6 Wasatch Front Focus, January 2010
Walking the tightrope with your new construction project?
Let’s face it, walking a tightrope with- blame for most bank failures. Whether you harmed by protecting you.
out a safety net can be messy. It is uncon- are a bank, a private individual, a large A few years ago a homeowner’s asso-
scionable for a steel erector or exterior skin corporation or a small corporation looking ciation ventured out on a worthy project to
installer to do their work without the at a new construction project, you need to upgrade their condominiums. The associa-
proper tie-offs and safety procedures. An make sure that your safety net is in place tion (owner) relied upon the traditional
owner does not face the same physical by either: (1) hiring full time staff with approach and hired an architect and a con-
danger as the contractors working in the experience and time who are dedicated to tractor to assist their in the development
field, but the owner does inherit great getting in the details of managing your process. After much dispute, cost overruns
financial and market risk when project or (2) procuring and schedule delays, the owner decided to
they venture out on a new con- an independent project/ retain staff that was experienced and able
struction project. In general, own- construction manager to bring control back to their project. Prior
ers choose to walk the tightrope that has experience in to this, they were at the whim and mercy of
on their projects with few to no representing you as the the architect and the contractor. Once the
safety nets. Contractors and owner. association took back the control of their
designers are skilled and knowl- Traditionally, owners project, they were able to successfully fin-
edgeable in their respective areas. will turn their manage- ish the work within budget. They were also
They know how to limit their ment over to the archi- able to avoid a costly lawsuit.
risks by shifting those risks to tect, engineer or contrac- The following are a few “safety nets”
someone else as much as possi- Ryan Johnson tor. When a project
owners need to implement in order to limit
ble. Owners are usually not as enters that “trouble risk:
familiar with how they can con- phase,” it is usually • Cost controls — Accurate Third
trol their risks, and will often turn their because a member of the team is not per- Party Cost Estimates (no conflicts of inter-
project management over to those that may forming. If that “nonperforming” entity is est) – Owners that turn cost estimating
not have the time, experience or their best the architect, engineer or contractor, then over to their design and construction team
interest in mind. the owner is in trouble. It is not likely that will often miss critical details that affect
The failure in the financial market is a the owner will get the protection that he is their bottom line. The owner needs to pro-
good example of what happens when own- looking for, if the people who are holding cure an objective estimate, whether that be
ers do not pay attention to the details by the safety net are part of the problem. This with in-house experienced staff or an out-
providing the proper safety nets. The own- is certainly a recipe for failure. This is not side, objective third party firm.
ers in the financial market (banks) relied to say that these entities are unethical or • Schedule controls — Accurate and
upon less-than-quality management proce- dishonest, but it certainly puts players of Complete “Master Schedule” (covering
dures to protect themselves and their inves- your team in an uncomfortable and con- owner’s interests) – When the owner devel-
tors. As more banks go under, it’s useful to flicting situation. It is important for an ops and maintains a critical path schedule,
take a look at some of the FDIC Inspector owner to provide for his own safety net by they ensure the schedule incorporates
General’s post-mortem reports of recently having someone whose sole concern is to owner issues and is used as a tool through-
failed institutions (www.fdicoig.gov/MLR. represent the owner’s interest. You do not out the design and construction process.
shtml). These “material loss reviews” want someone dropping their corner of the Too often the schedule is not used to man-
underscore how poor management is to safety net if they see that they will be
age the project, but becomes a document
that is pretty to look at and tells the owner
what he wants to hear. Owners need the
“hard facts” so they are able to participate
in the solution instead of inheriting prob-
lems that they most likely did not create.
Again, the owner needs to retain someone
who has the skills to develop and maintain
the schedule, whether that be with in-
house experienced staff or an outside,
objective third party firm.
• Procurement controls —
Competitive/Qualified Procurement and
Contract Development – Owners will often
rely upon design and construction relation-
ships to buy-out their projects. If your
representatives are not fostering a com-
petitive procurement process that also
includes an objective pre-qualification
procedure, then significant dollars and
quality are being compromised on your
project.
• Change order controls — Claims
Management and Change Order Review/
Control – The owner’s staff needs to dedi-
cate the appropriate resources to review all
claims. The traditional approach will often
have the design team review costs for
approval. This is certainly appropriate,
since they are the author of the contract
documents. However, the design team typ-
ically does not have the time or the fee to
spend in reviewing and sometimes hag-
gling with the contractor regarding costs.
Furthermore, the contractor and designer
may also be contracted based upon a per-
see TIGHTROPE page 17

TIGHTROPE
from page 6
cent of the final construction cost,
which leaves them little motivation
to reduce the cost for the owner,
since they will also be reducing their
fee.
