Piping Problem in New Schools; Delay Will Not Affect School Opening

By Dave Freneaux

The specifications for the piping in the heating and air conditioning in Central's new schools call for pipe manufactured in the United States. Unfortunately, the pipe actually installed was imported from a number of foreign countries. While the pipe used does technically meet the testing standards, there is concern among some board members that imported pipe may not be of the same quality and consistency as that of domestic manufacture. The issue, regardless of how it is finally settled, should not cost the school system any additional money. Further, if the pipe needs to be replaced, the worst case scenario would cause an estimated two month delay in the completion of the schools, with completion around mid-May. The current plan has been to begin classes in August in the new facility, so this delay would have no impact on that plan.

At a called meeting of the Facilities and Equipment Committee of the School Board explanations were heard from the General Contractor as well as the subcontractor handling the installation of the pipe. Everyone is in agreement that the bid package and specifications called for domestic pipe. The pipe supplier agreed to supply domestic pipe, but shipped imported pipe to the jobsite. The supplier blames the error on an oversight in reading the specifications. By the time the issue was discovered and addressed, about 60% of the pipe had already been installed. Domestic pipe has now been ordered and will arrive in about two weeks. PBK Architects, representing the school system in this project, has at this point instructed the General Contractor to remove the imported pipe and replace it with domestic pipe.

The pipe supplier made an offer to issue a $150,000 credit and extend the warranty on the pipe by ten years if they were allowed to leave the imported pipe in place. They also pointed out that many large facilities, including the new Woman's Hospital being built in Baton Rouge, are using similar imported pipe. Informal estimates discussed at the meeting placed the cost of tearing out and reinstalling piping between $200,000 and $300,000, but there are many considerations, such as delays in other aspects of the construction, that would impact the actual cost. One additional consideration discussed was the possibility that the supplier could file a claim against the school system, asserting that they should have been allowed to leave the imported pipe in place. The School Board has referred that possibility to legal counsel for assessment. The committee took no action on the matter, instead requesting that all of the options and recommendations be presented to the full School Board at its next meeting on October 10th. That meeting will be held in the newly renovated theater at Central High School.