CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SERVICES
As Construction Managers, again, we remain focused on the three main objectives of every construction assignment; Quality Control, Schedule Control and Control Cost Control. The following is our Construction Management approach to achieving these objectives.
Quality Control
All bidders are pre-qualified prior to being considered as a potential bidder for a particular project. We make sure the vendors/contractors selected are a perfect fit for the specific project.
Provide the finest in supervision. The superintendent assigned to a project is responsible for daily inspections of workmanship and material quality. He also makes sure the overall day to day performance of the contractors meets our level of professionalism. He is responsible for running the weekly field trade meetings and maintaining minutes of the meetings which are distributed to the entire project team.
Formal “Quality Control” inspections are conducted by team members. This team consists of construction professionals who are certified in “Site Safety”. QC Reports are distributed to the project team tracking deficiencies, potential problems, safety issues, the actions to be taken and schedule to resolve such issues.
Shop inspections: All quality control inspections are conducted on a regular basis both in manufacturing shops/plants and in the field during installation. We insist on knowing the status and quality of manufactured products first hand. We review shop drawings at the vendors/contractors manufacturing facility before commencement of production, making sure that the raw materials meet our quality control standards, and during production, ensuring that the products are manufactured meeting the design intent. We are firm believers in “measure twice and cut once”.
All submittals are reviewed by Tri-Line prior to being sent to project consultants
Pre-installation/fabrication conferences take place prior to installation/fabrication of specific architectural and MEP items (items to be determined). The purpose of these conferences is to ensure that the specifications are being strictly adhered to and are being interpreted correctly. Present at these conferences are; Tri-Line, the project consultants, subcontractor contracted to perform the work/fabrication/installation and certified inspection agency if applicable. An agenda for these conferences is prepared by Tri-Line and is coordinated with the Architectural and MEP specifications.
Schedule Control
One of the most important tools required to manage a project effectively from pre-construction through close-out is the schedule
(see exhibit 1)
By the use of sophisticated project management and scheduling computer programs, we monitor all activities/disciplines involved in the project including client and consultant activities.
The critical path and milestones are established immediately and the details are built around them ensuring the completion date never changes.
The schedule is used to prioritize the decision making process.
Once the schedule is finalized it is included in the bid documents and becomes part of the contracts as the project is purchased.
The schedule is also used to project resource and cash flow requirements. This gives us a clear understanding of the amount of manpower required at any given time and gives our clients advanced notice of when funding must be made available.
In addition to the schedule, we employ the use of a “Shop Drawing Check-list” (see exhibit 2A). This tool enables us to take a pro-active approach to obtaining submittals in a timely manner.
Each and every deliverable item is tracked from inception to installation utilizing our “Long Lead Item Check List” (see exhibit 2B). This tool is updated with activity as often as needed, and is made part of every project meeting. Nothing falls through the cracks.
We conduct manufacturer shop visits and inspections on a regular basis. This ensures that the long lead-time items for our projects are in production according to our project schedule. We are of the mind-set that “seeing is believing”.
Cost Management and Control / Change Order Control and Mitigation
The following is a brief description of the methods we employ to minimize change orders:
Complete Purchasing: Our bid package (see exhibits 3A & 3B) is air tight and leaves nothing to the imagination. We strive to fill in the gaps between the construction documents and the design intent
There is no need for a client to see a change order for items of work that are not on the CD’s but are obviously needed in order to complete the project. For example, welding hook-ups are most often not included in the plans and specs, however, structural work cannot proceed without them. Tri-Line has enough experience to make an allowance for items like this and only allocate the cost as needed, thereby eliminating the need for a change order.
Tri-Line will use in-house estimating to determine if a claim for an extra is outside of the subcontractor’s contract or outside of the “intent” of the design documents. If it is determined that the item of work is not on the construction documents but the intent is clear, we will void the claim before it becomes a change order.
We partner with our clients and their consultants.
We perform detailed in-house estimating.
Working with our clients and their consultants we provide budgets with astounding accuracy and speed. We produce preliminary conceptual budgets long before design documents are started.
As the design progresses we update/fine tune the budget accordingly.
We offer value engineering alternatives, never compromising the esthetic architectural nuances of the design, which result in substantial savings for our clients.
We obtain the most value for the dollar; or as some say “the biggest bang for the buck”. Having an excellent reputation in the industry has given us a depth of resources that is second to none. Contractors are eager to work for us. This results in aggressive competitive bidding, allowing the to be passed-on to our clients.
Cost reports are produced and reviewed with our client and their consultants on a regular basis. This keeps the project team informed on all financial activity as it relates to the budget.