Expedited Project Delivery Through Job Order Contracting

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

Cook County, the second most populous county in the nation, has a population of approximately 5.3 million, and includes the City of Chicago. In 2013, Cook County implemented a comprehensive Job Order Contracting (JOC) solution to expedite its construction procurement process. Cook County has awarded 12 JOC contracts to various types of contractors: four (4) general, two (2) electrical, two (2) mechanical, two (2) highway site work and two (2) residential. These on-call contractors address the diverse repair, renovation and straightforward new construction needs of the County. The program is available to all County departments, including Capital Planning & Policy, Facilities, Corrections, Highways, Health and Hospital System, Sheriff’s Department and the Circuit Court, to streamline procurement of projects. The cooperative aspect of the program, called ezIQC®, is available to others in the County through Shared Services. JOC is an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity procurement tool that enables the County to complete a large number of projects with a single, competitively-bid contract. Work accomplished via the JOC process includes hospital condensing unit installation, correctional facility plumbing repairs, window replacements, ADA upgrades, office renovations, emergency repairs, roof replacements, and more. JOC eliminates the time, expense and administrative burden of completing the normal design-bid-build cycle, thus delivering quality construction faster and more cost-effectively. Using JOC, Cook County and its sister agencies have been able to produce a comprehensive scope of work via a Joint Scope Meeting, which allows for upfront communication with the contractor to promote clarity and significantly reduced change orders. In addition, the ability to mobilize a contractor on-site within one week’s notice has become a hallmark of the Cook County JOC program. With JOC, the procurement process is more efficient, allowing more projects to move through the process quickly, so work can be completed effectively, efficiently and economically.