For years, many national contractors steered clear of construction work at the University of California's Berkeley campus, citing contracts that even school officials described as risky and unfair. But when the university launched a $1-billion-plus seismic retrofit program four years ago, they knew they needed moreand more qualifiedbidders to save taxpayer money. So they began experimenting with contracting strategies new for the public campus. Unfortunately, the experiment may not be working as well as expected financially, based on experiences on UC's first seismic project now under way. Contractual disputes appear to be as complex as the task of removing the foundations of an historic brick building just yards from a dreaded fault.
In a 1998 industry speech, Jeffrey Gee, UC-Berkeley's former director of design and project management, promised "a big paradigm shift in the way we've been doing business with contractors." The campus' adherence to lump-sum contracting and hold-harmless clauses kept many of the area's most highly qualified designers and contractors away and often escalated project costs. He sought instead to employ a blend of construction management and general contracting that would allow team members to collaborate better and identify pertinent risks sooner.