Richard Cartright, Author at Construct it Yourself

Author Archive for Richard Cartright – Page 5

Who’s the Project Manager?

· December 3, 2011

The television network, DIY Network, was designed to teach people a little something about residential construction. The network assumes its viewers have little to no experience in construction. Through a series of tips and tricks the program teaches basic residential construction work that can help make remodeling a home easier.

This past weekend while sitting at home, relaxing and watching television, I happened upon a show on the DIY Network that was showing people how to remodel a master bathroom, but that wasn’t the thing that caught my eye. What I noticed was that the show identified one person doing the hands on work of all the trades as, the Project Manager.

Now, at first glance one might think, ‘Well, that makes sense. A person, doing the work, leads the project, he’s the Project Manager’. As a professional project manager having worked on large commercial and institutional and governmental projects, I was surprised that they would reduce the position to one laborer doing all the work. In construction, one laborer doing the work of multiple trades is called a handy person, not a project manager.

Calling this person a Project Manager is a misnomer of the tallest order and does more damage than good. As a person with extensive hands on experience, I have often found there are issues with some of the programming on the DIY Network for various reasons. However, I was never before as taken aback as I was with watching one man perform the task of project manager and only laborer. This misrepresentation of the industry, in order to wrap a project up into a one-hour episode, does more to damage people’s perception of Project Management than to bolster it.

The main functions of the Project Manager is to help the owner create the budget, the scope of work, hire the contractors and to coordinate the trades to ensure that the owner gets what they pay for. This one laborer did not create the scope of work or determine the budget, they did not hire themselves and there were no other contractors on site. In residential renovation projects such as the ones featured on the DIY Network, the Owner should be the one identified as the Project Manager.

Categories : Residential, Uncategorized

Tags : LinkedIn, Project Management, Project Manager, Residential Remodel

Green Is Advancing, Are You?

Posted by Richard Cartright

· June 6, 2011

Are you keeping up with Green Building Standards?

As building methods improve, some builders will be left behind by outdated methods. Keep your business growing by using the national standards.

At a June 13-17 meeting at the National Housing Center in Washington, D.C., a consensus committee working on updating the National Green Building Standard (NGBS) will evaluate 465 changes to the original 2008 version of the standard proposed by the public.

Initiated in 2007 by the International Code Council and NAHB, the National Green Building Standard was developed by a 42-member consensus committee and approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in January 2009, making it the first point-based rating system for green residential construction, remodeling and land development to be approved by ANSI.

More than 2,200 projects have been certified to the standard since its approval by ANSI.

“I think we are seeing in this process that the scope of green building for residential construction and remodeling will be expanded,” said Ray Tonjes, a builder from Austin, Texas, who is serving as vice chairman of the consensus committee.

“We’re looking at refining the point structure in the green scoring system, and refining the practices for renovations and additions,” he said.

Once the committee has completed its work, the newly updated National Green Building Standard will be submitted to ANSI for approval in 2012.

As an ANSI-approved standard, the document is subject to periodic updates based on consideration of advances in building codes and technology and other developments.

Becoming a Construction Conductor save you time by automating documents and organizing them into an easy-to-use dashboard. Conductors have more time to learn about new developments that affect their business. Don’t be left behind because you don’t have time to learn the new standards.

Learn more about the National Green Building Standard for single- and multifamily homes, residential remodeling projects, and site development projects.

For residential buildings, four threshold levels – Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Emerald – allow builders to quantify and qualify green building at all levels. At the Emerald level, the highest rating for a residential green building, a building must incorporate energy savings of 60% or more. A free Green Scoring Tool compatible with the standard is available on the certification side of this website.

(Partially excerpted from: http://www.greenbuilttexas.com/industry-news-outside-sources/june-meeting-to-produce-draft-of-2012-national-green-building-standard/.)

Categories : Big Picture

Tags : LinkedIn

The “Beat This” Strategy

Posted by Richard Cartright

· April 12, 2011

Competitive Bidding

The following is an excerpt from a discussion between a client and me. In his desire to try to get the lowest possible bid, he suggested a strategy and wanted to know what I thought of it.

Client:
I think there is one more bid out there. I think I should call a couple of companies and tell them they can bid on it and the bid to beat is X$. What do you think of that strategy?

Me:
How many bids do you have?

Calling more companies and asking them to bid is no problem, especially if you feel you do not have enough bids, but I am not a fan of that Strategy at all. While it might get you the lowest bid, it will most likely not be the lowest project cost, which is an important distinction. Here is what typically goes wrong in that scenario. At best: The next contractor wants to be lower, so they will start including even cheaper materials and lower allowances. There is a point at which the bid no longer resembles the Scope or Work. If the Scope of Work still reflects what you want, then you should let the Scope drive the price, not the other way around. At Worst: The honest and competitive people will become disinterested and pull out all together.

If there is an imbalance between the Scope and the Bids, then now is the time to modify the Scope. The better way to proceed is to start evaluating the bids we have, and communicating with all the contractors. Acquiring the bids is only the end of the initial stage of the Bidding Process. Now we need to evaluate the bids to make sure they are realistic, inclusive, and appropriate. If you want to stay in control, we are going to have questions about the bids regarding, allowances, material quantities and selection, timing, etc. Answers to those questions can affect the bid.

