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Board approves multiple notices of completion after discussion of nearly $3 million in change orders tied to multi-prime delivery delays
Summary
Trustees approved several notices of completion for South El Monte modernization projects and discussed large change orders—$150,814, $941,000 and $993,000 among them—that staff and legal counsel said resulted from cascading delays under a multi-prime delivery model; staff said they will avoid multi-prime on future projects.
The El Monte Union board approved multiple notices of completion for modernization projects across South El Monte campus sites and spent substantial time discussing change orders that increased final project costs.
Staff and counsel told trustees that change orders arose largely because a multi-prime delivery model produced cascading delays: subcontractor scheduling problems led to postponements and additional costs. Trustees cited several examples: an acoustical interior package with $150,814 in change orders that increased the original award to $1.3 million, an electrical contract where change orders totaled roughly $941,000 raising the total to about $7.8 million from an original $6.88 million award, and another modernization item with nearly $993,000 in change orders bringing the final cost to about $9.56 million.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Lin and legal counsel said the district contested many of the additional costs and that the claims were reviewed by outside counsel; staff proposed avoiding multi-prime delivery for future projects. Trustee questions focused on why the multi-prime choice was made, whether contract language protected the district and what lessons could prevent similar overruns in the future. The notices of completion and related items were approved by unanimous votes where recorded.
