Any discussion of value engineering (V.E.) is likely to produce a rush of criticisms of the process if you work in an architecture or engineering practice. The architects and engineers are likely to recall bad experiences when V.E. was started…
Blog Archives
“By Others” and “N.I.C.”
The terms “By Others” and “Not In Contract” (or “N.I.C.”) can add confusion to construction documents if the intent of the terms is not well established within the documents. The note “By Others” on a drawing may be intended to…
Reviewing the Contractor’s Application for Payment
On most public construction projects, the Architect reviews the Contractor’s monthly Applications for Payment (a.k.a. “Requisitions”) and certifies the amount to be paid to the Contractor for that month. If the Application is made on AIA Document G702, the front…
Posted in Construction Administration, Project Management
Manage Design Costs with Early Project Overtime
One of Mike’s PM tips for managing design costs on a project: “If you know you are going to have to work overtime on a project,” he said, “do it in the beginning. It costs less to do overtime when…
Posted in Project Administration, Project Management
My 50-50 Rule
Jobs vary in the proportion of time required for technical work (“stuff”) vs. people work (communication, cooperation, management, etc.). Some jobs may consist of less than 50% stuff, but most jobs done effectively require at least 50% people work. If…
The Architect’s role at the construction site
As construction began on a building, the architect’s field representative was approached by the electrical subcontractor. The subcontractor wanted the architect’s approval to install all distribution conduit at a specific level and prior to construction of interior partitions and mechanical…
Posted in Construction Administration, Project Management
Purposeful chaos (the 2-minute design offense)
While throwing staff at a project at the last minute is likely to be counterproductive (see Staffing a design project), an imminent project deadline can ignite productive and purposeful chaos that is otherwise hard to generate. Consider the possible accomplishments…
Posted in Project Management
Proactive coordination meetings on the go
When an architect assembles a conference room full of consultants for a coordination meeting, power and status can sometimes interfere with productive coordination. Some of the consultants may have traveled for hours, may feel uncomfortable or out of their element,…
Posted in Project Management
Value Engineering can add value
Architects and engineers may be used to thinking of Value Engineering as a form of design torture, where value is stripped out of a project design in order to save money. But Value Engineering can also provide an opportunity to…
Posted in Project Administration, Project Management
It takes timely money to make a project go
A project owner was feeling frustrated that the contractor, who was doing work of good quality, was not going fast enough. Considering the contractor’s monthly application for payment, the owner decided to not pay the contractor for the previous month’s…
