Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1956-03-15

signed.
See Excess Charges
The McKinsey report believes
too many changes in schools are
decided upon after construction
has begun. Undoubtedly many
of these change orders are neces.
Sary in order to correct potential
structural defects. On the other
hand, a substantial number of
change orders are mere substi-
tutes for poor planning"
The ALA statement charges,
"The McKinsey references to
change orders give an erroneous
impression, as it is generally I'M
derstood in the construction bust.
ness, that a contingency fund is
necessary to take care of changes
even in the amount of two to five
percent"
The School Board president and
the superintendent of schools can
approve change orders up to
$1,000 for any one school project
without consulting the board. The
board must approve changes cost
ing more than $500. All extern
sions of time requests must be ap-
proved by the School Board.
McKinsey says there were Is
major change orders" at North
Bethesda Junior High School and
nine at Wheaton Woods Elemen-
tary School. Mr.. Sheldon says
he considers a major change or.
der" one costing $4,000 or
$4,000. He says the changes at
North Bethesda actually saved
money. Zone change saved
$4,000" All change orders at
Wheaton Woods cost a total of
$3.50. mine out of 10 change or
ders save the school system
money" says Mr.. Sheldon.
Many contractors blame par
ents groups for the large number
of change orders. They point to
Twinbrook Elementary where the
School Board agreed to the PTA's
plea for eight classrooms instead
Of the originally planned six with
the stipulation that some sinks,
toilets, etc. would be eliminated
to balance. the added cost. Some
builders believe the PTA then
"pressured' the School Board into
issuing a change order okaying
the sinks, toilets, etc. They got
their cake, and ate it too"
"The area with the strongest
PTA gets the best school," says
an architect. One builder says
the Wyngate PTA offered to pay
for additional corridor lights,
rather than seek change order.
An engineer admits that some
builders make their money on
change orders" He says they
win the job with bid under their
cost of construction, then make
their profit on extras" He says
one builder made $500 on a
$4,000 change order. Change or.
ders are awarded to the contrac-
tor on the job without bid. Con
tractors who are playing fair
don't like change orders" says
the engineer.
The McKinsey report suggests
that the date of acceptance of
contractors bid be the cutoff
point beyond which changes to
original plans will not be made
unless they are to correct struc-
tural defects"
Want Less Additions
The McKinsey report states,
"As a general rule additions to
existing buildings are always
more expensive per square foot
than original construction" The
management consultants hold
that additions built in the past
three years have cost an average
of $14,50 per square foot while
the original buildings cost an av.
erage of only $13 per square foot.
Mr.. Sheldon believes this diff.
ference may merely reflect the
difference in construction costs
between the time the original
building was erected and the time
the addition was built. If the
heating system of the original
building can be extended to serve
the addition, the new rooms may
actually cost less per square foot
than the old rooms. Twenty.four
rooms ought to be maximum for
an elementary school, believes
MIR. Sheldon.
Mckinsey found that 60 per.
cent of the schools constructed in
the past five years have been add.
ed to. Twenty-siX schools have
received additions. The consult.
ing firm decries the fact that
many of the additions were start.
ed shortly before or just after
the original building had been
completed" They hold that the
school construction program has
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