Justice building project nearing completion with contingencies intact, consultant says

David Mendez of Turner & Townsend told the Kootenai County Board of Commissioners on April 1 that the county’s justice building construction is nearing completion and remains largely within budget, with remaining contingencies available for late-stage adjustments.

Mendez said the design contingency has been used to 83 percent, leaving about $146,000 remaining when anticipated items flagged by inspectors are included. Construction contingency usage is roughly 30–32 percent of an $800,000 allowance, leaving about $561,000 in that line and “a total of $700,000 remaining in contingency at this point in the project,” Mendez said.

He cautioned that some items shown in the contractor’s latest projection were highlighted in yellow and had not been agreed to by his office: “These are not numbers that I'm agreeing to yet.” He gave as an example a construction-contingency item for repair of damage allegedly caused by a subcontractor that he said he would not accept.

Mendez reported that furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) pricing has been locked in and an order was being placed; he said the remaining FF&E figure of about $745,000 is misleading until the county’s actual expenditures from the auditor’s office are reconciled with the contract numbers. “We have 745,000 remaining in FF and E that's that's misleading. I don't have what we've actually spent included in that yet,” he said.

Separately, county staff raised requests from departments for additional interior blinds. A staff member explained that the project includes exterior south-facing blinds for thermal deflection but no interior blinds, and that the contractor (Bauten) has been asked to obtain pricing from the blind subcontractor for future consideration.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions but took no formal action during the update.