[KHS81]

School Watch, on May 27 2008, 12:48 PM, said:

There is alot of construction being done on these schools. Where millions of dollars are being spent we need to be very aware of the people who oversee this work. One would hope that the entire school board watch with great interest Mr. Stevenson (who is also a member of the Kearny Planning Board)and is in the construction business, works his expertise. Each board member needs to know 1. who is doing the work 2.Where the contractor buys his materials.3.If there are any sub contractors, their names and who recommended them. My hope is that Mr. Stevenson would educate his fellow board members on the inner workings of the construction business so the board can be fully aware of these very important areas mentioned which could result in a possible cost savings for the school district.

If and I say If the SCC is involved in any school construction it is being overseen by the DCA thats the Department of Community Affairs in other words the State of NJ. When the SCC gets involved in school construction the local planning board and BOE have very little input if any. All plans are approved by the DCA prior to construction. As for the materials end of it the SCC and the DCA require that the General contractor of the site hire an independent construction testing labratory. The testing lab will oversee all aspects of the construction making sure the structural engineers specifications are followed to the letter. Also the inspection lab will do daily spot checks on the construction such as testing the strucural steel by magnetic or magnaflux inspection, welds, bolting is checked. Concrete being poured will be sampled and sent in to the lab for compressive strength testing. Backfill being placed will be checked for moisture content, for density and compaction. I know this because I work for a construction testing labratory for the past 18 years and am involved in the construction of several schools around the state of NJ. Like I said if the SCC is involved the local BOE has no say in the daily building of a school.

[KHS81]

Schoolwatch, on Jun 8 2008, 06:55 PM, said:

Does the inner workings of the construcion business need to have 2 people on the same page? 1. The general contractor, 2.The Architect, Do these people control the purse strings? Mr Stevenson being in the construction business should know this and needs to let his fellow board members know how materials are purchased, how subcontractors are selected, who influences who does the work, Again we would hope that Mr Stevenson will educate his fellow board members on the inner workings of the construction trade so to avoid and prevent possible abuse of the system, with the goal of making every tax dollar count in the interests of the Kearny Taxpayers and MOST OF ALL "THE SCHOOL CHILDREN OF KEARNY"

In the case of the town of Kearny you have the Engineer, Architect,and General contractor. What you need to understand is that once the school board decides to build either a new buidling or improvements on an existing structure, The school board will bring the proposal to a Architect to design the project along with an engineering firm, From there a dollar amount will be assigned to the project in terms of what it will cost to build or repair. At this point the School board will put out to bid the project. The contractor with the lowest bid wins, the GC will put out a bid then for subcontractors or rehire subs they have worked with in the past. Material purchased are done so by the different building trades, this is where the engineer comes in he/she will approve or disprove the material suppliers. Again low bid gets the job. Whether Mr.Stevenson tells his fellow board members or not is up to him. If any board member does not understand the inner workings of how construction practices are done, they do not belong on the board.