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Dane County committee approves multiple change orders for jail consolidation project, including $123,000 fire‑rating work
Summary
The Public Works and Transportation Committee recommended approval of several change orders tied to the countys jail consolidation and Public Safety Building projects, including a $123,000 code-related plumbing/fire-rating change and additional mechanical and structural adjustments totaling tens of thousands of dollars.
The Dane County Public Works and Transportation Committee on June 17 recommended approval of multiple change orders for the ongoing jail consolidation and Public Safety Building work, including a $123,000 change tied to code-required fire-rating upgrades for floor penetrations.
The committee approved resolution 62, a $123,000 change order for the Doty Street jail consolidation project to add fireproofing and noncombustible drain materials where floor drains and other penetrations pass through rated slabs. County project staff member Steve described the work as code-driven: "This change order is code related. So, every slab of the building has a fire rating to separate the floor below from the floor above, and every penetration ... has to have a fire rating." He said the contractor must provide cast-iron drain bodies wrapped in thermal fire-rated insulation at repeated locations throughout the jail, which produced the $123,000 cost.
The committee also approved action item 56, a $32,000-and-change construction-bulletin change order (Myron Construction) that combined several requests for information and coordination fixes related to HVAC, controls, a harmonic filter cabinet conflict, a duct transition for a penthouse computer room and revisions to glycol for snow-melt systems. Steve said the items were grouped because they all affected one subcontractor and reflected accumulated coordination work.
Action item 57 (Byron Construction) was approved for about $12,890 to modify structural steel at a penthouse roof penetration for a new air-handling unit so existing conduits and piping remain operational during installation.
Committee members were also informed of a series of smaller Myron Construction change orders (numbers 124131) that totaled several thousand dollars and addressed stair-shaft detailing, relocated light fixtures after BIM coordination, architectural finish adjustments for a new fire-command room, a replacement trench drain, fixture revisions (credit), a prefabricated cell mock-up modification, additional power circuits and a time-sensitive fire-alarm resubmittal tied to the City of Madisons adoption of the 2021 International Fire Code. Steve said the fire-alarm resubmittal was being fast-tracked to avoid schedule delays pending code-impact analysis.
Votes on the change orders and action items were taken by voice; no opposing votes were recorded in the transcript and motions were carried by the committee.
The approvals allow contractors to proceed with the revised details and manufacturer workarounds intended to keep systems operational and prevent schedule slippage. Staff noted some changes stemmed from recent or differently enforced interpretations of code requirements by city reviewers rather than from original design intent.
Follow-up action: staff will continue to track code-review outcomes and any further cost or schedule impacts to the jail consolidation and Public Safety Building projects.
