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Construction coordination can be tricky.

Painted walls and finished floor.

All physical construction work is broken down into parts such as: carpentry, concrete, electrical, flooring and painting to name a few. The same terms used to describe the parts are often used to describe the trade responsible for executing the construction of that part. Each construction trade’s work is unique. For the vast majority of trade work, the labor must be completed by the specific tradesman. You can’t have a painter install flooring and you can’t have a carpenter run the electricity. However, there are tasks between trades that often overlap and can be handled by either of the involved trades.

Here is a simplified example of overlapping tasks:

Let’s say that you want to get the floor replaced in your house, and you want the house interior painted too. The flooring company installs the floor but can’t do any painting. The painting company will paint everything, but cannot install any flooring, baseboard or quarter-round.

The kind of existing floor you have, determines whether you currently have quarter-round (or base-shoe) in place. It is often less expensive to install new quarter-round than to remove, restore and reinstall the existing quarter-round. For this reason, flooring companies often furnish new quarter-round, if it is needed to ‘finish’ the flooring installation. Sometimes the furnished quarter-round is already color coordinated to match the flooring. Sometimes the quarter-round needs painting to match the walls, and sometimes you get the choice.

You can have the house painted, and then have the floor installed, but who paints the quarter-round after the flooring people install it? You can have the flooring people install the floor and quarter-round before the painters paint, but what happens if the painters damage or get paint all over the new floor while painting? What should you do first? How do you coordinate the work between the trades in order to ensure nothing is messed up or missed?

The best approach is to work with the contractors to schedule the coordinated work between the two tradesmen. Here is a simplified example of how that can work:

If the new quarter-round is designed to match the floor, whether or not the old floor has quarter-round, coordination is really easy. Just have the painters come in and paint then have the flooring installers come in afterward to remove the old quarter-round if neccessary and install the new floor and quarter-round afterward.

If the new floor needs no new quarter-round and the old floor has quarter-round, then include the removal of the old quarter-round as part of the painting prep-work. Then have the painters’ paint before having the flooring people install the new floor.

If the quarter-round needs to be painted, getting everything done requires a little more coordination. Include the painting of the new quarter-round in the painters’ contractual scope of work, this way it won’t add any extra cost to the project later. Ask the flooring company to furnish or let you pick up all the quarter-round in advance. Installers often deliver materials in advance to give the materials time to acclimate to the space’s temperature and humidity level before installation, so getting the quarter-round in advance shouldn’t be a problem. This way you can have the painters’ paint the quarter-round while on site for a cost that has already been negotiated.

Have the painters paint before the flooring installation. The painters should protect all of the furniture and paint as contracted. You won’t have to worry much about the floor if you are replacing it anyway. Once the quarter-round is painted and the paint is dry, have the painters set the quarter-round aside.

Coordinate the work so that when the painting company is finished painting the space and the quarter-round, the flooring company can come in the next day (or shortly thereafter) to install the flooring and the painted quarter-round.

Using this sequence ensures that after the floor installation, all that could be left is a tiny bit of touch up painting at the quarter-round nail holes and cut marks. After the floor installation, if the painters need to come back to the site to paint elsewhere, you can have them touch up the quarter-round as needed. However, if the painters have already completed all their work it will cost more to have the painters come back to do the touch up painting. In this case it is more cost effective to include the touch up painting in the flooring company’s contract scope of work, or handle that ‘tiny’ bit yourself like a GC might do.

For each trade that you add it becomes a bit more complicated to coordinate the individual company’s work. In addition, each project and contractor is unique. Some contractors may be willing to take on more work, while others less. It’s important to coordinate the work during the bidding process, in order to make sure that you don’t pay twice to have the same task completed, or become a captive audience during construction because you forgot to include specific tasks.

How much time will it take to manage your own Construction Project?

Posted by Richard Cartright

· August 7, 2012

Some owners think a professional construction manager is not needed. They are sure that in just a few short hours per week they can keep in contact with all their subcontractors, make material choices, manage the project’s finances and even deal with the building inspectors. “It shouldn’t be all that hard,” they say to themselves, “why pay for services I don’t need?”

