LANIGAN — The Horizon School Division is currently navigating the supply chain issues that will determine if the upcoming K-12 school in Lanigan will be ready for students by September 2023.
Justin Arendt, Horizon’s superintendent of operational services, said that while supply chain delays are a global issue, it has resulted in some challenges with acquiring different parts and products through the division.
In tendering the division usually gets a timeline back when a specific asset will arrive from the contractor, for example having doors shipped might take two or three months. Arendt said that project managers, Ministry officials and others through SaskBuilds are telling the division it will likely take two to three times that delay depending on the type of product with an unprecedented four per cent markup.
“The consultants that we have that tell us what we should expect all this to cost are telling us that we should bake in an additional few percentage points of cost based off the fact we may have delays on some things, we may have an escalation of price to get things on time,” Arendt said.
“Everything from lumber, or steel, or windows, doors, computers, silicon chips – that seems to be another one that’s driving a number of issues.”
The division is trying to navigate the delay by preparing for tender with the question of “How do you intend to mitigate that issue?” for any respondents.
“Big construction companies have a bunch of doors sitting in inventory, so we’re hoping that we’ve got enough people that are ready and bidding for all of these products that have supply and enough local supply chains to make it work.”
The build in Lanigan isn’t the only one the division is navigating, with the finishing touches being put on a gymnasium expansion at Punnichy Elementary – a project that was expected to be completed over the summer.
School buses are another area of issue. The division found 2021 models to be more expensive than what they were anticipating. As a result, the division chose replacements from unused 2020 models.
“We’re planning for the worst and hoping for the best is the best way to look at it,” Arendt said.
“It’s not something that we’re not used to prior to the pandemic where we would have seen that stuff show up right away.”
