Contract Risk Map, Mesa Junction Elementary School Design-Build

Review of the District's 18 modifications to the DBIA 525 Agreement and 535 General Conditions from the design-builder's side, with actions by phase and ready-to-submit pre-proposal questions. The heaviest are uncapped liquidated damages, a five-year correction period that includes Owner-specified products, and a 180-day deadline to sue after Final Completion.

RFP DB-26-07 with Supplementary Conditions and Addendum No. 1DBIA 525 (lump sum, Third Edition 2024) and 535 (2022 Edition)Proposal estimate $52.4MPrepared Nov 5, 2026

Summary

Liquidated damages · Agreement §5.5 · Addendum 1

Addendum No. 1 removes the LD cap

Liquidated damages are $20,000 per calendar day. Addendum No. 1 deletes the 10% cap the RFP included. After 131 days late the estimate’s $2.62M fee is gone, and the exposure keeps growing.

Warranty · 535 §2.10 · Exhibit F

Five-year correction period on products the District selected

DBIA 535 sets a one-year correction period; the Supplementary Conditions require five years for all Work. 32 of the 38 Owner-specified products in Exhibit F carry shorter manufacturer warranties, and for 13 of them, worth $760,000, no extension is offered.

Claims · Supplementary Conditions

180 days to sue after Final Completion

Colorado's general limit for contract actions is three years. The Supplementary Conditions cut it to 180 days, while the dispute steps in 535 §10.2 can take up to 164 days before mediation must start. Whether 180 days is reasonable here, and whether the limit also bars a retainage claim, is for construction counsel licensed in Colorado to confirm.

Modifications to DBIA 525 and 535

Each modification in the Supplementary Conditions, the draft Agreement and Addendum No. 1 is placed by likelihood and impact for the design-builder. Select one to see what the unmodified form provides next to the change, the assessment and what to do. Actions and questions are collected on their own tabs.

18Modifications to the DBIA forms
14Risks, 3 high
4Opportunities for the design-builder
9Questions due Nov 20
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Level

Likelihood × impact

Five-point scales. The product sets the level: high 15–25, medium 8–14, low 1–7. For opportunities the vertical axis is the value to the design-builder.

Impact
Likelihood
High riskMediumLowOpportunity

    Sources and method

    Sources

    • Exhibit_C_Supplementary_Conditions_DBIA535.pdfDistrict modifications to the DBIA 535 General Conditions18 pp
    • Exhibit_B_Agreement_DBIA525_Draft.pdfDraft lump-sum Agreement with the Article 5 and Article 7 entries26 pp
    • Addendum_01_RFP_DB-26-07.pdfAddendum No. 1, issued Oct 30, 2026; deletes the liquidated damages cap4 pp
    • Exhibit_A_OPC_Div01_General_Requirements.pdfOwner's Project Criteria, Division 01, including Section 01 78 36 Warranties62 pp
    • Exhibit_F_Owner-Specified_Products.xlsxOwner-specified products with manufacturer warranties38 rows
    • Proposal_Estimate_Rev3.xlsxContract Price, fee, bond premium and extended-warranty quotes9 tabs
    • DBIA Documents 525 (Third Edition, 2024) and 535 (2022 Edition)Unmodified Agreement and General Conditions the changes are compared withStandard forms
    • C.R.S. 13-80-101, 13-80-103.5, 24-91-103, 24-91-103.5Colorado statutes on contract limitations, public works retainage and delay clausesStatutes

    Method

    1. The Supplementary Conditions, the draft Agreement and Addendum No. 1 were read clause by clause, and each change was traced to the section of DBIA 525 or 535 it modifies.
    2. Each change was compared with the unmodified form and classed as a risk or an opportunity for the design-builder.
    3. Likelihood and impact were scored on five-point scales. The product sets the level: high 15–25, medium 8–14, low 1–7.
    4. Impacts were priced against Proposal Estimate Rev 3: Contract Price $52.4M and a 5.0% fee.
    5. The 38 products in Exhibit F were checked against manufacturer warranty terms and extended-warranty quotes.
    6. Actions were assigned to five phases, and questions were drafted for the pre-proposal question period.

    Assumptions and limitations

    • The review covers the design-builder's position. Statements on Colorado law are summaries for the proposal team; confirm them with construction counsel licensed in Colorado, in particular the 180-day limit (R3), whether C.R.S. 24-91-103 reaches the District's retainage (R6) and whether uncapped liquidated damages are reasonable (R1).
    • Liquidated damages are calculated on calendar days from the Scheduled Substantial Completion Date of June 9, 2028, with no grace period.
    • Bond premium and manufacturers' extended-warranty quotes are as carried in the estimate on Nov 4, 2026.
    • Answers issued by addendum may change the assessment. Update the map when they arrive.