is responsible for the overall management of the project, to include
budgeting, programming, planning, and monitoring of the design and
construction process. Project Administrators within this branch, located
within the Central Office, oversee several projects and supervise Project
Managers. The Project Managers also located in the Central Office are
responsible for the overall management of one or more projects, including
supervising staff on-site.
A typical BOP construction site team consists of a Contracting Officer,
Supervisory Construction Representative, also known as the Contracting
Officer’s Technical Representative, two Construction Representatives, and an
Inspector. The Contracting Officer is the only individual empowered to sign
contracts on behalf of the BOP, and therefore, is ultimately responsible for
ensuring the legal and financial integrity of the contracts. The Contracting
Officer must approve all contract modifications and progress payments to
contractors. The Supervisory Construction Representative is responsible for
the on-site management of the project and serves as the liaison between the
construction contractor and the Contracting Officer. The Construction
Representatives help the Supervisory Construction Representative with on-
site management, including working with the construction management
firms in performing inspections.
In the past, the BOP utilized the “design-bid-build” contracting
method; however, since September 1998 it began to use the “design-build”
contracting method. The basic difference between the two methods is that
in the former, the BOP contracted with an architectural-engineering firm to
design a prison facility and then separately contracted with a construction
firm to build. According to BOP officials, this method often resulted in
disputes over who was responsible for errors and omissions in the design or
construction of a prison. Under the new “design-build” method the BOP
contracts with one firm, known as a general contractor, that is responsible
for both the design and construction of the prison.
Officials at the BOP contend that the use of the design-build method
offers many advantages over the use of a design-bid-build process. Among
them: (1) there is a single point of responsibility for both design and project
construction; (2) synergy resulting from a contractor who is designer and
builder; (3) faster project completion because construction starts while the
facility is being designed; and (4) reduced claims and litigation. As part of
this new approach, BOP officials told us they developed a Partnering
Program to improve the quality of the construction projects, streamline the
design and construction schedule, and alleviate unwanted adversarial
relationships with contractors.
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