| The key ingredient to PB’s recipe for successful project control is timely information. The initial challenge to providing timely information falls to the organizational structure that is set up in the beginning of the project, as this structure creates a map of the shortest and quickest route for information to be input, processed, and to flow to decision makers. The timeliness of summarization and reporting of data is an automatic byproduct of the collection itself. The timeliness of the reporting should never be in question.
The key items of input and a few tips for success in handling them are described below, based on first-hand experience at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Dulles, Virginia, where PBserved as construction manager.
“A fundamental rule of construction or, indeed, of any complex undertaking, is to “plan your work and work your plan...” Only by maintaining a detailed, realistic tracking system can the scope, schedule and budget be sensibly tracked...
With good, timely information, the project manager will involve the project team in devising corrective action plansto make the necessary course corrections and to maintain control over all the major elements of scope, schedule and budget. PB’s PM Manual Construction Management Edition, 1995.
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Progress Schedule (Watch the Directory)
The construction progress schedule must be developed in the initial set-up stages of the project and the baseline from which the project will be measured needs to be created and agreed to. The schedule is a time-sensitive issue and its development is a time consuming task that requires due diligence.
On a large project, the schedule will contain a great number of activities and may even be broken down further into separate phases or structures. Don’t let it get over-developed in the early stages, however. The contractor might want additional breakdowns for cost control that do little, if anything, regarding the overall project progress management. On the other hand, a smaller item, such as a utility that must be relocated before work on the foundation begins, could be critical to the progress of the work either scope-wise or cost-wise. Such items reflect the importance of the dollar and labor loading of the schedule. Regardless of their size, key items that reflect either dollar or labor overruns are like waving flags saying “look at me.”
It is helpful to establish an internal checklist early on to use as the monthly processing takes place. In the early job phases, pressure of performance may take your attention away from some of the detail reports or items required in the specifications so the checklist is a helpful tool.
Cautionary notes:
• Any items that are allowed to slip at this early stage will be nearly impossible to catch up on later on, especially after you have done without it.
• Insist on completeness of all information.
• Watch the use of or change in the project float or milestones.
Submittal Data, Samples, and Mock-Ups
Use care when providing submittal data, samples and mock-up information. Early on in a large project it may be easy to set aside the type of information that is in submittal data, samples and mock-up information because it won’t be needed for an extensive period of time, but this information is needed for coordination, color and texture selection, price establishment and order stabilization, and affects deliveries that fit in with other items in the schedule.
Shop Drawings (Not Straight Forward)
The extremely large volume of data developed during the shop drawing process creates areas where confusion or omission can easily be missed in the daily activities. Details of the interface between trades require careful watching, and a note that reads “by others” should be hi-lighted in some manner to ensure the appropriate subcontractor does what needs to be done in a timely fashion.
It is normal for the specifications to make the general contractor responsible for meeting all the requirements of the plans and specifications, but in too many cases the wordage “as shown or detailed” also appears. As the weeks and months pass and the shop drawing process takes place, interface coordination between subcontractors becomes a very critical issue.
The large volume of shop drawings also creates areas where changes are not noticed easily. Shop drawings can be processed with items completely missing if the subcontractor feels that the item is not required for the performance or integrity of the product. If the shop drawings get approved with an item omitted, it is very hard to get it included later.
As an example, on the Smithsonian project the specifications called for “wet paint roller” finish to be applied to the spray-on fireproofing. This comment was omitted from the shop drawing and submittal data, which were approved. When the applicator did not “roller finish” the spray-on material, the comment naturally arose that the product was “approved” without it. Once the material had dried, the challenges involved dealing with the appearance of the very rough material, drips and dusting; and no credit received by the owner for the eliminated work.
In the same manner, other items were submitted that were modified in the shop drawings, approved in the process and installed before the inspectors watching the installation noticed the difference from the contract drawings. The contractor had in fact changed an item and saved either time or money, or both, but had not followed the substitution process for doing so.
