Test Your Development Project Knowledge
These questions cover key stages of a construction and renovation project — from team assembly through completion of a facility.
A strong project team is multidisciplinary from day one. A program manager, design professionals, general contractor, legal counsel, and key internal school stakeholders should all be identified early to align goals, manage risk, and keep the project on track.
Facilities projects demand active school leader involvement at every stage. From selecting due diligence vendors and legal counsel to making value engineering trade-offs within budget, the decisions are frequent and consequential. Having a knowledgeable guide — like a program manager — helps leaders navigate the process without losing focus on their core mission.
Thorough due diligence protects your investment, however due diligence investigation usually occurs once a lease or purchase sale agreement is signed but before closing on the property. Due diligence items such as verifying zoning restrictions, environmental conditions, title and encumbrances, utilities infrastructure, and local code compliance are issues often researched once you have legal control of a property. An inspection period that is too short can be costly or can even cause the project to end and require you to pivot to another facility.
Liquidated damages clauses are a valuable risk management tool. They establish a clear, enforceable daily penalty for schedule overruns and give contractors a strong financial incentive to meet deadlines — benefiting both parties by removing ambiguity around delay consequences. However, LDs are not always beneficial to the owner if the project owner is the reason for delays.
GMP pricing tracks closely with design progress since the GC will need to obtain subcontractor bids based on the final drawings. A GC can provide ROM pricing after schematic drawings, design drawings, and construction drawings are completed. The ROM often, but does not always, reflect what the final GMP will be.
An RFI is a typical request for information from engineers involved in a project. Industry standard for RFI response is generally 7–10 business days. The contract should explicitly state response timelines, and the project team should track open RFIs carefully — unanswered RFIs are a leading cause of construction delays and disputes.
Owner-requested change orders can have far-reaching effects beyond the direct cost of the change. They may delay milestone dates, disrupt trade sequencing, impact material procurement lead times, and trigger additional overhead costs — making careful evaluation essential before approving any scope change.
Overlooked loan closing conditions can halt disbursements entirely. Vendors who aren't paid on time have legal remedies including charging interest and filing liens — both of which create costly complications that could have been avoided with thorough pre-closing due diligence.
Starting work before loan closing carries real financial and legal risk. Payments made prior to closing may not be reimbursable, and liens filed by subcontractors before closing can create title issues that threaten the loan. The decision depends heavily on overall financing conditions and should be made with legal and financial counsel.
Responsibility in design-build disputes is rarely straightforward. AIA contracts define liability between the architect and contractor, but determining fault — and enforcing it — often requires legal intervention. Owners should anticipate potential exposure to legal fees even when the fault lies elsewhere, reinforcing the value of thorough design review before construction begins.