Infrastructure & Public Works Blog

At the AIA National Convention in San Antonio on May 2, the AIA California Council issued an intriguing working definition of "Integrated Project Delivery."  The goal of Integrated Project Delivery is to approach construction projects in a more collaborative way, taking advantage of technological tools such as Building Information Modeling.  Click here to view the document published by the AIACC. 

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The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) recently issued the version 1.0 draft of the National Building Information Modeling Standard (National BIM Standard).  The National BIM Standard has been in the works for over four years, and is a collaboration between over 30 subject matter experts throughout the capital facilities industry.  An industry review and comment period is now in effect until May 21, 2007.  

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New laws concerning the construction industry will go into effect in 2007, some of which are previewed below. These laws encompass a wide variety of issues including indemnification of design professionals, the ability of architects to practice as limited liability partnerships, “green” building construction, expansion of design-build procurement, revocation and suspension of contractors’ licenses, execution of public university contracts, and regulation of the conduct of architects. 

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Building Information Modeling (BIM) utilizes computer technology to represent building structures and systems in terms of functional, as well as graphical attributes.  This technology may some day change the nature of collaboration between design professionals and contractors on construction projects.  This article examines the benefits and challenges of implementing Building Information Modeling.  Click here for the full article in adobe PDF format.

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Pursuant to three separate bills, the state legislature expanded existing statutory authority to award construction contracts on a design-build basis to apply to more cities and counties as of January 1, 2006. In each case, the duration of the statutory design-build authority was extended to the year 2011, and the dollar threshold was lowered to $2.5 million per project for counties. Following is a short summary of the bills:

·        AB 1329 (Wolk): This bill added section 20175 to the Public Contract Code, and authorizes cities in the counties of Solano and Yolo to award construction contracts on a design-build basis. The authority only applies to buildings and directly related improvements, and does not apply to streets, highways, public rail transit, or water resources facilities and infrastructure. The statute has a sunset provision for the year 2011.

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http://www.bart.gov/about/projects/oacnews.asp

On February 13, 2006, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (“BART”) issued an advanced notice of a Request for Qualifications for the design, build, finance, operation and maintenance of a three-mile connector railway between the existing Coliseum BART station to the Oakland International Airport.

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