South Berwick approves town-hall renovation contingency spending, signs on commissioning agent and hazmat change order

The South Berwick Town Council on May 2026 approved several owner-funded adjustments to a multiyear town-hall renovation project, voting to hire a commissioning agent, authorize early-move costs to accelerate the schedule and cover unexpected hazardous-materials remediation.

Councilors voted to hire a third-party commissioning agent to verify mechanical and electrical systems and to perform functional testing. Project staff told the council the agent’s services will cost up to about $36,000 and recommended the payment come from the owner’s contingency. The council approved the funding.

Councilors also authorized roughly $28,000 to pay early-move costs that project managers said would accelerate the schedule by about seven weeks and reduce weekly general-condition costs. Project staff said roughly $20,000 of that was unavoidable moving expense and $7,000 was the premium to accelerate the timeline.

A larger source of owner-contingency spending was a hazardous-materials (hazmat) abatement that exceeded the contractor’s small allowance. Charter Brothers’ contract included a modest hazmat allowance ($2,500 in the original GMP), but testing and removal of asbestos/lead materials in the existing building proved more extensive. Council approved a $23,112 change order to address the abatement now rather than leaving the cost unresolved later in the project.

At the same time, the council accepted several credits to the guaranteed maximum price (GMP). The most significant were a roughly $70,000 landscaping scope reduction and a combined $79,800 credit that removed a $75,000 solar-panel allowance (the town plans to reapply for a grant) and captured elevator-savings adjustments. Officials said those deductive change orders are intended to offset contingency draws and reduce net project exposure.

Councilors and project staff described the decisions as part of an effort to keep the renovation on track while recognizing that the original project budget left limited room for expected owner costs. One councilor noted that some budget items that had been shown in earlier project presentations were not part of the construction contract and therefore rely on owner contingency when they materialize.

Andy (project staff) and other members of the project team told the council they have begun a parallel review with the design consultant (Oakpoint) to identify gaps in the earlier budget materials and to seek adjustments where appropriate. Councilors said that review remains underway and that monthly contingency reports will be posted for the public.

The council’s approvals were unanimous on the items presented. The council also directed staff to continue outreach on potential grant funding for the solar work and to preserve installed infrastructure where feasible so future panel installation would be less costly.

What’s next: Project staff said the town will publish regular contingency and budget updates and continue coordination with the contractor and consultants as the work progresses.