What Standard? Under Whose Care?
Can a Designer or Owner shift responsibility for design errors and omissions by requiring an enhanced effort for construction coordination drawings by contractors?
To answer this question we will recount an example project that was bid as Design-Bid-Build where the fundamental element of the dispute was design defects with regard to spatial arrangement and sizing of system features.
Real Risk Management – Read the Contract
Construction is as timeless as the pyramids. As a result, the most common construction risks have already been identified and allocated in the terms and conditions of standard form contracts. These are published by a multitude of professional associations such as the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA). This article discusses the practical aspects of risk management and how to convert a potential problem to work to your advantage.
Getting Back On Track: Turning Around The Construction Project “Heading South”
Corporate owners and tenants who build in urban centers such as New York City are an “at risk” group. Getting everything “on line” quickly is expensive. Difficulties encountered during a failure in design or construction can be catastrophic if practical solutions are not developed promptly to get things back on track.
Risk Management in Design
In previous editions of the MDCAdvisor®, our contributors have addressed risk issues relative to budgeting and cost estimating as well as overall risk considerations. A key contributor to almost all of the potential project risk scenarios is the conception, development and execution of the design process for the project.
I Love it When a Plan Comes Together – Integrated Project Delivery
In our last edition of the MDCAdvisor® we talked about BIM (Building Information Modeling) Systems and the impact of that technology on the way projects are done and the way team members relate to each other. We are going to climb the tree a bit higher to see what changes in the landscape make BIM possible – beyond really neat computers.
Systems Thinking – A New Paradigm for Successful Projects
How can a large, well-funded capital project fail to achieve its technical, cost and performance goals and why is this still acommon outcome? These projects are typically undertaken by teams of personnel from the Owner, Architect and Engineer firms and Contractors. How can such a collection of talent, carefully selected based upon experience and references, fail to deliver?
Risk Management – Recognizing and Prioritizing Project Risks
One of the biggest components in successfully managing your capital program is a strong risk management plan. A project risk assessment is usually performed during project kickoff with all stakeholders contributing to the list of risks because the earlier in the...
The Internet of Things : Managing Risk & Reward
A hot topic in the industry today is the “Internet of Things” (IoT). The IoT is the use of “smart” devices, transmitters and systems to facilitate the real time transmission of information, control of equipment and optimized operation of systems; often including or via some Internet-based communication network. The objective is to make the information available anywhere, easily and in real time to improve decision making and operations. Information is collected by the devices and transmitted via a wireless network to a centralized and/or cloud-based “head end” and control commands are sent back via the same system. The IoT has been enabled by advances in the miniaturization of computer processing power, the development of interoperable communications and processing platforms and the growing ubiquity of high-speed, wireless, broadband networks. That’s the stuff that puts your email on your smartphone.
Complexity: A Transient Condition Precedent to Project Failure
Robert C. McCue, P.E.
MDC Systems®
Consulting Engineer
MDCSystems® has been providing Forensic Project Management (FPM®) services for over forty years for industrial, transportation and institutional capital projects. Using this extensive knowledge base, MDC®, develops and conducts seminars for the public and private sectors on many topics including the topic of Complexity and Systems Thinking.
Inoculate Your Project Team to Prevent Construction Failures
Robert C. McCue, P.E.
MDCSystems®
Consulting Engineer
If you are seeing a rise in problem projects and difficult work-outs, take steps now to inoculate your project team for success and profitability. Basic PMBOK training is certainly necessary but not entirely sufficient to ensure success in today’s fast-paced project environment.