Pinnell/Busch: Project Management Consultants for the Design & Construction Industry

If you’re a contractor’s project manager on a doomed project that’s careening towards the brink with a poor set of plans and specs, an unrealistic schedule or bid, a ‘by-the-book’ inspector, and flakey subcontractors – don’t give up.

First, alert company management to the scope of the problems and get reassurance that you’ll get the resources you need to avoid a disaster – even if you have to blow the general conditions budget. That’s a lot cheaper than major delays or cost over-runs from inefficient operations, delays, or undocumented changes.

Second, dig into the plans and specifications to uncover as many problems and opportunities as possible before the crews encounter them in the field. Discuss the problems with your field supervisors and anyone else who can help. Then, insist on a meeting with the owner and designer, and get paid (if possible) for a constructability review, or submit a change order request.

Give Timely, Contract-Compliant Notice
Document the problems and insist on a prompt response and corrective action. If necessary, ask for a partnering session, or elevate the problem up the management chain to your company president and the highest possible level of the owner’s management team.

Document your position, and don’t fail to provide notice as required in the contract, even if it creates some resentment.

Maintain Good Records
The most important records for recovering extra cost and time are the foremen’s timecards and your accounting system. Ensure that the foremen know the proper cost codes and use them correctly. When work is added, assign a new cost code. All contractors should record weekly production quantities, in order to compute productivity and the impact from changes or delays (and truly control costs) – but few do.

The next important record is the Superintendent’s Daily Report. Verify your field supervisors are recording progress and problems every day with a clear description of problems and delays.

Verify that the project schedule is accurate, sufficiently detailed, and is updated monthly with actual start and finish dates, percent complete, and revised logic as needed.

Verify that your project superintendent is preparing a weekly short-interval/look-ahead schedule and that it is adequately detailed, includes critical subcontractorwork, relates to the master CPM schedule, and is being followed. To ensure it’s being followed, have the superintendent mark the previous week’s plan on the new schedule in order to compare plan versus actual.

Take photos of all significant operations and all problems. Be certain to date stamp all photos. If helpful, video inefficient operations. Make brief, clear notes of all significant telephone calls, including any agreements, and keep them on file.

Keep the RFIs up-to-date and maintain an accurate RFI log. Classify and prioritize each RFI to ensure that the most critical are handled first, and share the RFI log with the owner to point out slow reviews or other problems. Also check your submittal log to ensure that subcontractors and vendors are submitting when needed and that the owner and architect/engineer are timely in responding. Notify the delinquent party before it’s too late.

Either maintain the weekly/monthly owner progress meeting minutes yourself or notify the owner of any discrepancies or missing information to ensure that they are complete and accurate regarding all issues of importance to you.

If All Else Fails, File a Claim
If you can’t resolve the problems, don’t hesitate to bring in a construction lawyer and a claims expert. Early legal review can help you avoid losing your contract rights and a claims expert can help ensure adequate documentation to prove your claim.

Don’t wait to submit your change order request until the end of the project -- when you’re short of cash, the owner doesn’t need your cooperation, and you have failed to give timely notice or have waived your rights.