What Happens Next?

Once your space change request form has been endorsed by both your DLC Head and Dean/Unit Head, and received by the Department of Facilities, your project will be assigned a project number.

Each Monday, new requests are reviewed by representatives of the Office of the Provost, Campus Construction Project Management, Facilities Engineering, and Campus Planning. Depending on the nature of your request, one of the following actions will happen:

Your project will be assigned a Campus Construction project manager or planning manager
Your project will be referred to the Office of the Provost to address space needs
You will be contacted by Campus Construction for additional information.

If a Campus Construction project manager is assigned, your project will typically move through the following stages to completion:

At this stage, your Campus Construction Project or Planning Manager and a representative from the Office of the Provost schedule a meeting with you and other project stakeholders. The purpose of this meeting is to establish roles, responsibilities, funding and scheduling as well as agree upon the program and project scope. Depending on the complexity of your request, a consulting Architect and/or Engineer may be invited to this meeting to assist in determining scope requirements. After the meeting, a summary Memorandum of Understanding will be issued by the Office of the Provost for your approval and signature.

Your Campus Construction project manager will draft a Stage 1 Budget to establish the estimated cost through the minimal, initial design needed to determine a reliable estimate of Total Project Costs. The Stage 1 Budget may also include what is called the Rough Order of Magnitude Range Estimate, based on square footage costs from similar, previous projects. The range estimate is not included if significant engineering, building investigation, or scope clarification is needed for an estimate. After review by Campus Construction management, the Stage 1 Budget is issued to your Department Administrator, your Assistant Dean, and the Office of the Provost. After you and your stakeholders review the Stage 1 Budget, if you wish to proceed, you then contact your Assistant Dean to request that your project be submitted to CRSP for approval to proceed with design. The request for CRSP approval must also include the proposed funding for your project.

Your project information is then submitted to the Renovation Subcommittee of CRSP (R-CRSP), which meets approximately every two weeks to review all School or Unit planning, study, or renovation requests. A project is only reviewed by CRSP if it is endorsed by your Dean or Unit Head. If the committee approves your request to proceed with initial design, you and your Campus Construction project manager will be notified of the approval. Depending on the needs of your project, with approval and funding, the MIT Facilities team will select an outside designer, to work with you to hone your project. The deliverable is a Schematic Design plan and narrative providing a general view and scale of the various architectural and engineering components.

The Campus Construction project manager uses the Schematic Design plan and narrative to create a Proposed Preliminary Estimate—a more detailed estimate of your Total Project Costs. This estimate is typically based on an outside contractor’s estimate for the construction work and standard estimate amounts for design, contingencies and other “soft” costs such as shut-downs and moving expenses. The Proposed Preliminary Estimate is reviewed by Campus Construction and then distributed to you in the same manner as the Stage 1 Budget. If you approve the Proposed Preliminary Estimate, and this estimate does not exceed the Stage 1 Budget Range Estimate, the project proceeds with the next stage, design completion and bidding In the event that the Proposed Preliminary Estimate exceeds the amount of the Stage 1 Budget Range Estimate, the DLC will need to propose additional funding and the Dean’s Office will need to again endorse the project. It will then be submitted to CRSP for approval to proceed with design completion and bidding.

Under the direction of the Campus Construction project manager, with assistance from your project stakeholders, the project architect will create construction documents for your project. These include structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing drawings, specifications, and necessary supporting documentation. Upon completion and review by Facilities Engineering and by stakeholders where appropriate, the project is sent out to bid through an open, competitive process either directly to pre-qualified general contractors or through a construction manager to pre-qualified subcontractors. When all bids are in, the project manager proposes the lowest qualified bidder as the basis for an As Bid Total Project Cost Estimate.

If you approve the As Bid Budget, and this estimate does not exceed the previously approved budget for the project, the project immediately proceeds with the next stage, construction, and this step is merely reported to R-CRSP. In the event that the As Bid Budget exceeds the previously approved budget amount, the DLC will need to propose additional funding and the Dean’s Office will need to again endorse the project. It will then be submitted to CRSP for approval to proceed with the construction.

Once you receive CRSP approval to proceed with construction, the bid is awarded to the lowest general contractor or the construction management subcontractors. Most often, there will be regularly scheduled progress meetings with the contractor. The Campus Construction project manager will work closely with you to create an efficient construction schedule that takes into consideration all parties’ needs, including colleagues in other departments who are located near the renovation site.

When construction is nearly complete, a final inspection will be scheduled with the City of Cambridge to confirm all building permit requirements have been met. After successful inspection and sign off of the building permit by a City Official, you can move in to the renovated space. At this time, a punch list will be developed with the Campus Construction project manager and the contractor that will list all needed tasks for final completion. Once the contractor completes the punch list, the Campus Construction project manager will begin the document and financial close out process. Final payment and reconciliation of funding is typically completed three to six months after occupancy. Upon completion of the financial close out, final costs and funding allocations will be reported to CRSP and you will receive a comparison of the final, approved budget to actual construction costs.