Committee approves $134,855.94 credit for plumbing contract after switch to CPVC glue joints

The Facilities and Operations Committee recommended approving a deduct change order of $134,855.94 to the plumbing contractor after the district accepted glued CPVC acid-waste piping in place of the originally specified threaded piping at North Penn High School.

Staff explained that threaded pipe and fittings were a long-lead item and would not meet the project schedule. To avoid delay, district staff said they evaluated chemical use with the district’s curriculum department and determined the chemicals typically used in science classrooms would not compromise glued CPVC joints. Following that review, the district approved glued CPVC acid-waste piping, resulting in the cost credit.

“We confirmed that the threaded pipe fitting was a long lead item and that it would not work with the timeline of the schedule of the project,” a district staff member said. “Once we confirmed that, we then met with the curriculum department for the science and chemistry and confirmed what type of chemicals they typically use. And all those chemicals were not anything that would disrupt the glue fittings of the joints… so we therefore move forward with this request for a deduct change order.”

Staff also said the specification for bid package 2 was updated prior to that solicitation to reflect the revised piping approach for the CPOD science classrooms. The committee recommended the change order to the full board; no opposition was recorded.