Cost and Area Comparison Per Student of the Public Elementary Schools in Texas based on the Project Delivery Systems

Abstract

It has been shown that there exists a correlation between the cost of construction of elementary schools and the project delivery systems. Previous research showed that Competitive Sealed proposal contract method of construction is $4000 cheaper than the Construction Manager at Risk method of construction per student for elementary school construction in Texas.

This research investigates the elements causing construction cost variation in elementary schools of Texas by comparing and contrasting the two forms of contract documents, CSP and CMR. Two schools were selected for the study, although the schools are technically in different regions of Texas, the geological record suggests that there is not much difference in the techniques used for foundation construction and hence a reasonable comparison is possible.

A comparison was completed of the contract documents for two elementary schools. School A was built using CSP and School B using CMR. The two schools were built for about $13000 per student in line with A. N. Reinisch’s findings for CSP contracts in Texas, but not CMR average costs. The two ISD’s who supplied the documents were clearly concerned at cost control and appear to have managed this process. The earlier findings of a cost difference between CSP and CMR are not overturned by this study. Future studies involving a greater number of schools and the development of a central database are recommended.