Planning, Construction and Facilities

The Office of Planning, Construction and Facilities (OPCF) supports all Catholic Diocese of Arlington stakeholders with facility project delivery through a professional team of architects, engineers and contract specialists. OPCF staff are not full-time construction managers, but we provide quality assurance and oversight of professional services and contractor activities from conception through facility operations and maintenance. OPCF also works closely with other Diocese of Arlington offices to ensure your project proceeds in accordance with diocese regulations and requirements.

The Diocese Finance Officer (DFO, on behalf of the Bishop) must approve all facility-related and/or liturgical furnishing projects costing more than $30,000, regardless if the project is new construction, change of use, or existing facility renovations.  

• The purpose of the Building Commission is to make recommendations to the Bishop regarding proposed capital outlay proposals leading to the construction or modification of diocesan facilities, and to assist the parish or school in carrying the project through to a successful conclusion. The Commission will review a project at initial concept, preliminary design, and detailed construction documents/financial-estimate phases.
  
  
• OPCF serves as the initial point of contact for pastors, parochial administrators, chaplains or principals that wish to present in front of the Building Commission. Staff from OPCF and the Chief Finance Officer will provide guidance and consultation to stakeholders wishing to make a presentation in matters relating to buildings.

• OPCF provides critical financial and technical oversight of all diocesan facility projects above $30,000 across Northern Virginia through a small staff of professional architects, engineers and contract specialists.
  
  
• Per diocese regulations, parishes and schools pay a 3% fee based on the construction cost of a project up to $7.5 million dollars, which covers some, but not nearly all, costs of the Bishop’s total annual operating cost to staff OPCF.

• Reverence for the earth = reducing energy waste and reducing our energy consumption
• Several CDOA parishes are now approved for installation of rooftop solar panels which will reduce energy costs and overall load on our commercial electricity grid.
• Many parishes are actively pursuing energy conservation measures on their campus, to include HVAC replacement, boiler upgrades, new “cool” roofing and LED lamp retrofits.
• Various private and non-profit firms are eager to help churches and schools identify and even finance these energy efficiency and solar projects, which often require little to no up-front costs from the customer

• In design-build (DB) the design professional is hired directly by the construction contractor, as opposed to being hired by the parish.
• This is very different from traditional construction (Design-Bid-Build) where the parish hires an architect for the design, and then contracts separately for construction of the project. 
• The goal of the DB is to design the project based on the owner’s budget, while making trade-offs of the owner’s requirements. 
• The DB method provides an early guarantee of cost and schedule. Most importantly, the design-build approach improves accountability, limiting the potential for conflicts and finger pointing during construction.