Case Study: Columbia College Chicago achieves control of capital project costs with Trimble e-Builder

Nation’s Largest Private Arts and Media College Takes Control of Capital Project Costs

Columbia College Chicago, the nation’s largest private arts and media college with nearly 12,000 students and 22 historic buildings, struggled to manage a growing capital program. The facilities team had no system to track committed versus actual costs, approvals were inconsistent, construction documents were scattered, and reliance on error-prone spreadsheets made cost reporting and controls inefficient and risky.

In 2009 the college implemented e-Builder to standardize workflows and centralize documents, budgets, commitments, change orders and payments. The platform enforced prescribed approval processes, provided real-time visibility into project costs, improved compliance and accountability, and significantly increased efficiency—enabling a small team to manage a roughly $13M capital program with greater transparency and auditability.

Columbia College Chicago

John Kavouris

Associate VP of Facilities & Operations in the Facilities and Construction Department