Published: January 25, 2010
Tags: Division of State, Division of State Facilities, Hursh, Kaufert, Miller, nursing school, Potter Lawson, Robson, University of Wisconsin-Madison, UW System, UW System Board of Regents, Wisconsin Department of Administration
By Paul Snyder
There’s a catch to the state’s request for architectural/engineering firms interested in designing a university building: The project has not been approved.
The Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Division of State Facilities is accepting consultant questionnaires through Feb. 9 for preliminary design work on an estimated $37.6 million nursing school for the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
For [...]
Published: December 15, 2009
Tags: Assembly Committee on Consumer Protection, bill, Christensen, construction manager at risk, Division of State Facilities, H&H Industries, Helbach, Hintz, multiple prime, preference, project delivery, Senate Committee on Ethics Reform and Government Operations, single prime, state Building Commission, subcontractor, University of Wisconsin System, Wisconsin Department of Administration
By Paul Snyder
Subcontractors want guarantees the lowest responsible bid still will win the jobs before the Wisconsin Legislature passes a bill changing delivery methods for state projects.
The bill right now does not include those guarantees, leading some subs to argue in favor of the status quo.
“The system right now is completely transparent,” said S. Michael [...]
Published: October 22, 2009
Tags: C.D. Smith Construction Inc., C.H. Coakley & Co., developer, Division of State Facilities, MSP Real Estate Inc., requests for proposals, Wisconsin Department of Administration
Paul Snyder
paul.snyder@dailyreporter.com
Companies that propose projects for the state might soon be responsible for drumming up local support to shield Wisconsin Building Commission members from neighborhood backlash.
“I think we should look at putting into (requests for proposals) that developers have the responsibility to engage local communities,” said David Helbach, administrator in the state Department of Administration’s [...]
Published: July 2, 2009
Tags: American Institute of Architects, building-information modeling, Division of State Facilities, Wisconsin Department of Administration
Paul Snyder
paul.snyder@dailyreporter.com
Architects realize the potential and potential headaches of a switch to building-information modeling for large state construction projects.
“I just wrestled with it for two hours on the simplest thing,” said Josh Johnson, president of the American Institute of Architects Wisconsin and an architect with Madison-based Aro Eberle Architects Inc. “There will be growing pains [...]
Published: June 4, 2009
Tags: bidding, CG Schmidt Inc., Division of State Facilities, Miron Construction Co. Inc., online, Wisconsin Department of Administration
Paul Snyder
paul.snyder@dailyreporter.com
A state agency remains committed to launching an electronic bidding system in eight months despite uncertain legislative support, an untried system and industry representatives who say there are more important issues.
“There are systems in place for horizontal building, but not vertical building,” said David Helbach, administrator for the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Division of [...]
Published: May 28, 2009
Tags: Associated Builders & Contractors of Wisconsin Inc., bid documents, Division of State Facilities, Miron Construction Co. Inc., state Building Commission, Wisconsin Department of Administration
Paul Snyder
paul.snyder@dailyreporter.com
A few tweaks to bidding documents for state projects could reduce confusion, but contractors are cautioning the state not to go too far with its changes.
“Whether you like the process or not, or whether you’ve made an error or not — which we all have — the system is very fair,” said David Voss, [...]
Published: May 18, 2009
Tags: bid documents, C.D. Smith Construction Inc., Division of State Facilities, Fowler & Hammer Inc., Miron Construction Co. Inc., University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Wisconsin Department of Administration
Paul Snyder
paul.snyder@dailyreporter.com
Contractors are making more mistakes more often on bid documents, prompting state officials to broach the prickly prospect of giving themselves more discretion in awarding projects.
“I’d say with almost every project, we see one contractor disqualified for a mistake in the documents,” said David Helbach, an administrator in the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Division [...]
Published: April 2, 2009
Tags: and Abrahamson Inc., arena, Bradley Center, d'Andre Willis, Division of State Facilities, Fred Risser, green, Hammel, Harry Lynde Bradley, Jane and Lloyd Pettit, Jeff Plale, Jim Doyle, Peter Maternowski, Steve Costello, Ted Kanavas, Ulice Payne Jr., Wisconsin Department of Administration
Paul Snyder and Dustin Block
paul.snyder@dailyreporter.com
dustin.block@dailyreporter.com
Plans to spend $23 million over the next 10 years maintaining Milwaukee’s Bradley Center doesn’t rule out eventually building a new arena, according to Bradley Center President Steve Costello.
“We’re focused on the here and now,” Costello said about the maintenance plan, which is designed to replace or upgrade systems to [...]
Published: March 5, 2009
Tags: Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin, Capital Planning and Budget Committee, David Helbach, David Miller, Division of State Facilities, Jim Boullion, UW System Board of Regents, Wisconsin Department of Administration
Paul Snyder
paul.snyder@dailyreporter.com
The UW System Board of Regents on Thursday formally pitched a set of changes to the state’s review and approvals process for new construction.
“These recommendations are fairly modest,†said regent Jeffrey Bartell, “but they could make a major difference in how projects are performed in the future.â€
Among the changes recommended by the UW System [...]
