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Why construction needs collaboration to work efficiently, are we still using archaic processes?

July 23, 2017Jessica Jones1 CommentBest Practices

For centuries, the construction has been a hugely fragmented industry, with lots of different companies coming together for a particular building or TI and then moving on to different projects.

Typically, a client will commission an architectural team or design team, then engineers will become involved. Building services consultants and structural engineers get the call next,

 

before a general contractor finally arrives to undertake the actual work itself. And that contractor won’t directly employ many of the people working on site. He will subcontract out various parts of the work.

Given the availability of current generation cloud based technology:

Why wouldn’t you enable everyone on a project to effectively share documents and data?

Why wouldn’t you want to encourage subcontractors and suppliers to bid more aggressively by establishing funding transparency from the very beginning of a project?

Why wouldn’t you want a common location for your warranty and close out project documentation?

Why wouldn’t you want to enable your project stakeholders to fairly rate each other’s performance at the end of a project to create an honest project scorecard?

We’d really like to hear your feedback!

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Comments

  1. Susan M Chipouras says

    August 3, 2017 at 8:41 am

    I have worked on multiple projects where documents and data are shared. This is becoming more standard than it used to be. This can apply to closeout documentation and warranties as well. However, hard copies of O&M manuals will continue to be needed to share with Owner’s Operations and Maintenance Staff who may not have the technology available where and when they need the information.

    Contractors sub out as much of their work as possible for one reason – finances. Margins are too small on most projects for a contractor to afford to be the “bank giving free loans” to Owners so they try to keep out of pocket expenses to a minimum. 30 day payment schedules with Owners are rare. I have known Owners who think they are saving money while holding contractor’s payments as long as possible. In some segments of the industry, Owner payments in 90 days are considered good. Unscrupulous contractors have developed a system where they put in a large claim at the end of a project knowing that it will be more cost effective for an Owner to settle for something than to litigate. They see this as a way to make a better profit, especially on public projects.

    I have also been on projects, where the Owner paid within 2 weeks of receiving the invoice. On that project we were able to get great pricing from contractors, and at the same time, get great performance as well. Owner, Consultants, Contractors and End Users (stakeholders) were all on the same team. And that project got completed on time and under budget. It was a win for all involved in the project. Unfortunately project teaming and payments like that seem to be the exception.

    As for Contractor scorecards, many GCs and CMs may keep these records in their offices, but no one, in this litigious day and age, is going to publish that information.

    Reply

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