LEAN School Maintenance Operations Construction

LEAN School Maintenance Operations Construction is easily attainable with capable leadership and the implementation of best management practices.

Whether you are head of M&O, Construction, Chief Financial Officer, Procurement, or Superintendent…   efficient management of the numerous and ongoing repair, renovation, and minor new construction projects, common to all K12 Schools, is critical to both the bottom line and the quality of educational services being offered.  Quite frankly, efficient stewardship of the built environment is critical responsibility for all.

As there is lot’s to do, and little to do it with, assuring that 90% of all repair, renovation, and minor new construction projects are completed… on-demand, on-time, on-budget, and to everyone’s satisfaction…  is a necessity.

The OpenJOC(TM) Framework for Job Order Contracting (JOC) provides all the tools, training, and information needed to meet your requirements.   JOC, when designed, implemented, and managed properly, has proven to consistently deliver 90%+ of all repair, renovation, and minor new construction projects are completed… on-demand, on-time, on-budget, and to everyone’s satisfaction.

That said, not all JOC Programs are the same.  They must be open, transparent, follow fundamental JOC best management practices, use locally researched and detailed construction cost data (updated annually and organized by CSI MasterFormat – 50 Division), require initial and ongoing training for ALL participants and stakeholders, and be regularly audited.

Based upon the amount of construction dollars spent annually upon repair, renovation, and minor new construction, there are three ways that JOC services are typically provided.

1. Owner-managed JOC Program – School creates, implements, and manages its own JOC Programs (for $2M-$3M+ spent annually)
2. JOC Cooperatives – Leveraging a JOC Program already in place via an inter-local agreement.  Assure the JOC Program is administered and supported by a government agency and not a for-profit, or not-for-profit enterprise to assure compliance and best value. (under $2M-$3M+ spent annually)
3. JOC Consultants – In some instances a JOC consultant is hired to “manage” a JOC Program.   This can be problematic for several reasons.  First, the core benefits of JOC are realized due to the direct collaboration between the owner and the construction contractor(s).  Having a third party between this relationship has shown to introduce communication issues, cause delays, create situation of bias, and even cause concerns for misuse and fraud in some cases.   Under no circumstances should a JOC Consultant manage a JOC Program is the consultant is being paid a fee based upon a percentage of construction volume and the consultant plays a role relative to the approval of projects.  (See JOC Audit Information…)