UND urges higher thresholds and scoring changes to reduce project costs

Brian Larson, director of planning, design and construction at the University of North Dakota, urged the task force to revise several Century Code sections that govern public buildings and design procurement to reflect modern construction practice and reduce unnecessary costs.

Larson said the present definition of "construction" treats routine maintenance and one‑for‑one replacements over the $250,000 public‑improvement threshold as public improvements that require architects and engineers and the public‑advertisement process. "A lot of these activities on our campus and on public buildings throughout the state will be significantly more than $250,000," he said, and proposed increasing that threshold to $500,000 and adding language to account for complexity and risk so that high‑risk projects retain design oversight.

On construction manager at risk (CMAR) procurement, UND recommended more quantitative safety metrics — such as the industry EMR (experience modification rate) — and removing location‑familiarity language that favors firms who have previously worked on a campus, which UND said is stifling competition. Larson also suggested revising qualitative criteria that are difficult to score consistently, and recommended standardizing evaluation templates.

Larson asked the task force to consider raising direct‑hire design fee thresholds (from $35,000 per project and $70,000 annually to $50,000 and $100,000 respectively) and increasing the private‑funding legislative consent threshold (from $700,000 to $2,000,000) to reduce legislative timing conflicts for donor‑funded projects.

Committee members asked UND to provide data on how many projects would have been affected by a higher threshold; Larson said UND could supply campus project lists and cost examples. The task force directed staff and counsel to collaborate with UND and other stakeholders to explore draft language.

Larson said the changes aim to balance public safety and fiscal stewardship: "We want to do our absolute best to put that language together to develop a policy and, you know, eventually a law here that helps balance public safety as well as the best use of our public funds."