KSA Summer Renovations Going Over Estimate

Forthcoming Birch building renovation expected to come in as budgeted

Several of the Kwantlen Student Association’s on-campus renovation projects have turned out to be more expensive than initially estimated, including work on the Grassroots Cafe and two fitness rooms.

KSA vice-president Student Services Tanvir Singh and vice-president Finance & Operations Rawan Ramini claim that the over-estimate renovations have been common lately due to the high cost of construction work in the summertime.

During the most temperate months of the year, contractors in construction are busy and can afford to list their services at a higher price than usual. Jam-packed schedules can also mean that the projects take much longer to complete than they would during the more idle seasons, as was the case with recent renovations to the Grassroots cafe.

The process of funding these projects begins with the KSA establishing an estimate for how much money they will need, releasing those funds after approving it in council, and cutting a cheque to Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Once the university has the cheque in-hand, they go forward with tendering the contract. Then contractors will receive their deposit and begin work.

Ramini clarifies that the KSA is going over estimate, but not over budget. The difference is that an estimate is flexible and can be altered before a final budget is set.

“With the fitness rooms, the estimate was around $150,000, and we did not release that money [from the Intramurals Capital Fund],” says Ramini. “We did not set that budget. We revisited the negotiation part and we figured out that we needed an extra $35,000, and now it’s $185,000. This $185,000 is our budget and it’s the money that we’re going to be using. If we go over that, we’ll be going over budget.”

She adds that the same is true of the Grassroots Cafe renovations. For that project, $50,000 was budgeted after the initial estimate of $25,000. 

The upcoming Birch building renovations also have a considerable amount of funding behind them. Currently, a $405,000 price tag has been estimated for Birch, which will transform it into a building for student constituencies, clubs, and the KSA to operate in. As before, the Sodexo cafeteria will continue to function there as well.

“We’re not expecting Birch to go over budget. We’re not expecting it to go over estimate either, but if it’s over estimate we’ll just have to allocate and ask council for more,” says Singh.

“If it’s over budget, then it’s a disaster.”

Singh and Ramini conclude that nothing that they are responsible for has gone over budget since the two of them assumed their current positions.

In regards to the extra $1,050 spent on the most recent Welcome Week, Ramini blames a changing market.

“It was planned last year, and there were a lot of differences between the way things worked last year and how they’re working this year,” she says.

Unlike the renovation overestimates, Welcome Week required around $1,000 more than planned because of DJ costs and a mixup between KSA General Manager Jeremy McElroy and the finance committee.

The two vice-presidents hope to renovate Fir 128 as a well-furbished theatre room in the future as well. However, for the time being, they have not sent in a proposal and do not have an estimate for the cost.