By Michael C. Smith, Director
Welcome to the Office of Design and Construction!
We’re a part of Facilities Management, Administrative
Affairs Division of California State University Fullerton.
As the name implies, we are involved with the design and construction
activities on campus. While we don’t actually design
or build capital projects, we in fact, manage them from conception
to completion. This includes all assigned major and minor
capital projects funded by the State capital outlay process
as well as other campus projects and other funding sources.
In 1997 the Chancellor’s Office delegated the responsibility
for managing all major capital projects to the CSU campuses.
Prior to that our office primarily managed minor capital remodeling
projects, and the major capital building projects were managed
by Physical Planning and Development within the Chancellor’s
Office. This new delegation has substantially increased the
responsibilities and project workload for the Office of Design
and Construction. We have prepared for this challenge by reorganizing
and staffing the office to meet our expanded role.
The Office of Design and Construction
is organized into four units: Project
Management is managed by the Associate Director, Jack
Bage and includes project managers Stephen Chamberlain, Steven Halcum, and Tom Grayson. These professionals manage the
day-to-day activities of the project from the initial design
through final construction completion. CAD
Services is managed by Hyun Lim and includes Cad Operator
Kyriakos Toyias. This unit prepares CAD documents (Computerized
Aided Design) for a wide variety of project related graphics
and also manages the As-Built drawing database. Administrative
Support is managed by the Assistant Director of Administration,
Linda Dominguez and includes Ana Rios and Beverly Burelli.
This unit is responsible for contract and project budget management,
administrative support for the project management team, and
general office support. Inspection
Services, managed by the Chief Campus Inspector, Michael
Hatswell. Mike and his contracted staff of Project Inspectors
oversee all construction projects to ensure compliance to
code and construction documents.
Some of our colleagues are
surprised to learn that there is a professional office here
on campus comprised of architects, project managers and skilled
contract administrators. However, for many others who have
worked with us in the past to help create new building projects,
we have developed many strong and friendly working relationships.
We are here to help the campus with design and building needs
from small remodels to creating large new facilities.
Our mission statement is: “The
Office of Design and Construction directs and manages the
design and construction on campus to ensure the creation of
quality environments that enable students to learn, instructors
to teach, and staff to support the mission of California State
University, Fullerton”.
We are a pro-active project
management team and enjoy working in a highly collaborative
environment. Our mission is challenging, and the rewards of
completing successful projects keeps us constantly motivated
to do the best job we can. Because we deal with the tangible
results of construction, our success is measured with the
actual results of our completed projects and “user”
satisfaction. In order to make our campus projects a reality,
the Office of Design and Construction manages a wide variety
of tasks to assist the campus community in developing and
completing our dynamic building program.
Our first task is to help
develop a building program which outlines a project scope,
budget and schedule to meet the needs of the proposed project.
On larger major capital projects we establish a building committee
to help collaborate on the design process. Once the overall
goals and objectives of the proposed project are defined and
a budget is determined, we work with Business & Financial
Affairs, our partner in project accounting, to set-up an account
to fund the project.
Our next task is to help select
and contract with the design team comprised of Architects,
Engineers and other professionals necessary to carry out the
design and produce the construction documents required to
build the project. During the design of a project, we conduct
a series of design review meetings with “project users”
or the building committee and design consultants until all
the objectives of the project are met in the design. Once
this is achieved, we manage the construction documents process
(working drawings) with the project consultants and coordinate
other project requirements with many other campus departments
including Environmental Health & Instructional Safety,
Disabled Students, Physical Plant, Parking and Transportation,
Public Safety and the Campus IT for Data and Telecommunications.
Capital projects aren’t just bricks and mortar. Today’s
campus buildings now have many new special technical requirements
to create a “high-tech” and “high-touch”
learning environment.
We also coordinate with the
State Fire Marshall for compliance with fire life safety codes
and the Office of the State Architect to ensure ADA accessibility
and compliance. After the construction documents are completed
and the campus requirements and standards are fully incorporated
into the drawings, the plans are fully reviewed and approved
before we bid the project. State contract law stipulates that
all public work must be competitively bid and awarded to the
lowest responsible bidder. The bidding process typically takes
a couple of months to complete including advertising, bid
preparation, bid review and award. We work with Contracts
and Procurement in this phase to finalize the contract for
construction with the successful bidder so that we can begin
the actual construction.
The construction of a capital
project, our next task is the most complicated and lengthy
phase involved in the project. Construction on larger projects
can often take over two or more years to complete depending
upon their size and complexity. During this phase we manage
the construction process by conducting construction progress
meetings with the design and construction team and project
user groups to coordinate all the aspects of the work in order
to meet the final design intent and requirements of the project.
This usually includes constant problem solving and decision
making by all members on the project team to keep the project
on track. Throughout the construction phase, we manage and
monitor the construction contract for payments to the General
Contractor and review any potential changes to the construction
contract. Continuous project inspections and testing are also
necessary throughout this phase to provide compliance to the
construction documents and state building codes and regulations.
Quality control and value engineering play a large role in
our duties and responsibilities during this phase.
Before the final completion
of every construction project, we a conduct final walk through
and establish a “punch-list” for the contractor
to thoroughly complete all remaining work. We also coordinate
any special training required by the project with Physical
Plant and provide them with specific operational manuals necessary
for on-going maintenance. Once all the project close-out work
is coordinated and completed, the State Fire Marshall signs
off on the project and our University “clients”
can take occupancy of the project.
However, our work is still
not completed on the project. Our final task for the next
full year, we monitor the project for any warranty issues
which may arise and direct the General Contractor to complete
corrective work if needed. Also during project closeout, we
coordinate with the Project Team to ensure that final “as-built”
drawings are completed and submitted to our office for project
record documentation. As a part of this closeout process,
we review all project related contracts for consultants, contractors,
and vendors, and close them out when they are completed and
finalize all project accounting with the client, BFA, and
Chancellors Office.
A major responsibility of
our office is to provide project status updates, quarterly
reports and final detailed completed project reports and evaluations
to the campus and Capital Planning Design and Construction
(CPDC) at the Chancellor’s Office. Reporting on the
project’s progress and budget issues keeps all parties
informed regarding the project status and funding throughout
the course of the project.
Besides the day-to-day management
of our capital projects, the Office of Design & Construction
is involved with the development and implementation of many
other “special” projects. For example, we manage
feasibility studies for proposed projects to determine the
cost, schedule and project scope. We develop special campus
design standards for capital projects such as our new interior
ADA signage program, select special building systems and controls,
and specify many standard building items for the inclusion
in our projects. We continually develop and initiate new procedures
and project management tools to increase our ability to better
manage our projects. As State laws, codes and regulation change,
we constantly monitor those changes and revise our internal
processes to meet the new requirements.
We are proud to serve our campus
with a dynamic and creative design and building process. We
have established a successful “track record” with
our completed projects and look forward to continuing our
work with the campus community as we move into the future.