Savannah-Chatham schools use Trimble Unity Construct to manage $400 million capital program

Savannah-Chatham County Public School System is a public school system located in Chatham County, Georgia which includes 55 schools and a total of 62 buildings. Their $400 million 3-year capital improvement plan includes construction of new schools, renovations, and HVAC renovation.

With the help of their longtime Program Manager, Parsons, SCCPSS started their search for a system to manage their program and data. “When looking for a system, I had to find something that would provide ROI,” says Darrell Boazman, SCCPSS’s Chief Officer – ESPLOST / Capital Projects. The team at SCCPSS did a cost to benefit ratio and ultimately decided on e-Builder Enterprise.

“One of the most important features was storage,” says Boazman. “Our IT department told us we had to store the data in our own system. We also needed our contractors to be able to access from anywhere.” In 2019, SCCPSS began their 6-month implementation with the help from Rich Miesemer, IT Consultant with Parsons.

Goal

A district that includes 55 schools in 62 buildings, SCCPSS needed a digital project delivery system to manage their program and data, including a $400 million 3-year capital improvement plan.

The challenge: Fragmented data in a 55-school district lifecycle

The district required a solution with sufficient data storage capabilities and streamlined reporting so they could remain transparent with their tax-funded spend.

The solution: Unifying asset lifecycles with Trimble Unity Construct

Over a 6-month period, SCCPSS implemented Trimble Unity Construct, a capital planning software, using it to set up change order reporting, a digitized bidding process, construction payment, RFI and punch list management, and more.

Ongoing benefits

The software provides a hub for communication between contractors and other stakeholders. While automated reporting allows managers to see up-to-date data via the business intelligence dashboard. Trimble Unity Construct empowers SCCPSS to manage a $400 million program over a five-year period with nine project managers.

Real-time reporting for board-level transparency

SCCPSS’s funding mostly comes from tax revenue, so there is a need to be transparent with their spend. Luckily, Mr. Boazman is a big proponent of reporting. “I can now provide status reports to leadership within 30-40 minutes. That type of information was just not available before.”

The district has set up number of reports, mostly around change orders. “We eventually want to put together a Business Intelligence Dashboard report that includes most of the information in the system, such as cost and schedules, issues and actions items, and RFI’s,” says Mr. Miesemer. Leadership is also utilizing Views. The district’s Superintendent can go into the Cost Summary at any time and see where they are.

Removing the pain from the bidding process

The district is utilizing Bidding heavily, which used to be a painful process. “In 5 minutes I have what used to take us all day to do. With these bid tabulation sheets, we don’t do any manipulation of the data. We print it out, attach it to a resolution, and I have had zero questions from the board,” says Mr. Boazman. In fact, the district’s Procurement team is exploring the possibility of using the Bidding module themselves.

SCCPSS has configured a number of processes including construction payment, professional services payments, change orders, architect supplemental instruction, issues and action items, risk, punch lists, RFIs, request for proposals, etc.

“Getting payments and change orders through the system has been very effective,” says Mr. Miesemer. “Everyone is getting notifications. There are no delays in payments, or delays in change order processes,” he adds. The district is also able to automatically track expiring insurance affidavits, tax certificates, licenses, etc. on all of their vendors.

When asked about the ROI that SCCPSS has experienced so far with Trimble Unity Construct, Mr. Boazman says “It has done that. When I tell my peers we are doing that $400 million program over five year period with nine Project Managers, they can’t believe it.” Boazman adds, “I can now do strategic planning instead of daily operational planning.”