OPM: High school construction in Central Falls progressing floor-by-floor; contingencies and MBE share reported

Eric, the owner’s project manager, told the Central Falls School Building Committee that the high school construction is progressing “top to bottom,” with finishes—VCT, ceilings, whiteboards and casework—installed on upper floors and active work continuing on lower levels. He said the basketball courts were turned over to the collective group on Aug. 1 and that the building inspector and design team toured the site July 25 to review expectations and timelines.

Eric explained two upcoming milestones: “substantial completion,” a design-team-issued document indicating the building can be used for its intended purpose, and the “certificate of occupancy,” issued by the building official to allow formal occupancy. “There are 2 documents that we do need executed prior to anybody moving into it,” he said.

On diversity and contracting, Eric reported that MBE participation currently stands at 13.77% and noted the team is reconciling builder change-order numbers that could modestly improve that figure. On contingency and budget, he said two change orders (10 and 11) drew against the construction contingency; he reported a remaining hard-cost contingency balance of $1,480,000 and a projected contingency value of about $1,300,000 in active logs.

Eric also reviewed systems coordination and procurement: IT closets (MDF/IDF), public procurement for bond-funded items under city procurement rules, and the mix of direct buys versus publicly bid items. He said many finish and equipment items are being coordinated with district staff and that weekly coordination meetings are ongoing.

Next steps include continuing weekly working-group reviews of PCOs and change-order logs, finalizing substantial completion and certificate of occupancy milestones, and advancing the remaining trade work to meet occupancy targets.