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ection 4: Response to RFQ Section # 1.5 questions 8 and 9 cont'd KM/Plaza uses a quantitative method of estimating and budgeting, mixed with some of the latest tech- nology to help expedite and streamline the budgeting process and the updating of each progress budget. Our entire estimating department uses digitizer software for take-offs which can be imported into our Excel format for estimating. Our formats are completely standardized, once again keeping the process familiar and easy to update at each budget revision, Typically a budget is updated with the issuance of a revised set of documents or with the acceptance of Value Engineering options. Our budgets have always been within 5% of the final GMP value. Our GMP's have historically been less than the budgets for each project, This accuracy has therefore never put our clients in a situation of being surprised by the final price. The estimates are always done independently of subcontractor bids, but then supported by the market place once the estimate is completed. The final budget estimate becomes a joint effort between estimating using historical data and actual bids from the local market place, Our staff, including our President, Brad Meltzer (Master of Architecture), is stocked with trained profes- sionals that are able to provide not only strong Value Engineering possibilities, but also with a potential- ly more important component; the Constructability Review. This review is performed on all of our proj- ects and is done at each stage that budgets are updated. This allows us to explore the project, the thor- oughness of the documents, and the way in which the project will be built, before the Construction Documents are issued for bid. An example of this effort can be seen on The Marquis. Prior to issuing the drawings to the subcontractor market for the bid of this 67 story tower, KM/Plaza completed a Constructability Review that included over 1400 issues that required resolution. These items were all answered and responded to by the design team and included in the bid documents, This prevented approx- imately 1400 items from becoming RFI's, change orders, delays, etc. At each stage of Design Development (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) the entire list was updated, added to and confirmed, thereby confirming all open and closed issues at the time of final documents. With our firm's history as an Owner/Builder, KM/Plaza takes expenditure of the client's funds as our most critical mission, With this in mind, we have established a program that has proven to save our client's significant dollars through Value Engineering. An example of Value Engineering that realized significant savings was the garage surround on the Carillon II project, By simply changing the "wavy wall" element that surround the parking structure from poured in place concrete to precast, we were able to reduce the GMP by $400,000.Not only did this save a great deal of money, but it actually increased the quality and aesthetic that the Owner and Architect were look- ing for. Another Value Engineering achievement occurred on the Marquis. This project stands 67 stories tall. The value of the eventual glazing contract was in excess of $10 million. One suggestion we made was modifying the color of glass specified. This change proved to yield a cost savings of over $ 1 million and is almost unnoticeable to the naked eye.