Construction Manager Pro

  Bid Package Scopes during the Purchasing Phase In my firs t job after graduating with a civil engineering degree from Penn State, I oversaw a $5 million Manufacturing Plant on 35 acres. I was on site early in the construction project. We were installing forms for the large manufacturing building and installing the underground plumbing pipe in the slab. I was in my office trailer when the Plumbing Project Manager arrived. on site. He came into the trailer at the same time that the food truck arrived at the project site. He introduced himself as Charlie Norton. He asked if I needed anything from the Food truck. I declined. He returned the trailer with a cream-filled 6” yellow cake. At that time, he was about 55 years old. Plumbing Change Order Request He wanted to review his contract to date. He brought out a Request for a Change Order for me to sign for $5000 for two electric drinking fountains for the manufacturing building. During our meeting, I reviewed his change order requ...

The Design-build method on your construction project versus the traditional Design, bid, build method. Project: Huntsman Chemical Computer Building Addition, Conroe, Texas  I met Huntsman in mid-August and reviewed their completed drawings for the project.   They required that their project be complete by December 1 st . Their design showed a 44’ x 40’ painted block addition, one story along with bar joists and a structural steel deck with poured concrete and a gable steel frame roof with metal roof panels.                                  Bar joists with metal deck and poured concrete deck. METAL BAR JOISTS SCHEDULE PROBLEM Bar joists require a 10–12-week delivery after the shop drawing review. This puts the delivery in early December. Their design is a 7-month schedule project, not the 3 months that they desired. REDESIGN OF THE PROJECT TO A STRUCTURAL STEEL FRAMING I discussed with them t...

  Bridgewater College Dormitory Project Let me give you an example of an underperforming contractor from one of my past projects. I was involved in the building a $2.7 million Bridgewater Dormitory on the Campus of Bridgewater University in Bridgewater, Virginia. The Structure is 3 stories with a basement. Bridgewater Dormitory Liquidated Damage Project This was a liquidated damage clause project. The project had to be completed before the school year started in late August. Liquidated Damages clause means that if we go over the allotted time for the project then we would be charged a specific amount for each day that we were over the time limit. So,  the overall schedule of this project was very critical to the completion of the project. The critical path of this project was the construction of the exterior masonry work which included the brick and the Capstone on the top of the building. Every Trade Contractor is tied to the overall schedule of the project and the completi...