Two Construction Reforms from DDC Strategic Blueprint Made Permanent After Successful Pilot Programs

Advanced Capital Planning and Expanded Work Allowance will aid in long-term planning and reduce project delays

DDC: Denisse Moreno, 718-391-1854, morenode@ddc.nyc.gov

(Long Island City, NY – June 4, 2025) Commissioner Thomas Foley of the NYC Department of Design and Construction announced today that two transformative initiatives, Advanced Capital Planning (ACP) and Expanded Work Allowance (EWA), will now be made permanent. DDC successfully piloted both initiatives as part of its Strategic Blueprint to build better, faster, and more cost effectively. Based on its success at DDC, EWA will also be expanded to additional capital agencies, one of the most significant broad-stroke efforts to improve project delivery in many years.

“These two reforms are game changing. They will directly benefit everyone who relies on public buildings and infrastructure across our City and directly assist our industry partners,” said DDC Commissioner Thomas Foley. “Advanced Capital Planning will provide city agencies with the information and technical expertise they need to plan building upgrades over the long term. Agencies will be equipped to spend their capital dollars strategically to address their programmatic needs, state of repair, and strategic goals like electrification and resiliency, and DDC will be able to start projects more quickly.

“EWA provides another advantage by allowing us to quickly address unforeseen conditions without going through the change order process first, something we’ve never been able to do previously. With EWA, we can pay our contractors quickly without delays and keep construction moving. Thank you to City Hall, the Office of Management and Budget, the City Council and the Comptroller for their support for these pilot programs and their expansion.” 

Advanced Capital Planning

Advanced Capital Planning will bring data-informed planning support to DDC’s sponsor agencies through three related components: a new data portal that compiles public buildings data into a single, easy-to-use platform; a new building assessment tool to gather needed data points, like inventories of mechanical equipment and fuel source; and a new planning program led by DDC’s technical experts that will leverage this data for long-term capital planning.  

DDC piloted all three components for the Queens and Brooklyn Public Library systems, which demonstrated the value of this holistic approach. DDC built the first stage of the data portal to analyze characteristics like state of repair, flood exposure, and energy efficiency to predict future needs and propose approaches to planning and funding the work.

Thanks to the $4.5 million in funding awarded as part of Mayor Adams’ Executive Budget, DDC will be able to advance the program past the pilot stage, building permanent data tools and extend planning support to additional sponsor agencies, in partnership with the Department of City Planning. In addition, DDC will hire 10 new staff, including technology, capital planning, and building assessment personnel to execute planning and manage the program.    

Expanded Work Allowance

Since the pilot program was first launched in 2019, EWA has led to a 50% reduction in the time it takes to pay contractors for unexpected change orders on capital projects. EWA will now be rolled out to other agencies with large capital budgets, including the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation (Parks).  

During construction, change orders are needed when unforeseen existing conditions or updates to building codes are made post-design completion. With a traditional change order, the extra work is identified in the field and once the agency has determined it should proceed, a change order is drafted, negotiated, reviewed by Engineering Audit and then sent to oversights including OMB and the Comptroller for approval and registration. This process can take as long as a year before payments are made, with work languishing in the meantime. 

Expanded Work Allowance functions as a registered contingency fund built into capital project contracts, and the contracting agency can draw on this fund immediately without any additional authorizations from oversight agencies. With EWA, once the extra work is identified and determined to be eligible, the work is estimated and can proceed immediately, with 85% of the estimated cost eligible for immediate payment while negotiations are still underway. In 32 pilot projects and 130 individual uses of EWA since the pilot began at DDC, the agency saved an average of 124 days from the traditional change order process – a savings of 36%. This effort not only keeps projects moving, but it benefits smaller vendors who may not be able to front payments to their subcontractors. The expansion of EWA was negotiated as part of the Mayor’s Capital Process Reform Task Force based on DDC’s successful launch. 

DDC had advocated for Advanced Capital Planning and Expanded Work Allowance as part of the Strategic Blueprint, and these reforms were championed for City-level adoption by the Mayor’s Capital Process Reform Task Force. With today’s announcement, DDC and New York City make good on the commitment to meaningfully reform the capital process to get needed projects done better, faster, and cheaper.

"Advanced Capital Planning and Expanded Work Allowance are the latest examples of New York City leveraging technology and innovation to achieve cutting edge asset management and capital delivery,” said Dan Steinberg, Director at the Mayor's Office of Operations. “These reforms compliment the implementation of design-build and the launch of the Capital Projects Tracker, which together make the City's construction program more efficient and more accountable to taxpayers."

“By making these reforms permanent, NYC DDC is setting a new standard for how cities can deliver infrastructure more efficiently and effectively," said Lisa Washington, CAE, Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) Executive Director and CEO. "Advanced Capital Planning and Expanded Work Allowance, paired with the city’s effective use of design-build, show how innovation in project delivery gets results. DDC continues to lead by example in delivering value to the people of New York City.”

"DDC is showing what real leadership in public construction looks like,” said Carlo A. Scissura, Esq., President and CEO of New York Building Congress. “Locking in Advanced Capital Planning and Expanded Work Allowance means projects move faster, contractors get paid quicker, and the entire system works better. The Building Congress is proud to back this momentum and will keep pushing for the tools our industry needs to build a stronger New York."

About the NYC Department of Design and Construction
The Department of Design and Construction is the City’s primary capital construction project manager. In supporting Mayor Adams’ long-term vision of growth, sustainability, resiliency, equity and healthy living, DDC provides communities with new or renovated public buildings such as firehouses, libraries, police precincts, and new or upgraded roads, sewers and water mains in all five boroughs. To manage this $33 billion portfolio, DDC partners with other City agencies, architects and consultants, whose experience bring efficient, innovative and environmentally-conscious design and construction strategies to City projects. For more information, please visit nyc.gov/ddc.