The purpose of this study is to holistically identify a whole building approach to abate or encapsulate the ACM throughout the building that is considered to be in poor or critical condition. The intent is to address only friable material ACM (40% of the ceiling space ACM in the building is in poor condition) because friable ACM is considered to be much bigger health hazard than non-friable ACM. However, if any non-friable ACM areas in poor condition are discovered during the course of the investigation, it will be discussed/addressed.
As there are many base building impacts that will be affected by abatement activities, the University wishes to carry out this study to identify what impacts will occur to ALL base building systems, while recommending an approach for removals/renewals to accommodate the abatement activities. This will basically be a building condition assessment (BCA) of the M&E systems being driven by the asbestos abatement requirement.
The winning proponent shall be a multi-disciplinary team of professionals including at a minimum Architects, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers, potentially Structural Engineers or others to identify a whole building approach that takes into considerations all building systems.
As part of the objectives, the multi-disciplinary team shall fully evaluate the existing site specifics completed in the last year and become completely familiar with the building, its base building systems, and the impacts that the future abatement activities will have on the building and associated systems. Note that all ceiling entries even for investigation purposes must be done as at least type 2 containment for precaution purposes.
Upon familiarizing themselves with the project objectives and site conditions – successful proponent shall carry out an Investigation & Report (I&R) which provides a summary of the findings, and 3 approaches that can be considered to carry out the abatement. Status Quo shall not be an option. Consideration to abating, repair, encapsulating or a mixture are acceptable considerations, based on the professional recommendations which provide the highest financial benefit and risk mitigation strategy to the University. The options shall also include the appropriate measures to address base building systems which will be impacted, which may include removal and reinstatement and/or full replacement where end of useful life of systems have been reached and it is recommended to renew infrastructure while carrying out abatement activities.
Through the I&R the full building impact will need to be evaluated, and class ‘D’ estimate of costs will need to be included, which shall include all aspects of the project to carry out the abatement activities, including any affected base building reinstatements, renewals, and/or replacements.
It shall be noted that the functional programming of the building will remain as is. As part of the I&R stage, where base building systems need to be replaced, consideration to modernizing to more sustainable and efficient systems shall be considered as an opportunity-based consideration.
All options provided shall be feasible, implementable, and a detailed summary / phasing of activities shall be included to clearly outline the approach of the work.
The successful proponent shall provide their recommendation of options and be able to defend the approach to the University stakeholders through a cost benefit / risk analysis approach.
For this phase of the project, uOttawa is to retain the services of a consultant to produce an I&R with options analysis and cost estimate to implement a full building remediation based on the current DSR, while considering the impacts to the Mechanical, Electrical, Architectural and Structural (if any).
The project strategy is to hire an Architect firm as a Prime consultant, for them to carry a M&E sub-consultant to complete the I&R only in 2021. A structural Engineer will have to be identify by the Prime consultant including their hourly rates and fees, but the structural Engineer won’t be part of the initial PO issued to the winning bidder. uOttawa will take charge of hiring and manage the environmental consultant and the abatement contractor. However, uOttawa expect from the consultant team to define the demolition and repair scope for the abatement contractor in regard to the exploratory works required to complete the study.
Once the study is completed, depending on the I&R result, a new and separate project for the design phase might be considered for 2022 including a construction phase in 2023. Prior to any I&R developments, the consultants shall ensure a complete understanding of all M&E base building systems through carrying out a building condition assessment and validating the overall building distribution through both document review and on-site validation. The project team shall have a full understanding of the zones served, as found conditions, operational parameters, conditions, and lifecycle renewal requirements.
