Opportunities in Public Construction, A Recap from our Meeting with DCAMM
While we have noticed a dip in private construction, public works projects remain a bright spot in the construction industry. This means more job opportunities for our NECA Contractors in the public sector. As such, we were pleased to welcome Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) Commissioner Adam Baacke and his team to our NECA meeting to discuss the Administration’s goals around decarbonization, housing production and DEI, outline the upcoming project opportunities for NECA Contractors and provide an update on project delivery methods in the public sector.
As you know, DCAMM’s mission is to work with state agencies to create and manage more than 60 million square feet of public buildings to meet the needs of the Commonwealth’s citizens and help achieve a zero-carbon future with fiscally responsible building and real estate solutions. They actively engage with private sector partners and certify companies that bid on vertical public projects bid out by these various public agencies.
DCAMM was created and designed to professionalize the Commonwealth’s facility practices. NECA is confident that Commissioner Baacke and his team are working to ensure that today’s certification requirements, current thresholds and procurement processes remain transparent and continue to uphold contractors to a standard that ensure responsibility and accountability within the bidding process.
There are many benefits of public contracts as they are known to be more secure and reliable than private projects and can present NECA contractors with the growth opportunity in new markets like housing or clean energy. Commissioner Baacke and his team discussed DCAMM’s initiatives to expand access and opportunities for all contactors throughout their regular public construction outreach informational seminars for small, emerging, MBE, WBE, VBE and other businesses interested in bidding public work.
DCAMM also outlined the Agency’s focus on decarbonization and climate resilience and the current and future projects under MGL, Chapter 25A § 11C (contracts for procurement of energy management services) that will be put out to bid under construction manager at risk delivery method.
“The way big construction projects get done continues to evolve. Public projects used to happen via traditional design-bid-build, but today, many states and jurisdictions increasingly allow a range of delivery methods, such as construction manager at risk.
That flexibility brings benefits — and potential perils — for contractors as stated in the Construction Dive article, ‘Why CMAR is on the rise for public construction projects.’ https://www.constructiondive.com/news/dotted-line-cmar-delivery-public-construction-projects/719664/
During the meeting, DCAMM also highlighted some of the projects currently under construction, including Holyoke Veteran’s Home, McCormack building renovations and those in design/expected trade bids dates including North Shore CC life science lab, Mass Maritime Academy lab modernization and Salem State University.
NECA Boston will continue to strongly encourage more of our Contractors to get DCAMM certified and be a part of the Administration’s goals to reduce our carbon footprint, increase housing production through the capital project opportunities ahead.