Value Engineering (Not Always what it Seems)
Value engineering is an established process of making intentional changes in a project aimed at providing products of equal or superior quality and performance at a lower cost. Let’s repeat that—equal or better quality and performance and a savings in cost. This issue can be and usually is a complicated one that consumes much time and energy. The complexity of the product contained in a large project adds to the challenge of the process. A great deal of study is usually required to ensure that all portions of the value engineering process are satisfied. Many contractors use the value engineering process as a means of substitution, hoping that the attractive credit value will “sell” the product.
Care and study are needed to ensure that adequate price adjustment accompanies large value engineering changes. On a recent project, 103 value engineering suggestions were offered. Only 30 suggestions were accepted, 5 were rejected as not feasible, and 68 were rejected as being not equal or acceptable—67 percent. A large waste of time for everyone.
Quality Assurance Programs
In addition to specifications having a section just for quality assurance, every other section has a paragraph dealing with the quality issue. The Smithsonian project, a museum, has its own industry values. In the construction industry the term “museum quality” normally stipulates a higher level of finish and quality to all exposed surfaces. In addition, this project had areas of extra special quality requirement, namely for architecturally exposed structural steel (AESS) and level 5 drywall finish (The entire wall is skim-coated and sanded).
We had weekly meetings directed by the general contractor that were dedicated solely to quality control issues. Difficulty arose concerning the inaccuracy of these meeting minutes and the lack of documentation regarding the owner’s quality concerns. Due to this inaccuracy, the construction manager started using the “Notice to Comply” as a means of recording items of concern. (Notice to Comply is a permanent record document and, like a “punch list,” is a logged and itemized list of items that require correction before the project is considered to be complete.) This step became especially important later, when the quality concerns involved the finish products. Quality issues never resolved: AESS steel, hangar concrete floor finish, roofing membrane and workmanship finish painting.
Figure 1: Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Dulles, Virginia. |
Progress Meetings and Updates
Generally there was a weekly progress meeting to:
• Discuss the overall project performance
• Review the meeting minutes and updates on open items (meeting minutes included a numbering system that quickly identified the age of an open item)
• Discuss the progress schedule and its updates.
Discussion of the progress schedule was usually an integral part of the meeting and took a reasonable amount of time to cover. Care needs to be exercised when addressing the progress schedule. If there is not a separate meeting for the schedule, make sure the progress meeting deals with the projection of the schedule and the record.
Changes in the Work (Establish Baseline Early)
Changes are a large part of the project controls effort. It is best to have a meeting very early in the project when the entire change order process and values can be discussed and agreed to without the pressure of dealing with a specific change. If the project is governed by a wage rate decision, the labor rates and fringe have been established for the project. Above this, the payroll taxes and insurance and mark-up items need to be discussed. If the project is not covered by wage rate, then these items also need to be discussed, developed and agreed to. A breakdown of items to be agreed to is as follows:
• Labor rate for each trade
• Fringe benefits
• Payroll taxes and insurances
• Manufacturers burden (if applicable)
• Overhead and profit
• Material
• Sales tax
• Equipment rental rates
• Subcontractor markup
• Equipment rental markup.
Consideration must also be given to the schedule impact.
Requests for Information (Read Between the Lines)
Care needs to be exercised when processing requests for information (RFIs). At times, a contractor may offer a solution to a problem within the body of the RFI and request confirmation of the information. Has the solution created extra work? A log of the RFIs should contain notes on the answer and date and, when possible, cross reference any supporting documents.
Field Engineers’ Data
Because the progress of the project is recorded by the field engineers in their reports and logs, it can not be emphasized strongly enough that these records represent a case where “more is better.” In addition to serving as a record of the events, manpower, and happenings of the day, remember that the engineers’ records and logs will also serve as legal documents if the need arises. In addition, it can be equally important to recognize what is not happening at a particular point in time. Example: late delivery, area not ready, etc.
Conclusion
Every construction project will have its share of little “gremlins” that show up at the most inopportune times. A good set of project controls will not stop these from occurring, but will put in place an expedient means for dealing with them. |
