Owners Perspective | Fall/Winter 2015

Project Leadership Silver Award Winner

University of Washington Bothell Discovery Hall

Finish StrongProject Closeout

Best Practices

2 FALL / WINTER 2015 ||

Owner Training Institute® Register Today!www.coaa.org/oti-vegas (800) 994-2622

INTRODUCTION TO CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENTGreen Valley Ranch Resort & Spa

Henderson, NV (Las Vegas)November 2-3, 2015

Who Should Attend CoAA’S otI CourSeS?The training is specifically geared toward Owners’ project management staff at all levels, but some courses may also be valuable for other staff members in an Owner’s organization, such as operations and maintenance, as well as planning and procurement. The course content is designed with an “early to intermediate” mindset, but everyone who’s interested in learning how to be a better Owner gets value from their participation in COAA’s OTI courses.

Experienced Project Managers and Senior Management Experienced project managers get the opportunity to sharpen their skills by participating in the interactive discussions during the courses. They also get the benefit of refreshing their knowledge while listening to the experience of both the instructors and the other experienced participants taking the course. For those who are truly life-long learners, the opportunity to learn from watching others learn something you consider yourself to be an expert on, is always enjoyable. “New” Project ManagersAlthough Owners’ project managers are not usually new to the industry, they are often “new” to working for an Owner organization. So this training provides the opportunity to view and understand their role from the Owner’s perspective. They will not only hear about some of the challenges they are likely to start seeing, but to learn about these from people who have seen and addressed these challenges.

Owner’s Staff with Limited Years of ExperienceThe course content is developed around people who are not new to the industry and ideally have been working for an Owner for at least a year or two. The courses assume that a participant knows the industry vocabulary, knows how to read plans, and knows what a “pay request” looks like. They may still be early in their learning curve as an “Owner” and may not have developed their own best practices yet. These participants know enough to keep up with the conversations and appreciate the knowledge and lessons that the instructors and the experienced participants in the class are sharing.

Gain a broad understanding (or improve your knowledge) of all areas of an Owner’s management of a project.

Learn about all of the elements in the design and construction of a project and tips and tools to achieve project success. Specific tools, strategies, and topics are shared and discussed including:

• The role of the Owner Project Manager and management tips

• The pros and cons of the different project delivery methods and how to select a method

• Elements of programming and strategies to engage stakeholders and make decisions

• How to do a master project schedule and strategies to stay on schedule

• An overview of design team and construction team selection options and sharing of lessons learned

• Management of the design process and strategies to achieve the balance of quality, cost, and schedule

• Tips in the management of the budget

• Tactics to manage the construction administration phase and close out

Duration ..........................................Two Days

COAA Member ......................................$795

Non-Member .........................................$995

To maximize the learning environment, COAA OTI® course

size is limited to twenty-five and led by COAA’s signature three-person team

of instructors — an Owner, designer, and contractor — enabling participants to gain a greater understanding of each

party’s perspective.

3www.OwnersPerspective.org

Owner Training Institute® Register Today!www.coaa.org/oti-vegas (800) 994-2622

INTRODUCTION TO CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENTGreen Valley Ranch Resort & Spa

Henderson, NV (Las Vegas)November 2-3, 2015

Who Should Attend CoAA’S otI CourSeS?The training is specifically geared toward Owners’ project management staff at all levels, but some courses may also be valuable for other staff members in an Owner’s organization, such as operations and maintenance, as well as planning and procurement. The course content is designed with an “early to intermediate” mindset, but everyone who’s interested in learning how to be a better Owner gets value from their participation in COAA’s OTI courses.

Experienced Project Managers and Senior Management Experienced project managers get the opportunity to sharpen their skills by participating in the interactive discussions during the courses. They also get the benefit of refreshing their knowledge while listening to the experience of both the instructors and the other experienced participants taking the course. For those who are truly life-long learners, the opportunity to learn from watching others learn something you consider yourself to be an expert on, is always enjoyable. “New” Project ManagersAlthough Owners’ project managers are not usually new to the industry, they are often “new” to working for an Owner organization. So this training provides the opportunity to view and understand their role from the Owner’s perspective. They will not only hear about some of the challenges they are likely to start seeing, but to learn about these from people who have seen and addressed these challenges.

Owner’s Staff with Limited Years of ExperienceThe course content is developed around people who are not new to the industry and ideally have been working for an Owner for at least a year or two. The courses assume that a participant knows the industry vocabulary, knows how to read plans, and knows what a “pay request” looks like. They may still be early in their learning curve as an “Owner” and may not have developed their own best practices yet. These participants know enough to keep up with the conversations and appreciate the knowledge and lessons that the instructors and the experienced participants in the class are sharing.

