Architects and engineers are essential members of nearly every construction project. There are very few projects where you wont need the skill sets from both. The division of labor between architects and engineers is a well-known and accepted concept, but have you ever considered, who leads the project? For anyone in construction, this may seem…
Tag: Project Manager
How to solicit a Cost Plus Fee quote.
Allowing a vendor to add mark-up on top of the costs of his own resources leads to a double dip by the vendor.
What are the phases of work of a typical project?
No matter how big or small, all construction projects follow the same basic phases of work. Spending an appropriate amount of time (relative to project complexity) at each phase can mean the difference between the success or failure of your project. If you try to skip a phase or fail to perform the proper due…
Working without a contract? The reasons why Owner’s should never allow it.
In Today’s HGTV world where entire room renovations happen “While you were out” and “Restaurant Impossible” re-brands failing eateries in a weekend, the notion that construction can happen quickly is all too prevalent. These shows don’t reveal the pre-work that goes into performing these miraculous transformations and they don’t account for the incredible amount of man-power that goes…
Construction Consensus Procurement Improvement Act
In June of 2015 the 114th Congress of the United States introduced a bill called Construction Consensus Procurement Improvement Act of 2015. The intention of this bill was to allow for the use of Design-Build contracts in gov’t construction. Recently the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs issued a report on the bill making certain…
A new direction for Procurpro!
The interview I went out to North Carolina for went well. The Company made an offer and I have accepted. I am thrilled to be working with some great people in a great Company. I begin work next Tuesday. The downside is I won’t be able to continued marketing Procurpro while I work for my new Company….
Process Automation the wave of the future
The New York Times recently published the article “Thriving in the robot workplace“. The article talks about how automation is replacing human workers. The story goes on about how some are intimidated by this automation while others are embracing it. Consideration is given to the notion that some jobs are not possible to automate. These…
10 questions to ask a Contractor Reference.
Most people know that one of the best ways to qualify a contractor is to request references, but most never actually call. It might be that some think call a reference is a waste of time or possibly that you are imposing on the reference, but it is surprising how willing some folks are to…
How do I put together an RFP for construction manager at risk?
In a recent posting on the AIA’s project delivery forum, an architect in Nebraska wanted help understanding how to solicit a quote for a construction manager at risk. His question was, “How do I put together an RFP for construction manager at risk?”. In the posting, he mentions that his client specifically asked for the…
How Owner’s influence Scope
One of the most important factors in the success of a construction project is having a quality Scope of Work. Scope of Work is the definition of what you expect your service providers to do for you. A service provider could be an Architect or a Contractor. You should have a Scope of Work for…
What you need to solicit a quote
Whether you are hiring an architect or a general contractor, in order to ensure you receive good comparable quotes, there are certain key pieces of information you must include with your solicitation. If you are missing any of these items you could find that your quotes have a wide pricing spread. This could lead you to make bad…
5 mistakes made when bidding construction projects
When people think about taking on a construction project, they immediately think that either the design or the construction phase is the most critical phase of the project. They rarely consider the procurement phase as the most important phase of work. In fact, most people don’t even think of procurement as a unique phase of work. It may be surprising to hear…