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Figure 1: New Orleans International Airport |
Effective design management starts a project off correctly. It
assures the owner’s requirements are covered, provides an
accurate projection of expected cost and conveys construction requirements
clearly. PB’s activities in design management on airport programs
have continually assured that individual projects will bid accurately
and can proceed smoothly with a minimum of conflicts, requests for
changes, delays and claims for damages.
As lead member of the Aviation Program Managers of Louisiana, one
of our responsibilities was providing design management services
for 70 projects of the New Orleans Aviation Board (NOAB) for the
$650 million capital facilities improvement program at the New Orleans
International Airport (Figure 1).
Responsibilities of Design Management
Team
The design management team was responsible for providing oversight
management and coordinating the design consultants who NOAB selected
to prepare design documents for each of the projects of this important
program. The team was comprised of a design manager and project
engineers and architects who were supported by technical specialists
on an as-needed basis. Our tasks included:
- Project scope and criteria
- Design oversight
- Quality assurance
- Design, maintainability and constructibility review
- Value engineering
- Design support during construction.
Project scope and criteria. Upon notice-to-proceed,
we held initial meetings with each design consultant to review the
project definition and scope of services, explain design directives
that were to be followed and review the design schedule to identify
check points and critical interfaces that had to be maintained.
We provided each design consultant with:
- Airport layout plan
- CADD manual
- Scheduling information
- Accounting and reporting procedures
- A review of the project scope of work and design criteria and
standards and the appropriate Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) Advisory Circulars.
Design oversight. The design manager and a project
architect or engineer acted as lead coordinators for a specific
project or group of projects within their areas of specialty. Under
this guidance, the design management team:
- Reviewed the design consultant’s preparation of layout
and conceptual drawings
- Monitored the consultant contracts through preparation of the
construction bid documents
- Served as the focal point for all issues pertaining to the
projects under their area of responsibility.
We visited the design consultant’s office on a regular basis
to assure timely and proper performance. We provided
specific guidance and problem resolution support for this in-house
effort and monitored compliance with the design contract, schedule
and cost performance. These “on the board” reviews avoided
our having to wait for the formal review submittal process to make
corrections and/or adjustments to the designers work.
Quality assurance. The design management team developed
a quality assurance (QA) system to verify that the design consultants
maintained quality control while preparing their design documents.
The QA system was based on assuring conformance to the FAA Advisory
Circular, national and local codes and applicable regulations.
We firmly believe that
if you want it to happen,
you must state it clearly
in the contract documents!
Design, maintainability and constructibility review.
We conducted design reviews at the 30 percent, 65 percent and 95 percent
stages of design, making a significant review at the 30 percent stage
to facilitate the 65 percent and 95 percent reviews and minimize design
changes at these later stages.
Each review cycle included an evaluation of the proposed schedule
for the contract. Long lead procurement items were identified and
expected construction sequences and durations analyzed to determine
whether the contract documents were adequate and reasonable. Work
of other contractors, work authorizations, etc., were also reviewed.
Requirements for special permits and environmental protection were
checked and we compared all permits and licenses to ensure that the
specifications and drawings met all terms and conditions.
Our reviews included a site inspection to verify existing site conditions
and identify any obstructions, interferences or problems. Work areas,
delivery access and site traffic flow routes were field-evaluated
to assure that all functions would work according to plan.
During the design reviews we also addressed maintainability, working
closely with NOIA’s maintenance department to evaluate maintainability
of the facility itself and equipment that might become part of the
facility. (See also “Airport
Maintainability Reviews: A Value-Added Service” by Richard
Coullahan.)
Design review is essential for the development of construction documents
that are consistent with the criteria established. The documents must
contain the essential technical requirements to permit construction
of the project.
The design management team reviewed construction plans and specifications
for each project to:
- Identify potential problems (e.g., ambiguous requirements)
that could impact the bid, construction or administration of the
contract.
- Ensure that each project design was coordinated with all parties
who could be impacted by the work.
We performed a constructibility review with the construction team
to eliminate or reduce the two most common sources of construction
contractor change orders:
- Defective plans and specifications
- Unclear plans and specifications.
We firmly believe: If you want it to happen, state it clearly
in the contract documents!
Value engineering. Value engineering services were
provided during the design, maintainability and construction reviews.
We analyzed type and kind of materials, equipment costs and method
of construction to ascertain that each was the least costly and
would ensure that the project criteria would be met.
FAA Approves Bid Documents
The design management team knew the FAA Southwest Regional Office
submittal requirements for approval to advertise for construction
contracts, and the procedures that must be followed before a construction
contract can be advertised, awarded and notice-to-proceed given
to the contractor. With this knowledge, we were able to submit 100
percent bid documents along with certification from the design consultant
and the sponsor. In only two weeks, FAA gave permission to advertise
based on the 100 percent bid document submittal. Some minor certification
revisions were addressed in an addendum.
Through the end of 1995, we assisted the construction department
on as as-needed basis during construction of the project. |
