Ojibwa Millennium School

The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Ojibwa Millennium School selected Interstate Engineering to provide engineering services to complete a new educational facility.

Interstate Engineering provided project management and construction observation to complete this K-12, 120,000-square-foot educational facility. We were hired during the construction of the school to assist in assessing the project’s status, resolve ongoing issues with several contractors, and provide projections and a plan of action that would be necessary to facilitate the completion of the project. We began by reviewing the existing construction and contracts involved with the project. From that assessment, we developed a realistic plan of action, which included the development of budgets, programming requirements, realistic schedules, and other items needed to complete the project. This assessment was then reviewed by the government and approved before the continuation of the project.

Once the project was again underway, we were intricately involved in the observation of the project. We performed construction surveying services under the owner to ensure the building layout was conducted appropriately. We also reduced the contractor and design team markup on such services. We performed other services directly under the owner, which resulted in project savings. In addition to the typical record-keeping tasks that include testing reports, RFIs, change orders, pay estimates, shop drawings, operation and maintenance manuals, and other documentation that are part of the daily operations of such a project, we were also made the authoritative signature for funding requests for construction payments as agreed upon by the contractor, government, and tribe. We managed multiple contracts during the project and dealt with many design and budget issues. Throughout the project, we had to show compliance with government requirements, provide updated status reports, justify expenditures, and even perform mediation duties between contractual parties on many different levels. These efforts successfully completed the Ojibwa Millennium School and opened it to the Turtle Mountain Tribal area.