What Did You Call Me?

We get called by a lot of different names in our line of work. When our clients think of the various project consultants, they have a solid idea of the exact job each performs based upon their consistent titles, such as general contractor, architect, or electrical engineer. It seems that as the Project Management field has grown over the several years, so have our titles: Owner’s Representative Construction Manager (CM) Construction Manager Advisor Program Manager Project Manager While all might fit, depending upon the job, they are not exactly interchangeable. Here are some subtleties between them: Owner's Representative - entity that manages on Owner’s behalf; usually has an agreement only with the Owner and no other entity. Construction Manager (CM) - Similar to an Owner’s Representative but will hire and manage subcontractors on the Owner’s behalf. The CM doesn’t hold the agreements with the subs, the Owner does.

What I am Not Thankful for This Year

To have good, you must have bad; up must have down, and to be thankful, you need to have the unthankful.  As we come into the season of giving thanks, there is so much I am thankful for, a sustainable business, a healthy family, my soft bed.  That said, there are a few things this I am not thankful for, I suggest you state the following, as Jimmy Fallon does in his bit, thank you…. Thank you AEC Marketing professionals for all the emails telling us how thankful you are for having clients that make you great. Are you great or thankful? It gets a bit blurry. I’d be thankful for having you remove me from your email list. Thank you to the company that our client didn’t select to serve on the team.  I understand that it’s frustrating to lose a project that you thought you were

Your Building Smells Like Crap

We often focus on the aesthetic of our buildings, but unless the rendering comes with a scratch and sniff component, sometimes we are only seeing the pretty picture. Odors can ruin the quality of occupant experience, no matter how beautiful the building. Water, gas, and other elements can be sources of foul smells, haunting a building as they are very hard to trace. We have had two instances where this has been a project challenge. In the first situation, the building would randomly smell like gas. There was no consistency to the situation, making it hard to resolve. We applied cognitive thinking and deductive reasoning: Determine if there was a gas leak. There was no pressure loss, so that was ruled out. Determined where the smell was coming from. The odor was coming through the vents. Analyze the mechanical intakes. It turned out that there was a gas

Do you have project stress?

Design and construction projects are filled with constant negotiations, decisions, and deadlines. The combination puts a lot of pressure on the core teams involved, and although usually evenly distributed across the life of the project, there are times when stress is particularly elevated: 1.  An estimate is over budget 2.  A design goal is not achieved 3.  Changes are requested or required late in the project Over the years we have found that project stress brings our predictable behaviors for those with certain personality traits: 1.  Someone who is overbearing will dominate the conversation 2.  Someone who consistently makes ethical decisions will do so with stronger conviction 3.  Someone who avoids confrontation will do whatever they can to make the issue disappear We recommend that during a project, starting at a selection process, you pay attention to people’s personalities. As you develop theses relationships focus on individual’s conflict

I Wish Owner’s Reps Would _______.

At a recent meeting with a design team, we performed a market-survey of sorts. We wanted to gain insight into what we as Owner’s Reps should be mindful of in providing services. We covered many topics from writing better RFP’s to project frustrations. At the end of our discussions, we asked each participant to fill-in-the-blank: “I wish owner’s representatives would ______.” Below are some of the responses. 1. Generate better RFP’s by asking more relevant questions. All too often RFP’s are copied from one project to another resulting in a document that sets all kinds of technical requirements but don’t seek to find the best fit. Rules and formatting requirements can force the submitting companies into boxes; it doesn’t take long for the teams to all look so similar that all that is left to differentiate is a quantitative scoring (how many similar projects have you completed). Although

Apps – Using Technology to Make Your Job Easier

The first time I saw an app was from the IT Director on a project during construction. He proudly showed me his level on his new Iphone. I advised him that he might not want to bring that out during the next OAC meeting. This initial experience and many following left me underwhelmed by the possibilities of this new revolutionary technology but times have changed and so has my opinion. We have been using our phones for communication be it texting, email, and live video (showing consultants field conditions in live format) for some time but the field of applications has changed immensely and is continuing to evolve. Recently I was on a site walk with a client and we were trying to determine where the property line might be, comparing a concept drawing to a google map on my phone was ok but didn’t give me the

11 Reasons Why You Should Hire an Owner’s Representative

1. Communication:You have a team of experts with your architect, contractor, legal, and accounting team but who sees the big picture? Having an Owner’s Representative facilitates communication across team members in a timely fashion. Note, the owner’s can often times be the culprit of why projects are delayed; an Owner’s Representative can assist on preventing these delays and miscommunications.2. Cost Savings:You hire an accountant to do your taxes and often their efforts often return results that cover their fees. Owner’s Representatives should not make a claim that they will save their entire fee through their efforts but it is a rare case when their involvement does not result in savings to their clients. Like an accountant you also are receiving piece of mind that your project is following industry protocols reducing your risk.3. Time: You as the Owner have a job and most likely it is more than full

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