08A. Policy: PLS Update - Construction Contracts & Change Orders

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Submitted by jenny_hunter on Fri, 09/16/2016 - 10:43am

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship		Action	X
Excellent Educators		Information	X
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students		Discussion
Operations and Support	X

In early August, NCSBA issued a special PLS update to policy 9030, Facility Construction. The update responds to a new requirement in G.S. 115C-521 that requires boards to adopt a policy governing change orders to contracts for construction or repair work. The policy must apply to contracts awarded, extended, or renewed on or after October 1, 2016. To assist boards in meeting this deadline, NCSBA issued a revision to policy 9030 that was presented at the August board meeting. That policy remains legally compliant. However, based on feedback from school staff and board attorneys, a more extensive revision to policy 9030 has been issued, along with corresponding revisions to three related policies that address contracts and/or construction contracts, in particular. The related policies include 6420, Contracts with the Board; 9120, Bidding for Construction Work; and 9130, Supervision of Construction Contracts.

The new revisions to policy 9030 have:

Eliminated the requirement to report to the board proposed change orders that are not recommended for approval;
Eliminated the 48 hour timeframe for expedited reviews;
Added flexibility in the method of reporting to the board;
Added a requirement that the superintendent report to the board all change orders that were approved by the superintendent, including those that do not impact the contract amount;
Established content requirements for the superintendent’s report to the board regarding change orders that do not require board approval;
Added a requirement that the superintendent submit to the board for approval any change orders, regardless of amount, to any contract that did not initially require board approval if the change order will cause the total cost of the contract to exceed the limits of the superintendent’s contracting authority as specified in policy 9120, Bidding for Construction Work; and
Added a provision requiring that contracts in excess of $300,000 specify the manner in which change orders will be submitted on the project.

In order to comply with the October 1^st deadline, a motion is in order to waive the first read of revised policy 9030 and approve the policy as presented.

The board may proceed with the usual policy review and approval process for the three related policies 6420, 9120, and 9130 (a motion to accept the policies as first-read information), OR the board may expedite those policies for purposes of consistency (a motion to waive first-reads and approve the three policies as presented).

PLS Update: Construction Contracts and Change Orders
6420 (new)	Contracts with the Board
9030	Facility Construction
9120	Bidding for Construction Work
9130	Supervision of Construction Contracts