Capital Project Process

Phase 4: Completion, Closeout, and Turnover

Project completion

Requestor Involvement: Medium

A large modern glass building spanning a wide driveway. The building is surrounded by trees.

Pictured AboveScience for the 21st Century

The Bridge for Laboratory Sciences was built in an area of campus that was not only underused but also previously deemed unusable, the 82,000-square-foot masterpiece that anchors the school’s new Integrated Science Commons (ISC) is a true bridge of a building.

The Project Team will complete the construction process. This will include the commissioning of mechanical systems within the building to ensure these systems function in accordance with plans and specifications. They will also work with municipal authorities to complete all required inspections. The Project Team will conduct walkthroughs with campus partners to ensure:

  • installation of building equipment and furnishings are completed properly
  • Facilities Operations staff are thoroughly familiar with mechanical systems
  • a coordinated move-in plan
  • all remaining punch list items have been addressed by the contractors
  • obtain a Certificate of Occupancy

The Project Manager will work with the project team to close out the project. The Finance Team will close out the project budget and begin the asset management process.

Typical Timeframes for Phase 4

Large Project (More than $1M)

Completion, Closeout and Turnover takes 3–6 months

Medium Project (Between $100K and $1M)

Completion, Closeout and Turnover takes 2–4 months

Small Project (Less than $100K)

Completion, Closeout and Turnover takes 1–3 months

Roles

Facilities Operations Team: Vassar’s in-house department responsible for the maintenance and repair of all College buildings and grounds.

Finance Team: Budgets, Procurement, and Accounting, who ensure that all project costs are properly documented in compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

Project Manager: An experienced individual assigned to support the project, with skills in project planning, project management, and construction.

Project Team: The group that supports the project manager in the design and construction of the project. Depending on the nature of the project, it is likely to include: architects, engineers, consultants, contractors, and site representatives.

Terms

Certificate of Occupancy: A legal document produced by the local municipality allowing occupancy of the project. Typically received after all life safety and mechanical systems have been installed and are operating properly.

Commissioning: Process for verifying building systems meet design intent specifications as well as owner and occupant operational requirements. Normally follows the completion of building mechanicals installation.

Project Close Out: A joint effort between the Project Team and Finance Team to ensure final invoices have been paid, the project budget is properly closed out and the overall project costs have been properly entered into the College balance sheet.

Punch List: Identifies work that must be resolved by the contractors, generally prepared by the architect/engineer of record for the project.