That’s why the Madison County jail committee is considering a “construction manager at risk” arrangement, which will include hiring a firm to oversee the project at a guaranteed maximum price.
The cost of doubling the capacity of the county jail has been estimated at $4.5-to-$5 million, but no set price has been established. If the BOC approves a “construction manager at risk,” the firm that is hired will provide a total dollar figure for completing the job, and if they exceed the price, then they bear the cost burden, not the county.
Jail construction expert Bill Lemacks of the Georgia Sheriff’s Association met briefly with the jail committee in BOC chairman Wesley Nash’s office last Thursday.
He said the construction manager at risk arrangement is good because only those firms experienced in jail construction are willing to take on such projects, because they could lose a lot of money if they don’t know what they’re doing.
“You get the most experienced person,” he said.
Lemacks said Madison County’s initial jail construction, which was hampered by numerous design and construction errors, was a good example of why valuing the low bid over experience isn’t necessarily the best decision for counties.
“Y’all are a living example of why the cheapest isn’t necessarily the best,” said Lemacks, drawing chuckles when he noted that “you don’t take the lowest bid on a heart surgeon.”
Lemacks also said McCall and Associates, the architectural firm that the county has consulted on jail expansion designs, is a quality company.
County commission chairman Wesley Nash, who joked and laughed with the committee two days after his election loss, noted that a construction manager at risk has no incentive to jack up the cost during the middle of the project.
“They have no incentive to do change orders, where in the past there was the incentive to do change orders because he got eight percent of it,” said Nash.