• Accountability controls —
Commitment and Accountability
Control (owner’s perspective) –
Meeting minute documentation is
critical to the success of a project.
Owners need to dedicate their
resources to retain experienced repre-
sentatives to conduct and document
regular owner/designer/contractor
coordination meetings. Countless
commitments are made during these
meetings. If these commitments are
not documented and followed up on,
then obligations are often not met.
The task of meeting minutes is fre-
quently turned over to the construc-
tion or design firm; this could be a
major mistake since the owner is now
relying upon these firms to hold
themselves accountable for commit-
ments made. Yet again, you are ask-
ing someone to hold the “safety net”
that might be part of the problem. It
is not likely that they will protect the
owner’s interests, if it puts them at
risk. We live in a litigious society. It
is essential that accurate minutes are
taken and cover the owners’ issues.
Once more, it is vital that the
owner makes sure that he is protected
with competent personnel who will
represent his interests. The
(formerly Scott Machinery)
COLORADO - WYOMING - UTAH - IDAHO
Construction Management
Association of America has the fol-
lowing counsel when it comes to
retaining professional help:
“a professional construction
manager (CM) acts as an extension
of the owner and manages the entire
project with … management exper-
tise that can assure the best possible
project outcome no matter what type
of project delivery method used. A
construction manager is NOT a gen-
eral contractor. Few owners main-
tain the staff resources necessary to
pay close, continuing attention to
every detail – yet these details can
make or break a project.”
If you are contemplating a new
construction project, don’t go down
the slippery slope without proper
safety nets and controls in place. Ben
Franklin said, “An ounce of preven-
tion is worth a pound of cure.”
Owners that shore up their staff with
expert managers are on stable ground
and will amplify their return on
investment. Don’t allow your project
to be the next casualty in the con-
struction market; the time is now to
prevent the project pitfalls and shore
up your project management arm.
Ryan Johnson, is vice president and
project director at Project Control
Inc., a Salt Lake City-based project
management, estimating, scheduling,
bank oversight and construction con-
sulting firm. He can be reached at
(801) 262-9315 or rjohnson@project-
control-inc.com.
HONNEN
EQUIPMENT
www.honnen.com 1-800-646-6636
BIM
from page 11
It should be noted that BIM is not without
its difficulties. To be successful in utilizing
BIM tools and creating accurate models, the
BIM architect/engineer/contractor has to have
the following key characteristics:
• A knowledgeable and experienced engi-
neer/designer/architect.
• Contractor-level, detailed experience with
the means and methods of construction.
• A high level of computer technical exper-
tise.
Like a three-legged stool with one leg
missing, a BIM user will not be able to stand if
they are lacking in one of these areas. For
example, an experienced engineer who is com-
puter savvy but lacks in hands-on electrical
construction techniques may find that he or she
is unable to correctly model how electrical con-
duit is to be installed. In the same way, an expe-
rienced CAD operator, who may have installa-
tion experience but has no design experience,
may fall short in understanding the calculations
required for a successful design. A successful
BIM user understands and recognizes their
weaknesses and teams with others to achieve
success.
In addition, project owners should under-
stand that this level of expertise and experience
can require an increased upfront cost, as it may
require more design time and more expensive
hardware and software to create a BIM model
versus traditional 2D project drawings. When it
is done correctly, though, it has been proven
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Wasatch Front Focus, January 2010 17
that this increased up-front cost can be recouped
multiple times in reduced construction sched-
ule, reduced construction waste and the large
reduction of costly mistakes that can slow down
or even derail the project.
For many reasons, the design-build pro-
curement method for projects is advantageously
suited for BIM. There remains some disconnect
between the designers and constructors of BIM
projects. With design-build, the designer and
constructor are under the same roof, and what is
to be placed in the model can be more accu-
rately represented in the BIM model earlier in
the overall process.
BIM is the now and the future of modern
building design and construction. It is the now
because it currently holds many advantages and
can greatly enhance the success of any project,
big and small. It is still in the growing stages,
and all parties involved should recognize both
the advantages and pitfalls of BIM. It is also the
future. As BIM becomes more adopted and the
software tools become more powerful, the
changes will continue to occur and the process
will continue to improve for years to come.
Darrin Sanders is a licensed professional engi-
neer with Hunt Electric, a full-service, design-
build electrical contractor based in Salt Lake
City. He has worked as both an independent
engineering consultant and currently as an in-
house engineer. His 15 years of experience in
the electrical construction industry includes
health care, K-12 and higher education, resort/
hospitality, telecommunications, industrial,
renewable energy and BIM projects throughout
the Intermountain region.
OGDEN
3400 S. Midland Dr.
West Haven, UT 84401
801-627-0049