Gain a broad understanding (or improve your knowledge) of all areas of an Owner’s management of a project.

Learn about all of the elements in the design and construction of a project and tips and tools to achieve project success. Specific tools, strategies, and topics are shared and discussed including:

• The role of the Owner Project Manager and management tips

• The pros and cons of the different project delivery methods and how to select a method

• Elements of programming and strategies to engage stakeholders and make decisions

• How to do a master project schedule and strategies to stay on schedule

• An overview of design team and construction team selection options and sharing of lessons learned

• Management of the design process and strategies to achieve the balance of quality, cost, and schedule

• Tips in the management of the budget

• Tactics to manage the construction administration phase and close out

Duration ..........................................Two Days

COAA Member ......................................$795

Non-Member .........................................$995

To maximize the learning environment, COAA OTI® course

size is limited to twenty-five and led by COAA’s signature three-person team

of instructors — an Owner, designer, and contractor — enabling participants to gain a greater understanding of each

party’s perspective.

4

the official publication of

5000 Austell Powder Springs Rd, Suite 217Austell, GA 30106

Magazine editorial coMMittee

Stan ScottCommittee ChairScott Consulting

Lisa BerkeyPennsylvania State University

Matt Handal Trauner Consulting Services, Inc.

Dean McCormick Iowa State University

Randy PollockHDR

published by:

Mediaedge Communications, LLC3951 NW 48th Terrace, Suite 219

Gainesville, Fl 32606

PresidentKevin Brown

General ManagerTrevilynn Blakeslee

EditorChris Towery

PublisherMichael Brown

Graphic DesignerTim Sost

Senior Sales DirectorMaureen Hays

[email protected] or call 877.234.1863, ext. 6717

Account ExecutivesWalt Daniels, Jennifer Siorek,

Wayne Childs, Alex Wilson

© 2015 All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the association and publisher.

contents

features

departments

FALL/WINTER 2015

FALL / WINTER 2015 ||

11Project Profile

Project Leadership Silver Award WinnerUniversity of Washington Bothell Discovery HallCompiled by Chris Towery

16Project Delivery

How to Finish Strong:Project Closeout StrategiesBy Stuart Adler

20innovations

Why Owners Should Care About Lean The key benefits of Lean Design and ConstructionBy Dan Heinemeier

5 President’s CornerBy Kevin Lewis, PE

7 Owner AlertsBy John Sier

24Navigating Project Success A Recap of COAA’s 2015 Spring Owners Leadership Conference in BaltimoreBy Chris Towery

28 New Members

30 Calendar of Events

30 Index to Advertisers

COVER:

The new UW Bothell Discovery Hall

CREDIT:

Courtesy UW Bothell

72411

19


IMAGINE YOU ARE THE COACH OF A WOMEN’S college softball team. Even better, imagine you are the coach of an award-winning, championship women’s college softball team. You are clearly an excellent coach:

people have noticed your knowledge of the game, your team-building techniques, and your leadership skills. Then one day, opportunity comes knocking at your door, when you get the chance to become a manager in the big leagues—big leagues of professional baseball, that is. It’s your dream job! You’ve finally made it to the top, and your very own “field of dreams” is waiting.

But wait a second… are you truly prepared for this dream gig? You are a great softball coach, and you know the game inside and out, right? You have definitely perfected your coaching skills, right? It’s basically the same game, right? Well, not exactly. And this is really not about the difference between men and women’s sports. Rather, this it’s about one game that looks quite similar to another, when in reality, they are actually two entirely different sports.

So the question becomes: How do you jump into Major League Baseball without losing every game, ruining your

reputation, and watching all you’ve developed as a repu-table softball coach go down the drain? The answer is, training. You need specific training to make this big transi-tion. Since we are operating on a strictly hypothetical basis here, let’s just say that you have Joe Torre, Billy Martin, and Earl Weaver on hand to help you learn the ropes. Yes, I said Earl Weaver—I’m a longtime Orioles fan, and I firmly believe everyone needs a little dirt kicked on their shoes now and then just to keep them grounded!

But let’s get back on point—you’ve got Joe, Billy, and Earl in your dugout, which is like hitting a veritable grand slam! You get to learn from the best, take advantage of their experi-ence and expertise, and their only motivation is to help you be successful (remember, this is all purely hypothetical).

I confess, this is really a story about me. Well, it’s not about me personally, but about my design and construction team from my day job. You see, my organization builds K-12 schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia, which from a procurement perspective heavily favors the “Design/Bid/Build” (DBB) project delivery method. In fact, outside of rare situations with very specific circumstances, DBB is required

PRESIDENT’S CORNER

By Kevin Lewis, PE

Owner Training Institute: An Owner’s Experience


On A wing and a prayer?When it comes to construction projects, you can’t simply rely on luck to see things through. Let the Kitch firm help you anticipate and resolve construction or legal issues that may arise – or better yet, avoid them all together.

