Establishing and Updating District Standards for Design and ConstructionJulie Walleisa, AIA, LEED AP, CEFP

Dr. David J. Peterson

• Superintendent of Scottsdale Unified School District• Former Chief of Facilities Management for Learners• Former Director of Operations at the Mesa Unified Public

School District• Past President of the Arizona Association of School Board

Officials

Julie Walleisa, AIA, LEED AP, CEFP

• Architect and Certified Educational Facility Planner • Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University• Principal at Dekker/Perich/Sabatini• Specializes in early childhood, K-12, and higher education

design• Projects throughout the Southwest US

Presentation Outline

• Why set standards? Quick overview of benefits• Overview of different standards structures; most examples are

free and available online• How to avoid common pitfalls and maximize benefits• Best practices under any structure

Why set standards? Equity & Perception

Design standards don’t mean all schools look the same. Instead, standards address perception issues and real equity issues. For example, thoughtful material standards can mean the difference between a glossy or dull floor. They can also ensure that district maintenance staff can maintain each school equally and that all teachers have equivalent control of temperature and lighting in their rooms.

Why set standards? Maintenance

Many districts adopt standards to make maintenance easier. Standards help you avoid using hard-to-clean materials, like a field of small tile with light grout that quickly looks dirty. And they help with small but annoying things, like failed paint-touch up because the wall didn’t match the shade or sheen of paint that your staff thought was used.

Why set standards? Purchasing & Storage

Effective standards can also help streamline purchasing and storage. Rather than buy and stock different types of light bulbs, air filters, ceiling tiles, and toilet paper to fit evert type of holder, standards can help limit variation in these sorts of consumables and replacement products, saving time, money, and storage space.

Why set standards?

The bottom line is that streamlining purchasing, storage, and maintenance can reduce costs and direct more operational dollars towards expenditures that directly benefit students, while also providing a more positive and appealing physical environment.

Document Structures

Typical Standards Document Structures• Simple List/Table of adopted and preferred items• Full Spec Sections• Room Data Sheets• Detail/Drawing Manuals• Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR)• Hybrid/Combination

The right option of document structures depends on a district’s needs, goals, size, and other factors.

Structures: Simple List/Table

Smaller districts and districts with fewer construction projects generally opt for List/Table structures that typically explain standards based on manufacturers or products.

Structures: Simple List/Table

These structures require the least amount of time and effort to create and update, and they keep things simple and flexible. Although they make it easy to differentiate between required and preferred items, for instance, they can lack detail that explains why decisions were made.

Structures: Detailed List/Table

A more detailed list structure can provide a more useful background narrative about the intent of decisions. This explanation of interior doors clarifies why a district standardized around two door types for public versus private access, colors, and how exceptions are to be approved. This is helpful for design and review, and can serve as a substitute for institutional memory about why a standard was set.

Sample from http://bit.ly/1g2RGMA

Structures: Detailed List/Table

The detailed list structure even provides a cut sheet to match the species, cut, and color of the doors.

Sample from http://bit.ly/1IddivP

Structures: Full Specs

Standards that include full specifications of preferred products take more effort to create, unless they are pulled from a completed project.

Sample from http://bit.ly/1GAi5pM

Structures: Full Specs

A full spec typically consists of several pages of detailed information for each spec section or product. This example shows a 7-8 page spec for membrane roofing. These are long because in addition to approved products, they typically cover performance requirements, quality assurance, storage and handling, warranty, and execution requirements. Because they include references to current standards and specific products, the biggest challenge is updating the specs regularly to reflect changes in ASTM standards and availability.Sample from http://bit.ly/1GAi5pM

Structures: Room Data Sheets

Room Data Sheets give a detailed description of all the finishes, fixtures, furniture, and mechanical and electrical requirements. They might also include information about the type of room, activities in the room, and its expected occupancy.

Structures: Detail Manuals

Detail Manuals are more graphic and can require a higher level of effort to create, so they typically focus on frequently occurring details and areas with frequent problems, like roofing and technology integration. To avoid liability issues associated with directing licensed professionals to follow a particular detail, these typically include some statement about modifying for actual conditions.

