I have been working the construction industry for 23 years. I spent 10 years as a lead superintendent and 3 as a senior project manager building vertical structures, prior to becoming a CPM scheduling consultant. I built my own schedules as a super and PM. What is happening now in the industry is hard for me to explain: Top State/National/International …
You know that the cost and time required to complete a project once it is designed, correlates directly with the building approach and execution of the project work. It is only through optimization of the building approach and execution, that both the owner and builder can realize significant gains of time/money. It is stagnation of the building approach / execution …
The owner’s interest is not protected when a CM reviews the CPM baseline and update schedules instead of hiring a competent CPM scheduling expert. Nor is it protected when the CM approves a front loaded schedule and proceeds to prematurely disperse funds accordingly. It is surely not protected when a CM hides behind the means & methods clause, when the …
Extraordinary project outcomes require skill-sets that your staff does not have. Extraordinary project outcomes include all of the following: Ahead of schedule finish/ Under budget finish/ Satisfied client that recommends your company to others/ Low employee turnover/ Low subcontractor turnover/ No serious human or environmental casualties/ All of the six project attributes above are rooted in Advanced Project Controls. Are …
Does leadership really require leadership? Can’t we partner our way around it? Not if we’re looking for results that exceed mediocre… I can’t tell you how many owner-side construction managers I have met recently that have told me that they partner with their construction managers, therefore do not require any help with schedule review services. I realize the CM agency design/build …
CPM tip #1: Hire a scheduler with Construction Management experience The ideal career path for a scheduler is: Superintendent->Project Manager-> Construction Scheduler. It is the career path less traveled; but if you can find even one such scheduler, you will have really found something. A scheduler without construction experience can’t build a schedule without the help from a CM type. …
I have spent most of my career working in the Phoenix market. While living there I met a race car driver/driving instructor named Ty. He worked at the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving and he told me a story about car racing that applies to construction management /project management too. First let me say that Ty could really drive. …
Could you be overlooking a fundamental construction management process? Remember, we’re not looking for exciting strategies here; we are looking for profound strategies that make on-time on-budget outcomes routine, and even automatic, for our PM/CM teams, vendors, subcontractors and clients. And that is exactly what this process does. I’m talking about leading smooth projects, retaining employees, and building strong subcontractor/vendor relationships. I am …
I have seen a lot written recently about project failures and there seems to be a few popular opinions circulating that are polar opposite to what I have learned over the last 22 years in the trenches. I am often called in to build recovery schedules. I have seen my fair share of project failures – or at least projects …
1. They understand the need to design and develop a valid CPM baseline schedule to model the actual building approach, including fully tied-in; design, submittal, construction, inspection and commissioning activities. 2. They understand the need to update and archive the master schedule weekly. They record as-built data in the course of the update. They do not use detached weekly look-ahead …
