IMPLEMENTATION OF A STATE-OF-THE-ART ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORY USING THE DESIGN/BUILD PROCESS

An integral part of operating water and wastewater treatment facilities is to have accurate and timely laboratory analysis of the various unit processes. As a result of the increasingly stringent regulatory requirements placed on these types of facilities, the modern day laboratory is required to provide analyses to a degree that was not anticipated when current facilities were constructed. None of the WSSC laboratory facilities provided either adequate space or a safe environment in which to work. Because of the critical nature of the laboratory's mission to the WSSC's core responsibilities and the critical nature of the laboratory's environment to the safety of its employees, the WSSC initiated a study to determine the most cost-effective way to provide the data necessary to run our facilities and meet monitoring requirements. The results of this study provided convincing evidence to show that the most cost effective option by far (10,000,000 savings over 20 years) was to build a new laboratory facility that could house the entire WSSC laboratory program. As part of WSSC=s commitment to utilize innovative project delivery systems to accelerate the completion and reduce the cost of necessary facilities, it was decided to implement the Consolidated Laboratory Facility (CLF) using a design/build approach. In addition, WSSC committed to using a “partnering” approach with the design/build team to reduce the typical adversarial relationship that exists between owner and construction contractor. This paper will discuss the various aspects of the design/build process and the laboratory facility, including unique features of the functional criteria document, “risk-sharing” provisions incorporated into the project to minimize the potential for adversarial relations with the design/build team, and the state-of-the-art features contained in the finished facility which went from start of design to commissioning and staff move-in in less than 19 months. The final cost of the facility was actually less than the initial 10,340,000 Guaranteed Maximum Price submitted by the design/build team.