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Design changes and value-engineering cuts reduce Millis school estimate by roughly $409,000
Summary
Project designers presented design updates and a value-engineering log that together total about $409,000 in anticipated savings, including a plumbing-variance reduction, relocation of workshop spaces, and several accepted alternates and deferred items.
Design staff presented a line-by-line review of value-engineering (VE) options at the Town of Millis School Building Committee meeting on June 17, outlining items already incorporated into the design and additional potential savings.
Chelsea, the VE presenter, said the team has incorporated several design updates and identified additional accepted VE items that together yield roughly $244,000 in potential savings; combined with earlier design changes, the project shows about $409,000 in cumulative savings compared with the earlier design-development estimate. "As of today, what we understand with these design updates, we're roughly seeing about 165, almost 166,000 dollars in savings," she said about the top-line design adjustments.
Key confirmed and proposed savings called out by the team included: - A plumbing variance that reduced fixture counts and allowed toilet-room reconfiguration and relocation of the custodial workshop, eliminating a boiler-room mezzanine (contributed to the $165k range of savings). - Removal of a liquid-applied insulative coating from a future classroom (≈$50,000 savings). - Substituting solid wood window sills for a higher-cost solid surface material (≈$77,000 savings; team will confirm species to avoid unsuitable softwoods). - Reducing exterior terrace seating by about 50% (≈$100,000 potential savings) and trimming some landscape allowances (≈$27,000).
The team flagged several items as deferred (e.g., media-center nano wall framing and ordering decisions, blue‑phone emergency towers) or rejected (site water-line retention, move of secondary electrical feeders). Some options—such as switching motorized gym bleachers to manual units—showed significant savings on paper (≈$112,000) but were listed as a low-probability or no-go item due to programmatic needs.
Project managers said moisture-probe results for slab conditions (scheduled in the coming week) will determine the cost outcome for full VCT-to-VQT floor replacement options; the full replacement alternate could add roughly $247,000 beyond the current patchwork allowance depending on moisture mitigation needs.
The committee did not take a formal vote on the VE list; members agreed to keep the VE log as a living document and to revisit items as the 60% documents and the MSBA submittal progress.
