The report, by Raleigh-based consulting firm Heery International, found that many of the 16 UNC-system campuses cannot handle the bond-funded work in conjunction with existing construction and repair projects. "If past performance is an indicator of future production, it implies that projects may not move forward as rapidly as asserted under current schedules unless there is some intervention," stated the report.
The State Building Commission exempted the UNC-system bond projects from a state regulation that requires organizations to accept multiple bids for each facet of a project, allowing more efficient coordination for construction projects.
Heery was paid $250,000 from UNC-system President Molly Broad's discretionary fund to compile the report.
But Jeff Davies, UNC-system vice president of finance, said the extra costs were anticipated from the construction projects' start.
"We anticipated a need for additional staffing long before the Heery reports were done," he said. "A program of this magnitude is larger than we've done in the university before."
Davies said that each project budget includes a small amount of money for project management and inflationary increases. He added that the major challenge system officials face is how to properly use that budget.
Each university's chancellor is responsible for overseeing the hiring of new staff members for bond construction projects. Davies said the information included in the report is meant to serve as a recommendation to the chancellors.
"The Heery reports were our (way of) making sure all the chancellors had the information needed to implement this program correctly," Davies said. "These reports are the kind that will enable us to deliver this project on time and on budget. (They) will save millions of dollars in the long run."
