Once Upon a Time In Construction, The Impossible Hotel Completion: When Miracles Come At A High Price
Our client attentively listened to the project review regarding the challenges and delays associated with the forty-story hotel and shopping center. After some time, they expressed their confusion, stating, “I do not understand how this happened! I thought we were in...
Once Upon A Time In Construction: When Promises Fall Apart
Our client was distraught and blurted out “ they said it would work” and now we have to demolish it. How did this happen? During the mid-90’s it was feared by the EPA that landfills would soon be at capacity to accept sewage sluge and the EPA had recently banned ocean...
MDCSystems® Taking Off with Commercial Drones
MDCSystems® has recently entered the commercial drone industry with its drone for various inspection and engineering evaluation services. The future for the commercial drone industry looks very bright. In 2015 the U.S. commercial drone market size was an estimated...
Change Orders: Maximizing Benefits for Owners
Ronald F. Parisi, P.E.
Former MDC Systems® Project Director
Owners involved in ongoing construction projects are virtually unanimous in recognizing the need to minimize the number and amount of change orders as a way to keep the project costs within budget. In viewing change orders with only this in mind, however, owners may tend to overlook the benefits that the change order process offers to owners. The primary benefits afforded by the change order process are that it allows owners the flexibility to respond quickly, to capitalize upon opportunities and to mitigate problems — both of which frequently arise during the course of construction.
Privatization of American Water Utilities
Donald R. Keer, P.E., Esq. MDCSystems® Consulting Engineer The pressure is growing on local municipalities to consider privatization of their water and wastewater systems. Both the EPA and the Bush Administration favor privatization as a way for local municipalities...
MDC Systems® Announces New Website Launch
MDC Systems® launched a new and improved website on March 23, 2011, https://mdcsystems.com, featuring improved navigation and search ability, print-friendly versions of all pages on the site and new layouts and images to provide visitors greater accessibility of...
Archive: Spring 1991, MDCAdvisor® Expert Newsletter
Featured Story: "Construction Defaults: The Need for Expert Advice" an expert article by Francis J. Brennan, P.E., Vice President of MDC Systems® Construction Primer: "The Surety's Completion Alternatives for Defaulted Contracts" by Francis J. Brennan, P.E., Vice...
Archive: Spring 1995, MDCAdvisor® Expert Newsletter
Featured Story: "Design Professional's Role in Minimizing Claims" an expert article by William A Wheatley, AIA, Project Mgr of MDCSystems®. Casenote: Economic Loss Rule by George Anthony Smith, Esq., Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan. [pdf-embedder...
Archive: Spring 1994, MDCAdvisor® Expert Newsletter
Featured Story: "Common Documentation Problems" an expert article by James M. McKay, AIA, P.E., Project Mgr. ofMDC Systems® Construction Primer: "Project Documentation: Win the Paper Battle" by James M. McKay, AIA, P.E., Project Mgr. ofMDC Systems® Casenote: Revised...
Building Information Modeling – Boon or Bane?
MDC Systems® has recently become aware of a number of large projects exhibiting major problems despite the ‘spectacular’ abilities of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and other project technologies. Some of these projects have been highlighted in recent industry publications and legal filings. These issues often fall into several common areas which are summarized below.