Sample from http://bit.ly/1VrpnYk

Structures: Detail Manuals

Detail Manuals are often provided for simple maintenance reasons. This example shows a standard for removable bollards throughout a large campus so maintenance staff can easily remove them.

Sample from http://bit.ly/1IiYjXh

Structures: Detail Manuals

Complex Detail Manuals must be carefully thought out to avoid unintended consequences. This example detail was standardized in an effort to minimize roof leakage. But this layered sandwich likely traps water within the layers, causing invisible degradation, and it doubles the dead load, which could add significant cost and increase construction time. With detail-based standards, there needs to be a balance between institutionalizing things and taking advantage of the knowledge of your design professionals to customize a solution.

Structures: OPR Document

Owner’s Project Requirements are frequently used on projects that have a Commissioning Agent or are pursuing LEED certification, but they can also be used on any project to cover a wide range of issues.

“The Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) is a written document that details the functional requirements of a project and the expectations of how it will be used and operated.”

Structures: OPR Document

An OPR differs from other types of standards in two ways: (1) it typically provides background on type and number of staff available to provide maintenance and custodial services, and (2) it captures how some key things are handled, like snow removal or daily cleaning.

Structures: OPR Document

OPRs also provide objective performance criteria, like expected material life or warranty period. This OPR calls for finish materials with a 25-year life, plumbing infrastructure with a 35-year life, lighting at 20 years, etc. This can be a good compromise to control performance without restricting options.

Structures: OPR Document

OPRs often provide detail on material or system preferences and past issues. This example explains a preference for epoxy restroom flooring, one failed installation, and small details regarding restroom accessories and partitions.

Structures: Hybrid

In addition to all these types of structures, it is perfectly acceptable to create a hybrid structure that uses some simple lists, some full specs, some details, and some OPR information to best address your district’s specific concerns.

Maximizing Benefits

Maximize Benefits: Be Selective

The #1 philosophy we suggest is to be selective when crafting standards. Create standards for items that have a big impact. You do not need to standardize everything.

Only standardize items that:• Have a big impact on ongoing maintenance

- Flooring, grout, lighting, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, etc.• Have a big impact on ongoing operations and/or available

service providers - IT, door hardware, fire alarm, controls, etc.

• May need replacement over time - Restroom partitions, corner guards, signage

Maximize Benefits:Be Open-Minded

Another challenge in creating standards is remaining open-minded and getting broader input to make solid decisions. If standards are written only by maintenance staff that know your current materials, they could preclude the use of newer materials that may better meet your needs. Allow for consideration of new materials that meet performance requirements.

Maximize Benefits:Factual Analysis

For example – we’ve worked with some districts that had only used tiled flooring products like carpet tile and VCT, and so considered those standard out of familiarity. Once they were exposed to more information about welded sheet products, like Powerbond carpet and welded seam sheet vinyl, they realized those would be more cost-effective and easier to maintain, so transitioned their standards.

Maximize Benefits:Factual Analysis

We see the same thing in a variety of systems – using outdated systems, because it’s difficult to keep up with all the new developments. By getting input from people outside your organization, you can examine any outdated assumptions, challenge your service providers to supply useful information, and make sure you’re making fact-based decisions.

Trap guards vs trap primers

Maximize Benefits:Focus on Maintenance

When writing standards, it is ideal to focus on criteria that improve maintenance or are based on lessons learned. This roofing standard is a great example of thinking about the roof from a maintenance perspective and making it easier to maintain and drain properly. Without restricting product brands at all, this standard can bring the owner a lot of benefit for the life of the building.

Sample from http://www.unr.edu/facilities/planning-and-construction/design-const-standards

Maximize Benefits:Consider Cost Impact

It’s more useful to create standards that set a type of material or system – like VRV mechanical systems, or a sheet vinyl flooring with welded seams – and focus on performance criteria rather than standardizing specific, sole-sourced products. Anything that restricts competition can increase your construction or replacement costs. It might make sense to standardize brand names when it translates to life cycle savings, discounts on consumables, or other maintenance savings.

• Interaction between first and LC cost• Criteria vs. specific type vs. specific product• Use sole sources sparingly• Negotiate with key sources

Best Practices

Best Practices: Posting/Sharing

Standards should be digital and easily accessible to everyone working on your projects. Ideally they are posted to your website to make them easy to find and download, like this example, but some districts like to control distribution using a password or request system. The easier you can make it for your design teams, the better the results are likely to be.