Contractors will typically hold their bid 30 days, not more. That is because material costs change over time. While seemingly unpredictable, in actuality the cost of the raw material commodity globally, drives the cost of the finished material locally. The more material there is and the closer to the supply chain you are, the more this is true. Libya, an important oil-producing nation is currently in turmoil. It is unclear what is going to happen there, but it looks like Muammar Gaddafi is going to have to flee. While the U.S. does not use that oil for making Asphalt and uses very little of it at all, Europe uses a good percentage of Libyan oil. Following the laws of supply and demand, if Europe starts having to use a greater percentage of oil from American suppliers, the cost to America will go up. Everything then is likely to follow, as is the nature with the global market. We saw this 15 years ago, when China underwent their big construction boom of the 90’s. At the same time America was in a building boom and at one point, the cost of copper was increasing every 15 to 30 days.

If you want to invite additional bidders, I would start by calling all of the current bidders and letting them know that you have unfortunately had to extend the bidding period and ask them if they are able to hold their price another 30 days. No reason should be necessary. Then I would call all new contractors, invite them, but set the timeline upfront so that you do not lose the interest of the people who already got you their bids. When you receive all of the bids, complete the Competitive Bidding Process.

Categories : Planning

Don’t Pay Contractors Up Front!

Posted by Richard Cartright

· April 12, 2011

I am constantly hearing stories that galvanize me to my cause.

The other day, I was talking to a client who told me this….
My client’s elderly mother wanted to have the exterior of her house painted. So she contacted a local painter who had come somewhat recommended, and asked him to come take a look and please give her a price. He gets there, they meet and talk and he says it will cost $3000, and we need to have half up front. She asks for references, which he gives her. She calls them to inquire, to which they apparently tell her the guy is great. She meets with him and says she can pay for it all up front, and Apparently, he says “No, No half is fine”, but she insists. So he walks away with the $3000. A few days goes by and ‘mom’ calls him to find out what’s going on, and he tells her he is getting materials together, and then he never shows up to do the work. My client ends up having to chase the contractor down, files a complaint with Better Business Bureau, and takes him to small claims court. After months of time and despite their win, the guy is still out there doing business and has yet to pay the money back. The money… Gone. The time… Gone.

This is the kind of story that you hear from time to time, that I hate to say I could have saw coming. Sure they can press on, spend more money, more time. Get an attorney; go back to court; get an injunction; pay the sheriff to go collect and on and on…

The real lesson is this: Keep the money in your pocket until the work is satisfactorily completed. Remember, money equals incentive. If you have the money, the contractors’ incentive is to get it from you. Some may try to talk you out of it, most will work for it, many will work both angles to some degree. The bottom line here is that maintaining control of the money will help ensure you maintain control of the project. Generally speaking, if you give up the money, you give up control. If you absolutely feel you must pay the contractor something up front, my suggestion is to limit it to $1000 or 10% of the contract amount; whichever is less.

Categories : Big Picture, Commercial, Construction, Planning, Residential

Tags : Construction Management, Project Management, Residential Remodel

The Willis Tower is still the Sears Tower to me.

Posted by Richard Cartright

· April 9, 2011

Building Address: 233 South Wacker Dr

Originally designed in the late 60’s by Architect Bruce Graham and Structural Engineer Fazlur R. Khan of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill for Chicago-based Sears, Roebuck and Co, Sears Tower was topped out in May of 1973 — over 36 years ago.

My Dad, Frantz studied under Fazlur Kahn. I think that Mr. Kahn was the person who most influenced Frantz. After graduating from Architecture, Frantz immediately went on to get a masters in Structural Engineering. Growing up, I would ask my dad why he studied structural engineering and he would always tell me, “Architects make things look good, Engineers make them stand up.” After working in the industry my entire life I have thought a lot about what he said and what he meant and I prefer to say “Architects design the experience, Engineers make it work.” I always wondered if Mr. Kahn was the person who first said that to my dad.

construction began in August of 1970

1974 marks the end of a boom in America. The next tallest building happen overseas in the Middle east and Orient. Societies are different there and so the buildings reflect this difference.

Great Website dedicated to the building: http://www.searstower.org/home.html

Of the 15 tallest buildings in the world in 2011, two are in that great architectural mecca known as Chicago, Illinois. Only three other cities in the world can claim that two building distinction and all are in Asia; Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and Shanghai.

The first building in Chicago to make the list is the Willis Tower, the eighth tallest in the world tallest as of December 2011. It was built under the more affectionately known name of the Sears Tower, as it is still commonly referred to by most Chicagoans. Originally completed in 1973, it was 22% and 300 feet taller than the next tallest building of its’ day, far outshadowing all predecessors. The Sears Tower has the had the honorable distinction of being the reigning tallest for a solid 24 years. It was surpassed in 1998, when the Malaysians’ built the twin Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, with the worlds highes two-story bridge on the 41st and 42nd floors. No other building holds that distiction, none even come close. The twin Petronas Towers held the title for only 10 years.

The second Chicago building in the top 15, is the Trump Tower. As number ten on the world’s tallest list it was completed in 2009 and is about 270 feet shorter and has 10 fewer floors than Sears. As modern skyscrapers go the Sears Tower may have a new name but it’s still Sears to me and 37 years later I still find it impressive. Look here to check out diagrams of the world tallest buildings.

Categories : Big Picture, Opinion

Tags : LinkedIn