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Calvin, Giordano 8 Associates, Inc. E% C E F T 1 0 N A t 5 0 t U T 1 0 N 5 and in turn, better projects. Most people can remem- ber making a decision, but how and why they made that decision, or who else was in agreement, may not be so easily remembered months later. Documenting decisions also establishes a record of the "coalition of concurrence" that existed at the time the decision was made, but which may become more difficult to recre- ate as time passes. It is also important to document the assumptions and environment at the time the decision was made because these things can also change after time. Constructability Review - The " constructability" of a design is an important facet to consider during each phase of a design's development, however, when a preliminary design is nearing substantial completion (90% plans), it undergoes an in -house constructabil- ity review by our CEI and Construction Management departments. This review specifically ensures that the plans make sense from a construction perspective, and is intended to minimize potential problems in the field during construction. Many of the items targeted for this review include, but are not limited to: • Grading & elevations • Drainage • Materials and testing • Standard details and specifications • Potential utilities conflicts • Coordination with adjacent construction proj- ects • Conflicting agency permitting requirements • Logic of construction timing and phasing • Maintenance of traffic / work zone safety • Adverse impacts to community during con- struction Value Engineering - Value engineering is one of those industry buzzwords that is sometimes overused or misinterpreted. All projects should inherently be val- ue- engineered. An integral part of the design process is to produce a cost- effective project for the owner or client. This being said, most agencies view "value engineer- ing" as a separate step in the design process in which engineers are asked to "step out of the box" and ex- amine whether there may be creative ways to provide an equal or better design for less initial cost, or less overall cost during the lifetime of the project. This cost - saving process is often automatically performed in the private sector simply because of the demands of the client and private financing, but public sector proj- ects are traditionally subjected to much thicker layers of standardization which have had the unintended effect of creating less innovative, more "vanilla" proj- ects. Designers are sometimes afraid to stray from the standard designs due to liability or other reasons, and therefore tend to stick with more standard, possibly over - designed projects that were ultimately more ex- pensive. CGA believes that a true value engineering effort must include objective input from external reviewers that are not necessarily familiar with the project. No mat- ter how astute, the in -house designers involved in a project are typically disadvantaged for being able to discern an innovative cost - saving solution or alter- native. We therefore utilize professionals from other consulting firms that we have a good working rela- tionship to participate in projects in which we invoke this external value engineering process. "Community Engineering" - The term "community engineering ", or perhaps the more accurate "political engineering ", is a term we often reserve for municipal projects to remind us that no matter how great we think our ultimate design may be, it has to pass the less tangible test of being accepted by the public and community leaders. This means that the design must be consistent and compatible with the adjacent surroundings and fit in with the objectives of the neighborhood and prevailing political environment. On a more national scale, the Federal Highway Administration and other professional engineering organizations have adopted the term "Context Sensitive Design;' and have established guidelines for federally funded projects in order ensure large projects are compatible with the local character of the community. Therefore, "community engineering' or "context sen- sitivity" must be part of the first step of the design pro- cess, and continue through to final plans preparation. Even in very small local improvement projects, this concept is very important. just imagine presenting a final intersection design that consisted of standard steel -gray galvanized traffic signal mast - arms, con- RFQ No. 14 -07 -02 1 Continuing Professional services 59