Sample from http://bit.ly/1HJxNTE

Best Practices: Regular Reviews

Even the best standards can quickly fall out of date due to discontinued product lines, advances in technology, and changes in best practices. Ideally, standards should be reviewed regularly with input from outside specialists. In this example, standards are updated annually, district staff and consultants provide input, and users can register for updates. It can be daunting to review and update standards, so some districts use a rolling schedule to look at a portion of the standards every year and ensure that everything is reviewed and updated at least once every 5 years.Sample from http://bit.ly/1JfCJBW

Best Practices: Revision Tracking

As standards are updated, it is helpful to track the changes made to particular topics. This can be done with a simple revision tracking page at the front of the standards as shown here. Another option is to allow design firms to register and receive updates. To avoid potential disagreements about which version applies when standards change mid-project, it’s ideal to reference the version of your standards in the contract or have the design professional sign off on a particular version.Sample from http://bit.ly/1GAi5pM

Reference version in contracts

Both parties sign off on the current version

Best Practices:Procurement Requirements• Follow your district’s procurement policies• Follow ARS 15-213, which prohibits the use of specifications

proprietary to one supplier unless the specification includes:1. A statement of the reasons why no other specification is practicable.2. A description of the essential characteristics of the specified product.3. A statement specifically permitting an acceptable alternative product to

be supplied.• The same statute allows purchasing under GSA contract

pricing without complying with the requirements of the procurement rules.

Best Practices:Vendor Coordination

Another best practice is to make sure your standards specify any items to be directly provided by district vendors rather than specified by the design team and installed by the contractor. This is often the case with things like restroom accessories, access control pads, and room signage. Including this information in your standards encourages the design team to coordinate with your specific vendors. It can also help you avoid paying twice for things, because the standards are shown in the drawings and so included in the contractor’s price, but will in fact be provided by your vendor.

Specify items provided by district vendors

Encourage coordination

Avoid paying twice

Best Practices:Waivers & Exceptions

Low friction flooring

Shielded lighting

Welded seam carpet

And no standard is complete without establishing a process for granting a waiver or exception from your standards. This can be helpful if something in your standards is out of date, but also to allow the design to respond to the unique material needs of some spaces. For example, this is a special needs preschool space, which had unique needs for completely shielded lighting for kids with vision impairments, low-friction hard surface flooring that make it easier for kids using walkers and canes to navigate, and welded seam carpet for improved hygiene, all of which differed from the district’s usual practices.

Best Practices:Past Project Information

Submittals

O&M Cutsheets

Specifications & Submittals

Drawings &Submittals

Often there are undocumented items that have worked well in a past project - known as “we like what was done on that project”. The challenge is that it can be difficult to visually identify items just by walking through a completed building. So in addition to standards, it is helpful to keep a good archive of past project documents that your current designers can reference. Because some details, products, or colors may differ from the original drawings and specs, it is ideal to archive not just drawings but also written specifications, contractor submittals, and product cutsheets. The more information you can archive for future reference, the better the chance that designers can provide exactly what you want.

Questions to Ponder

Depending on where you’re starting from, creating or improving standards can seem daunting, but you can bite off a piece at a time starting with your highest priorities.

• How could standards help you better address maintenance, procurement, cost, and perception issues?

• What type of standards document is best suited for your current needs and easy to update and keep relevant?

• Are your current standards maximizing benefits and taking advantage of best practices?

• What resources can you use to create or improve your standards?

Better School = Better Students

Numerous studies have linked building conditions to student performance, teacher morale and performance, and student behavior. When their school is clean, appealing, and well maintained, kids are proud and treat their school with respect. Every day district staff support learning and help students become successful adults. Standards are one tool that can help make your job easier and create schools that simplify ongoing operations.

Studies summarized at http://www2.ed.gov/offices/OESE/archives/inits/construction/impact2.html

Thank you!

Julie Walleisajuliew@dpsdesign.org

Dekker/Perich/Sabatini is a design firm offering services in architecture, interior design, planning, structural engineering, sustainability, and landscape architecture, www.dpsdesign.org.