School District of Lancaster has reached a tentative agreement with an architectural firm to recoup a portion of the more than $3 million in cost overruns incurred on four recent construction projects.

The SDL board tonight will consider approving a memorandum of understanding with architect DLR Group on how disputes over who is responsible for the overruns will be settled.

District officials say the MOU will give SDL more leverage in determining who will pay for the extra work without the need for additional legal wrangling.

The district has blamed DLR for many of the changes made during construction and renovation projects at Wharton, Ross, Washington and Lafayette elementary schools.

To date, change orders on those four projects have cost the district an additional $3.2 million, or 7.2 percent of the total construction cost — nearly twice the $1.66 million included in the budget for overruns.

SDL chief financial officer Matt Przywara said he expects the change orders to total about $3.5 million when all work is accounted for.

So far, the district has paid for all the changes after negotiating the additional costs with contractors. But SDL contends DLR is responsible for some of that expense because it made errors or omissions on construction specifications.

The memorandum of understanding would establish a framework for classifying the change orders to determine financial responsibility.

The work would be classified as "owner requested," "code," "unforeseen conditions," "omissions" and "errors."

"Owner requested" changes would cover those sought by SDL after construction had begun; "code" changes would include those required by building or zoning codes after work started; and "unforeseen conditions" would cover changes DLR could not have foreseen.

For those three categories, the district would pay DLR 6 percent of the cost of the changes if they required additional design work by the architect.

The other categories in the MOU are "omissions," for work DLR should have included in the project prior to the bid process but was added later; and "errors," covering work that needed to be ripped out or redone.

DLR would pay the district 10 percent of the cost of omissions and the full cost of errors.

District officials allege that the architect omitted bid specifications on two major aspects of the project — reinforcements needed to stabilize the ground for additions to Wharton and Ross and sound-deadening materials for the heating and ventilation systems at all four schools.

That work added more than $1 million to the projects' cost, according to the district.

SDL also alleges that contractors had to make changes because of inconsistencies in construction drawings and specifications completed by DLR.

Andy Anderson, DLR Group principal, said in an email that his company "is pleased that we have established a structure to resolve all remaining outstanding issues. We look forward to working with the district to complete this process."

The company declined further comment.

The key to the MOU is that both sides would have to agree to the classifications. If the two sides cannot agree, either party may pursue a claim through other legal channels.

But district officials are hoping the MOU reduces the need for continued legal action — and attorneys' fees.

"I think it's in the best interests of the taxpayers to move in this direction," Przywara said. "It gives us good leverage and sets the district up" to resolve issues of financial responsibility.

Przywara declined to speculate on how much money SDL may end up recovering through the MOU.

To cover the cost overruns, SDL had to increase the amount it borrowed for a second phase of school upgrade projects. The first phase, which included the projects at Wharton, Washington, Lafayette and Ross, is nearly complete.

The SDL board meets at 7 tonight at McCaskey High School.

bwallace@lnpnews.com