Effective California Healthcare Project Delivery Approach?
Working within existing California hospitals can be very challenging; this is because hospitals are essential facilities, with multiple critical engineering systems, that cannot be shut down.
There are of number project delivery processes identified in the OSHPD FREER manual & OSHPD 2-11 B; however, we like to highlight the benefits of the Engineering led approach, for the following reasons:
The Code, recognizing that a project is best led by the design professional who is the most experienced in the scope of the project, be the design professional and responsible charge (DPRC). Typically, this is an architect however, many existing healthcare projects are predominately engineering; therefore, they should be led by the engineer responsible for the major system
Another major advantage of this approach is that the project is exempt from ADA requirements, eliminating the risk and cost of mandated ADA upgrades.
Before embarking on this approach, the project team should carefree evaluate; the scope of a project, the DPRC’s experience in designing and managing these types of projects. We also recommend that the project team review the project approach with the OSHPD field staff before starting.
CONTECH-CA Experience
CONTECH-CA has completed many complex engineering projects up to $5 million, as DPRC. We have an experienced team of partners, including; architects, structural engineers with who we have completed many projects. Drawing on our relationships and contacts with regulatory bodies, vendors design professionals, and inspectors, we can achieve better outcomes for our clients. These include plan approval with minimal backchecks, expedited review, and eliminating the need for ADA upgrades. We have also successfully designed and completed Emergency OSHPD projects working under the requirements of CAN 2-11 B. We have also led OSHPD emergency requirements, administering the contract, managing the contractor and inspection team in addition to the design team. Want to know more? Please contact John Griffiths, jgriffiths@contech-ca.com
