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Case Study: The New NC DHHS Headquarters

The new NC Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Headquarters campus in Raleigh, NC consists of an 11-story office building, 10-level parking deck, and central energy plant. This facility, which will consolidate all other Raleigh locations, will be home to 2,500 NC DHHS employees. The new headquarters, which is one of the State Construction Office’s largest public projects to date, is designed to meet the highest standards of sustainability and energy efficiency.

The Challenge

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS) Headquarters project presented a unique opportunity to redefine traditional construction project delivery. As the largest State construction project in North Carolina, the project demanded innovative approaches to mitigate risk and accelerate the construction timeline.

The Solution: Early GMP and Collaborative Design

Rather than the industry standard of providing a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) at Construction Documents (CDs), our team took a proactive approach by offering a GMP at Design Documents (DD), when the design was only 50% complete. This early commitment to the project allowed for a more collaborative and efficient design-build process.

Key Strategies

  1. Early Engagement and Collaborative Design:
    • Lock-Step Partnership: By engaging with the design team early in the DD phase, we fostered a collaborative relationship, enabling open dialogue and proactive decision-making.
    • Overlaying Documents: Leveraging advanced technology, we overlaid old and new documents to identify potential design changes and their cost implications, ensuring alignment with the original budget and scope.
  2. Accelerated Construction Timeline:
    • Phased Bidding: By strategically dividing the project into five distinct phases, we were able to expedite the bidding process and shorten the overall construction timeline by ten months.
    • Mitigating Inflationary Pressures: Early bidding and construction commencement allowed us to avoid significant inflationary costs, resulting in approximately 20% savings.
  3. Robust Cost Tracking and Accountability:
    • Detailed Cost Tracking Log: Our team maintained a meticulous cost accounting log to reconcile preconstruction contingencies at the DD stage.
    • Transparent Change Management: Any design changes that impacted costs were documented through addendums, ensuring accountability and maintaining alignment with the original scope.

The Outcome

By implementing these innovative strategies, we successfully delivered the NC DHHS Headquarters project, demonstrating the power of early engagement, collaborative design, and robust cost management. This case study highlights how our team’s commitment to excellence and our ability to adapt to evolving project needs can lead to significant cost savings, accelerated timelines, and reduced risk.