Okay, that’s one way of looking at it. But, before making that decision, it might be a good idea to think about it a bit more; especially to gain an understanding of everything involved in managing a construction project. There’s actually quite a bit of work that needs to be done, even before the project begins. Not only does the project need to be put out to bid, but the schedule needs to be written, the scope of each contract needs to be developed and the plans need to be drawn.

There are some things which need to be done, no matter how big or small the project. Pulling construction permits and dealing with inspectors doesn’t change with size; nor does the selection of carpet and paint colors. No matter how big the project is, these things have to be done.

On the other hand, there are items which are highly dependent upon the project’s size. Developing a schedule, project specifications, plans and blueprints are all items that are affected by the size of the project. Even though there might be an architect generally taking care of the plans and specifications, they do so with the input of the owner. The bigger the project, the more questions they’re going to have and the more time the owner is going to have to spend discussing options, making decisions and checking the plans and specifications.

Then there’s the actual management of the construction work. Communication is key to a successful construction project, not only verbal communication but written and visual communication as well. When ample time isn’t given to properly document decisions that are made and instruction that is given, there is more opportunity for misunderstandings, errors, and even law suits.

Then there’s the need for regular inspections and reports of the project’s progress. Why are regular inspections and progress reports needed? Because without regular inspections, there is no way of knowing whether the contractor is doing the work according to what is expected. How can you know if the change to a position of a wall is actually done, if you don’t check it? How can you know if the right size plumbing pipe is used without measuring it yourself? You can’t count on the contractors doing what you say, without checking their work.

There’s a great management saying, which applies very much to construction, “People do what you inspect, not what you expect.” Never assume your contractors are doing what you expect, unless you take the time to inspect their work. This would be even truer in cases where what you expect isn’t the norm. If you had the architect specify 4” drain pipes for your toilets, and the plumbing contractor is used to using 3” drain pipes, he might very well put in 3”, even though you are expecting 4”. Unless you inspect his work, you’ll never know.

The reality is that daily communication and regular inspections are an absolute necessity for any construction project. All of this needs to be thoroughly documented, to protect you as the owner. If you don’t do so, you are asking for trouble.

The real question isn’t whether or not you can manage your own construction project; it’s whether or not you have a system that helps you organize the time to do so. If you can’t dedicate a couple of hours per day to managing the project, you don’t have enough time. You won’t end up happy with the results, because your contractors will misunderstand you at every turn. Your project won’t be successful, but rather, be a series of ongoing problems for you.

That’s where Construction Conductor and Construction Coaching come in. With Construction Conductor you get a complete understanding of all the terms we talked about above. You get the secrets to using project management best practices and get the tools necessary to ensure every project is a success. You’re taught everything you need to know about practical day-to-day construction management. A dedicated Construction Coach who knows everything that needs to be done and how to do it is has the time and knowledge necessary to ensure that everything on your project is completed and inspected properly. That ultimately saves you time, money, grief and gives you a better finished project.

Categories : Construction Management, Featured, Project Management, Uncategorized

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

Who’s the Project Manager?

Posted by Richard Cartright

· 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

I’ve grown to appreciate Inspectors.

Posted by

· April 12, 2011

I don’t know about anyone else, but mention an inspector and my first reaction is cop! In my many years in the trades I’ve come under the scrutiny of different inspectors plenty. I really had to grow a lot not to take them personally. Imagine that, someone with the audacity not to accept judgments made by me.

On the road to here… I’ve felt picked on, and nitpicked; subjected to egos, attitude and politics. In the end I came to the conclusion, that they weren’t here to work against me ‘ but to provide a service for the public. At this point, tough doesn’t bother me as long as the inspector is consistent.

Without inspectors, the public is left to believe whatever the developer/contractor wants to tell them.

Property inspectors are very crucial at this time with an uncertain market many juicy foreclosures and a lot of pitfalls without safety nets. A property inspector could bring real sanity to a new buyer who is reaching without contingency, as to the actual condition of water heater, furnaces and appliances etc.

That’s just 1 example, but inspectors provide a valuable service and deserve a thumbs up!

Categories : Big Picture, Commercial, Construction, Residential

Tags : Construction Management, Project Management, Residential Remodel

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