Call John Sier at 313.965.2915 or email [email protected] to discuss your next move.

www.kitch.com

Kitch_3.333x4.583.indd 1 1/21/09 9:17:05 PM

by law. In my school system, we open between one and five new schools every year, so over the last 20 years, we have become quite good at women’ softball… err, I mean, Design/Bid/Build. And at the moment, my organization has the opportunity of a lifetime, as we are currently constructing a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Academy. This new academy will have an educational focus that may be the first of its kind (if not the first of its kind, at least the first in the country) at the high school level.

If there was ever a project that screamed for alternative delivery methods, this is the one. This project’s unique nature is unlike our prototypes, and it offers a ground-breaking educational delivery model. The project requires everyone on the instructional side, from the teacher and administrative staff to the school board, along with those on the operations side from the design and construction team, to think outside the proverbial box. The bottom line is that my team needed training, and as the “coach” of this team, I needed training. When it comes to working with alternative delivery methods, we are headed into the “big leagues.” We did our homework, and decided to go with Construction Management at Risk (CMR) as the most suitable method. From there, we quickly learned how very different softball is from baseball.

As the coach of this great team, I did not hesitate to call upon COAA’s Owner Training Institute® (OTI) for help. A few weeks later, Joe, Billy, and Earl arrived at my office doorstep to provide training to my entire team. I invited my archi-tect, civil engineer, and construction attorney, as well as my internal folks responsible for design review, accounting, and construction management, so we could learn together.

The OTI program was perfectly suited for our situation. In fact, take a look at the OTI course offerings on the www.coaa.org website, and you’ll see that all of their courses are developed specifically for Owners and their staff. These folks know exactly what we need because they are our peers. Taking that one step further, OTI’s three-person team of instructors actually called me to see exactly what I needed. They asked, “What is your focus?” and then customized the instruction and group discussions to exactly match our needs and level of expertise. The group discussions were perfect because they were initiated by my team, who provided a real-world example of the problem we needed to solve.

In your daily interaction with project team members, don’t you think it would be valuable to know what the guy or gal across the table is thinking? We certainly do. Every course offered through OTI has a three-person team of instructors consisting of an Owner, a designer, and a construction professional. You get to find out exactly what “the other side” is thinking and why. More importantly, you get detailed guidance on why it’s not a good idea to think of those team members as “the other side.” Teamwork and collaboration is as much a theme for the course as is the technical training provided. During the OTI training, my team learned the CMR processes and guidelines, while receiving knowledge of how the relationships differ from DBB. It was an absolutely fabulous example of hard- and soft-skills training in a single two-day course.

As Owners, we all need to continuously learn about and keep up with the industry’s latest developments and practices, and without a doubt, COAA’s Owner Training Institute is the way to do it. This organization has offered me much more than I have ever put into it, and I continue to encourage everyone to get involved and take advantage of all COAA has to offer.

Going back to the hypothetical baseball scenario for a moment, imagine if Tony LaRussa, Bobby Cox, Sparky Anderson, Tommy Lasorda, and Davy Johnson showed up, along with the other three aforementioned professionals to help train your team. That’s exactly the level of expertise provided by COAA’s OTI program. COAA offers the opportu-nity to learn from the best and brightest in our field, who are all on-hand to help you with your specific challenges. When it comes to COAA’s Owner Training Institute®, if you build it, they will come—to help!

PRESIDENT’S CORNER


OWNER ALERTS

The new Rules that became effective on July 1, 2015, introduce several concepts that could enhance the speed and efficiency of arbitration as well as create more distinct processes for disputes involving different amounts, issues and complexity. Some construction industry representa-tives became concerned in 2013 when AAA issued their “Optional Appellate Arbitration Rules” that the line between litigation and arbitration was being further blurred. The new Rules may address those concerns by empowering the arbi-trator to encourage greater preparation by the parties and by stating more aggressive time frames than had previously been proposed.

