ON THIS PAGE
Best Practices
Building Information Modeling (BIM) Technology
Public Works undertook two Building Information Modeling (BIM) studies in 2009 and 2010 that showed BIM was becoming more acceptable in the building industry. Public Works is supportive of the voluntary use of new technologies, such as BIM to enhance the delivery of capital projects. Architects/engineers and design-builders that use BIM may be rewarded with more points in the Request for Proposals process. A number of large County projects under construction are using BIM for design, shop drawings, and coordination. These projects reported a reduction of conflicts between trades, which resulted in time and cost savings.
Green Building
Public Works has a proven track record of implementing sustainable practices in the design and construction of capital improvement projects. Through the implementation of the County’s Green Building Policy, new buildings with an area of 10,000 square feet or more have achieved a minimum of Silver Certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system, and many have exceeded Silver Certification. The County’s Green Building Policy also requires that all capital projects comply with the County’s Standards Manual and the use of drought tolerant plant species. The implementation of Low Impact Development addresses storm water runoff and enhances groundwater quality, and the drought-tolerant plant species ordinance helps to reduce its use of potable water. Since January 2010, all capital projects must also comply with the California Green Building Standards Code, which requires that projects meet minimum energy efficiency and potable water use standards.
Collaboration
Public Works recognizes the importance of teamwork and collaboration to assure success of capital projects. Collaboration amongst the County, local community, tenants, designers, and contractors is strongly encouraged to share expertise, experience and efficiency in developing optimal design solutions, streamline construction methods and duration, and identifying opportunities to innovate.
Design Excellence
Public Works values design excellence and utilizes a collaborative approach to design and construction, producing an aesthetically pleasing, high quality, and high performing project that fully meets the County’s established criteria described as follows:
Form
- Design that articulates architectural form, massing, and detailing.
- Architecture that is visually engaging, contextually responsive to the community, and timeless.
- Integrate art in the fabric of design.
- Architecture that creates a sense of “place”.
Function
- Meet the programmatic requirements efficiently and creatively.
- Innovative designs that add value beyond the expectations of the program without increase in cost.
- Provide a safe and productive workplace for County residents and staff.
- Design a building that is durable, operationally efficient, easily maintainable, and has low operational cost.
Environment
- Incorporate sustainability/green building concepts in design.
- Reduce energy consumption or carbon footprint compared to mean baseline.
- Mitigate impacts to surrounding environment.
- Design that contextually responds positively to the site conditions and to environmental policies.
Technology
- Utilize technology to meet and exceed program requirements.
- Incorporate innovation through multi-disciplinary integrated design.
Process
Ensure that highly talented and proficient design professionals are selected and maintained for the project duration.
Delivery of Design Excellence on time and on budget.
Use industry best practices to define measure, analyze, coordinate, and validate the design.
Manage the design phase effectively to assure high-quality design.
Build consensus through collaboration with tenants to meet the project goals and objectives.
Proposal Cost Reduction
Public Works has found the use of design-build contracting and the qualifications based selection process to be valuable towards the success of its projects. However, we recognize that responding to design-build Requests for Proposals (RFPs) can be expensive for the proposers. In partnership with the business community, we employ a number of measures to minimize the cost of responding to design-build RFPs. On most projects, following prequalification, we only invite a shortlist of the three highest-qualified teams to respond to the Best Value Selection, Part B portion of the RFP. Where appropriate, we provide stipends to partially offset the cost of submitting proposals. We limit the time allowed to prepare the final proposal, and we limit the required/allowed proposal deliverables to only those required for proper evaluation.
Online Solicitation
The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works (Public Works) manages over $3.6 billion of building-related construction projects. These projects vary from building repair or renovation projects to large scale, multi-million dollar capital projects. Public Works is the principal Department responsible for management and implementation of all County capital improvement projects. Public Works is responsible for directing the technical phases of programming, design, and construction and ensuring all project requirements are met within the budget and project schedule approved by the Board of Supervisors.
These projects, whether small or complex, could not be accomplished without the assistance of private sector companies. Public Works encourages all interested parties to review the Los Angeles County Purchasing Website at http://camisvr.co.la.ca.us/lacobids/BidLookUp/BidOpenStart.asp, or the Department of Public Works website at http://dpw.lacounty.gov/general/contracts/opportunities/ for information on contract opportunities for construction projects and as-needed professional services. These sites will contain the entire bid specification package, construction plans, Request for Proposal, or Initiation for Bids and other related documents. Projects will remain posted on these sites until a contract has been awarded, cancelled, or closed. Individuals and firms interested in any of these construction projects are strongly encouraged to review plans before attending bid walks.