TWG Project Management, LLC

Case Studies

Construction Management

An area of increasing concern on public agency work is litigation. Many of these problems can be avoided with good design, partnering, and win-win contracts. The new tools and techniques help foster this. However, if things turn sour, we are experts in defending our clients from claims and in avoiding litigation. When we do get into litigation, our clients have always won within three days of jury selection.

We are great proponents of the owner staying in control and partnering. In our claims and litigation classes we often contrast two projects. On the good project, the owner remained in control. On the bad project, the owner maintained only as inspection role by yielding all responsibility to one general contractor who had a conflict of interest.

Good Project

Eleven design companies and eleven multiple prime contractors were used instead of one general contractor.

Started construction of early packages within a few weeks during design phase of later packages.

Demolition, excavation, underground utilities, etc. were started early.

Fewer contractors and subcontractors on site at peak (20 instead of 40).

Change orders did not carry over into other contracts
.
Matching contracts with liquidated damages simplified the coordination
.
Owner maintained considerable flexibility and was able to change the scope as wetland permits became available for the CFS building, and the Corps permit was denied for the fill necessitating a bridge.

Owner saved 10% mark up on subcontract work by action- as general contractor.

Competitively bid change order work.

Results: The project was originally planned to take four years. Fast tracking with multiple primes indicated the project could be done in 26 months. The project was finished on time to the day, within 4% of the conceptual budget. The Owner grew from 27th largest to 7th largest in the nation. Everybody, including the contractors came out as winners. There were many promotions and the team spirit was such that the participants still brag about the "miracle project."

Bad Project

The owner wasted 18 months of valuable construction time by bidding all work in one package.

The design had to be predicated on perfect conditions, no asbestos, no hazardous materials, no problems with pile driving, etc., because none of the preliminary construction work was done early enough to uncover such deficiencies.

The general contractor predicated his bid price on a "right to finish early" clause and resource leveled all float out of the schedule. He then claimed that any change order, no matter how small, impacted the project.

The owner lost all flexibility when change orders did occur because the ripple effect impacted all the work.

All the contractors eventually started at the same time and there were 30 subs on site instead of 15, which caused terrible congestion and compounded schedule impacts.

The general contractor front end loaded the schedule at the north end of the site and then reversed scheduled all the subcontractors, which delayed the whole project and jeopardized the subcontractors.

The general contractor put in two-part change orders and reserved all rights to schedule impact to the end of the project.

Results: The project finished late and cost $127 million instead of $67 million. At least ten subcontractors were bankrupted, including some local companies that had been in business for 30 years. The quality on the project suffered as a result. Litigation is still ongoing, five years after project completion.

"Except in the middle of a battlefield no where must men coordinate the movement of other men and all materials in the midst of such chaos and with such limited certainty of present facts and future occurrences as in a huge construction project. Even the most painstaking planning frequently turns out to be mere conjecture, and accommodation to changes must necessarily be of the rough, quick and ad hoc sort, analogous to ever changing
command on the Battlefield".

Blake Construction vs. C.J. Coakley Company 431A.2d
(DC1981) Fifth Circuit Court Page 493

If these guys think they have problems, they should try software development or research projects.

Each industry thinks it has the worst problems. We have found that the problems are surprisingly common across industry boundaries and, in most cases, professional project management can help dramatically.

Overview - Conclusion

We have attempted to cover the management of time, resources, cost, and communication in some depth. The other four areas were discussed briefly in the project management outline at the beginning of this overview. We have also attached a bibliography so that you can read further on sections of particular interest.

Few of us have had as much training in management and leadership as in our professional or technical disciplines. Fortunately, the new software can help with these technical aspects of management and leave us more time for leadership. We believe strongly that project management holds many of the secrets to success for companies and individuals. Properly applied, these techniques and tools can lead to quantum leaps in productivity, profit, protection, and pride. Realistic goals and a decrease in crisis management and stress lead to a much more balanced and successful professional and personal life.

It's not certain that even Mother Teresa could pass the test of all eight requirements as laid out previously! Yet there's no doubt that project management is the "coming" premier skill. So how can firms start to emphasize the role of effective project management?

1. Train...

2. Feature project management skills per se in all management performance evaluations...

3. Get junior people working on project management teams, … as soon as possible.

4. Recruit with an eye toward project management skills.

Tips & Hints on Using Scheduling and Cost Control

Plan The Project

Plan the project before you start scheduling. Review drawings and contract documents thoroughly. The project manager and his senior staff must be involved. It is no good asking a low level schedule technician to hang a veneer of sophistication over a badly planned project.

Modem computer programs have become so simple that even senior staff can understand them and there is no longer any excuse for the project manager who abdicates these responsibilities. The synergy and team spirit that develops during the planning of a new project are invaluable. Everybody can see where they fit into the big picture and how important their contributions will be. Lines of communication are established, consensus reached and a tone set for the whole project.

Integrate Project Factors

Integrate scope, time, cost, risk, communications, resources, contract and procurement, and quality management. Integration saves conflict and unnecessary duplication.

The company should have a procedure manual setting out common work breakdown (WBS) codes, cost codes, provision for activity codes, reports, etc. Once established, these codes can be used on future projects, saving time and giving distinct competitive advantages.

Choose the level of detail really needed as supplied by each group. A small amount of accurate information is better than reams of inaccurate computer printout. A little thought can save a lot of unnecessary work later and allow the team to concentrate on leadership and human factors.

Use update and look-ahead reports to send filtered information to all the par-ties involved. Improving communications is the ultimate goal.

Carefully look at different scenarios and the associated risks and tradeoffs between schedule, cost, and quality.

Plot a graph of schedule performance index versus cost performance index each update period. This shows whether the job is on schedule and below budget or whether one is being sacrificed to achieve the other.