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Process for Capital Projects

What are capital facilities projects?

Capital facilities projects are defined as:

  • Any new footprint construction project including expansions
  • Any renovation, recapitalization or demolition project with a total project budget over $100K
  • Any facility or land acquisition
  • Any new leased space or leased space renewal
  • Any master plan, feasibility study, or conceptual study that may result in a capital project
  • Any change of use within the existing Northwestern portfolio such as changing administrative space to research space

Projects that do not qualify as capital facilities projects will continue to be initiated directly with Facilities; however, these projects will be transitioned into the Capital Facilities Process when...

  • A project is more than $75k and has potential to be capitalized; and/or
  • A project has a high community impact; and/or
  • A project has a high campus physical impact; and/or
  • The project will alter the functional use of the space

The Capital Facilities Process works with the University's Resource Planning Process to align University resource and capital planning in a more deliberate way, establishing a strategic framework for the identification, prioritization, and execution of capital projects.

The Capital Facilities Process formalizes the initiation of capital facilities projects approved during the Resource Planning Process and assigns an approval path for each project. 

Process Components

The Capital Facilities Process comprises the following components:

  1. Project Initiation - Learn about how schools/units can initiate project requests
  2. Approval Paths - Learn about the approval paths A, B, and C
  3. Project Development - Learn how a project advances through the approval paths from programming through completion

Capital Facilities Committee

The Capital Facilities Committee reviews, directs and guides capital projects from project initiation through implementation. The Capital Facilities Committee includes representatives from the Office of the Provost, Office of Budget and Planning, and Facilities Management and is co-chaired by the Provost and Executive Vice President. 

The Capital Facilities Workgroup, a subset of the full Committee, manages project initiation and guides endorsed capital facilities projects through the approval process from project initiation through completion. Learn more about their role on the Initiation webpage.