Skanska will oversee courthouse

Published 12:10 pm Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Charlotte County supervisors have agreed to hire Skanska USA as the project manager for the courthouse renovation.

During its Tuesday meeting, the board agreed to hire the firm for $260,000.

According to County Purchasing Agent and Planner Monica Elder, the cost will cover the entire two years of services. She said Skanska will be to help ensure that the courthouse project runs smoothly.

“In December, the board voted to issue an RFP (request for proposals) for representative project construction manager services related to the courthouse project,” Elder said. “According to the Virginia Public Procurement Act, we did draft a solicitation and advertised it.”

Nine proposals were received and two prospective firms were interviewed.

Of the nine proposals, prices ranged from $150,000 to $575,000.

The price variation was based on factors such as experience, team size, software capabilities and number of intended hours on site.

“The scope of the work primarily is a project manager that would help ensure that the project runs smoothly, stays within budget and finishes on time,” said Elder.

Skanska will be charged with overseeing the site, being on site, coordinating between key players, tracking expenses and tracking progress.

“It’s a wide range of services,” Elder said.

She said Skanska is an experienced international firm that just completed a similar courthouse project.

“Headquartered in New York, Skanska USA is one of the largest, most financially sound construction and development companies in the country with expertise in construction, civil infrastructure, public-private partnerships and commercial development initiatives in select U.S. markets,” states the firm’s website.

Elder said the project manager that would be working on the courthouse project would be located just outside of Lynchburg. The on-site quality assurance inspector will be out of Roanoke.

During the meeting, Supervisor Nancy Carwile asked if the proposed project manager was bonded and required to make sure everything on the construction site was done according to code.

Elder said Skanska would oversee that aspect of the project and make sure construction meets code requirements.