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Oklahoma County panel approves Phase 1 of Ninth Floor courthouse HVAC redesign
Summary
An Oklahoma County infrastructure advisory group voted to proceed with Phase 1 of a four-phase design-build HVAC retrofit for the Ninth Floor of the county courthouse, authorizing use of a commissioner's capital account to fund initial work. The full four-phase estimate, including design and as-built fees, is $1,026,250.
An Oklahoma County infrastructure advisory board on April 25 approved moving forward with Phase 1 of a four-phase design-build plan to install HVAC on the Ninth Floor of the county courthouse.
The decision will fund initial work from a commissioner's capital account. "The total budgetary number for all 4 phases plus design and as-built fees is $1,026,250," said the staff member leading the presentation. The motion to proceed with Phase 1 passed on a voice vote with all three members present saying "aye."
The project team proposed using raw air-handling units concealed by furdowns and leveraging the courthouse's chilled-water and hot-water systems where possible, rather than repeating a mechanical system that county staff identified as prone to failure. The presenting staff member said White and Associates (Mike Hartlow) and mechanical engineer Caleb Spradlin had toured the Ninth and Tenth floors and provided budgetary estimates and design options.
Board members discussed warranty expectations and maintainability. The presenting staff member said equipment typically carries a one-year contractor warranty and that manufacturer warranties for mechanical components such as compressors can run longer: "compressors up to 10 years in some cases." A commissioner noted the prior system had suffered failures and said maintenance training and contractor qualifications had been factors in past problems.
Board discussion covered phasing and testing. One commissioner urged installing and testing a single system in the most failed quadrant before broader rollout; the board agreed to move forward one phase at a time. The motion to advance Phase 1 was moved by the Commissioner, District 2, and seconded by another commissioner; the board approved the motion by voice vote (3-0).
The design calls for ceiling-mounted units where headroom allows and vertical units in offices with low clearance. Staff said procurement, coordination with the district attorney's office and purchasing would be required before construction and that work could not be completed before the current cooling season ended.
Implementation steps noted during the meeting include preparing contract language to specify phase-limited work, coordinating with purchasing, and confirming warranty language in the contract to ensure any extended manufacturer warranties run to the benefit of Oklahoma County.
The board received the project documents during the meeting and will return with contract and purchasing steps as the design-build process is finalized.
