Today’s educational facilities require a higher level of technology infrastructure, safety features and ADA compliance than schools built decades ago. Governments also have to pay more for construction than private industry. For example, governments are required by law to pay contractors “prevailing wage,” which means labor costs for constructing government buildings are higher than for constructing private buildings. Costs have also increased in recent years because the demand for building is high in our area, in part because of recent bond measures passed in several Oregon school districts. The cost escalation means it is more expensive to build later, so the 2018 bond is organized so that as much construction as possible takes place early in the life of the bond.
Click here to learn about Prevailing Wage on Oregon.gov’s webpage.
Follow this link to read a news story published in the PortlandTribune about construction cost increases in Beaverton.