assigned by geographic zone, school, or department. This alignment supports our goal of long-term continuity of service to the campus community.

Project managers perform the following functions:

• define scope and expectations with the client
• prepare necessary drawings and marked up “as builts”
• investigate existing site conditions
• perform a hazards check (e.g. lead, asbestos etc)
• create the estimate
• specify and procure materials
• schedule resources
• resolve problems
• manage the budget
• coordinate and manage the on site work
• create punchlists
• close out the project

Project Management services are charged at a rate of 8% of the total contract price. For projects whose complexity necessitates this investment in time and money, the assignment of a Project Manager will yield successful project outcomes. There is no charge for creating a project proposal, except, if the project manager uses a shop lead to assist in the estimating process. If this occurs then the client will be charged the cost of the actual lead time to create the estimate as in the Fixed price (shop direct /single trade example above) regardless if the project moves forward or not.

For some projects, assistance from Design Services (within the Capital Projects Office) will be required. Design Services Architects, Engineers and Interior Designers provide expertise in design, safety code requirements, technical specification, interior design, space planning, structural modifications and aesthetic issues. Many projects that Alterations undertake require City of Seattle permits (electrical, mechanical, HVAC, architectural etc). The Project Manager will assess whether these services will be required to meet permit requirements. Availability and use of Design Services will add time to the overall schedule and should be accounted for the requester’s planning process.

Communications work

Work performed by Campus Alterations includes providing the infrastructure and often the wiring for computing and telecommunications needs (for example, cable trays). The client is billed separately by Computing and Communications for testing, termination and activation of services. The distinction between the two organizational responsibilities is indicated on the contract.

2) Time & Materials

Projects performed on a time & materials (rather than a fixed-price basis) will have actual labor hours and the cost of materials and other associated services charged against the work order. i.e. the client is responsible for covering all incurred costs. Time and Materials projects are usually performed due to time constraints or other circumstances beyond the control of either the client or Campus Alterations, or where a client does not want to expend the effort (cost) of alterations providing a fixed price. There is still an opportunity for the client to have a scoping conversation with the alterations representative to establish a Rough Order or Magnitude Estimate (ROME)² to assist in making the decision whether to move ahead or not with the project. As with fixed price projects it is assumed that this preliminary scoping conversation will take no longer than half an hour and is offered as a ‘free’ service to campus clients. However, if during the conversation a scope is established and the client is requesting a fixed price, the estimating effort starts. This estimating effort is charged at a flat $75.19/hr and is billed directly to the budget indicated on the work request, regardless if the project moves forward or not.

²Please Note: that a ROME estimate is only an indication of potential costs. It has been arrived at through a cursory review of the scope as it presents itself. This ROME must not be considered as the maximum price Alterations will charge for the work, it is simply an guideline to assist for budget planning purposes.

3) Catalog (unit) Price

A unit price from the Catalog Price List can be used if the project is a repetitive, high-volume task, which carries an established experiential price. The unit price automatically becomes your fixed-contract price if you authorize the project. Here are examples of Alterations’ catalogue pricing:

• Earthquake Bracing
• Equipment Security Lockdown
• Keyboard Trays
• Namplates
• Shelving
• Window Blinds
• Painting (coming soon)
• White boards/Notice boards (coming soon)