The new Rules provide the mediation is mandatory for any dispute where the claim or counterclaim exceed $100,000. The mediation will take place concurrent with the prepa-ration for the arbitration hearing, but should not extend the arbitration or affect the scheduling of the hearing. Interestingly, the Rules specifically provide that the medi-ator shall not also act as the arbitrator, unless all of the parties and the mediator agree. Some Alternative Dispute Resolution practitioners have been developing a hybrid Mediation-Arbitration or Arbitration-Mediation procedure in an effort to encourage the parties to take advantage of a “last opportunity” to resolve the dispute voluntarily. However,

By Jon Sier

T HERE ARE ALWAYS DEVELOPMENTS IN THE LAWS THAT AFFECT OWNERS AND CONSTRUCTION projects, and each development merits a detailed discussion of the significance of the impact locally and on a broader stage. What worked on one project in a given year may no longer be feasible or even possible in the following year or in a different location. Even before a dispute arises, the participants to a construction project

should always be aware of the legal environment in which the work is being done. It is too late to correct an erroneous assumption as to the law after a dispute has arisen. COAA is a great resource for staying current on industry practices and identifying the correct questions to ask to avoid assuming that a past practice remains correct. That is also the value that the construction lawyer may bring to the project whether allocating risk or assessing claims.

American Arbitration Association Issues Updated Rules For Construction Industry Arbitrations

Owner Alerts


OWNER ALERTSthe hybrid procedures present serious issues of ethics and confidentiality, and competent construction counsel should be consulted before deciding to use a hybrid procedure.

From an arbitrator’s perspective, the new rules expand the description of the Preliminary Hearing Conference and allow the arbitrator to assert more control over the proceedings as may be appropriate with the goal of enhancing the speed and efficiency of the process. The Rules incorporate a section describing the elements and issues to be considered at the preliminary conference and warn against “importing proce-dures from court systems” in order to provide a simpler, less expensive and more expeditious process form of alternative dispute resolution. The prelim-inary hearing also addresses the exchange of information, including the format of the exchange of electronic infor-mation. The Rules avoid using the term “discovery”—except to prohibit discovery in “Fast Track” arbitrations (under $100,000) and allow the arbi-trator to control the extent and character of discovery in Large, Complex Construction arbitra-tions (in excess of $1,000,000).

Some people have historically avoided arbitration because the arbitrators’ hesitation about making legal rulings that could deny either party a full opportunity to present facts or arguments on a given issue. However, the legal environment may provide clear guidance on the viability of a claim or defense, and allowing the arbitrator to make interim decisions could enhance the efficiency of the proceeding by narrowing the issues to be decided through the arbitration. The new Rules more explicitly recognize the arbitrator’s ability to permit dispositive motions. Likewise, the new Rules include a process to obtain emergency relief with an arbitrator appointed within 24 hours of a request; the Rule is generally patterned after the rule in the Commercial and International Rules that has been successfully implemented. These two additions do blur the distinction between litigation and arbitration, but they also allow the parties to obtain relief while maintaining the confidentiality of the proceeding rather than pursuing the relief in the public litigation forum.

One of the other significant shortfalls of the prior rules was the absence of explicit authority in the arbitrator to enforce the rules and orders issued through the procedure. The new Rules authorize the arbitrator to take enforcement actions to achieve a fair, efficient and economical resolution of the case. Among the specific powers, the arbitrator can allocate costs of producing information, recognize and protect confidentiality and impose sanctions including adverse inferences and exclu-sion of evidence if warranted. However, the arbitrator is still precluded from the draconian measure of entering a default against any party.

The new scale of the applicable rules provides that disputes under $25,000 should be decided by submission of documents only, unless any party requests a hearing. Cases under $100,000 should be administered under the Fast Track Procedures that require the Preliminary Conference within 10 days of appointing the arbitrator, and the hearing should be closed within 45 days of the Preliminary Conference followed by issuance of the award within 14 days. Under Fast Track Rule 12, the time frames may only be extended “in extraordinary cases when the demands of justice require it” and all of the parties agree in writing. Other cases under $1,000,000 would be admin-istered under the Regular Track. The Large, Complex Construction Cases over $1,000,000 would be subject

to the enhanced authority of the arbitrator to control the proceedings, allocate costs and impose sanctions.

Many states have passed various arbitration statutes that may go further than the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 USC 1 et seq., in describing the relationship between the courts and arbitration proceedings, regardless of whether the arbi-tration takes place pursuant to the AAA rules. Each party to a contract should consult with experienced counsel when considering the dispute resolution options that are available and the best approach to avoiding and resolving disagreements.

Some people have historically avoided

arbitration because the arbitrators’ hesitation

about making legal rulings that could

deny either party a full opportunity to present facts or arguments on a

given issue.


Surety May Be Liable For Consequential Damages Even When Contract Waives Those DamagesGenerally, a surety’s liability is the same as that of the contractor who is to perform the contract. As a result, if the underlying contract waives consequential damages, the surety would have not greater liability. The Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina in New Bern Riverfront Development, LLC (“New Bern”) v. Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America (“Travelers”) recognized the general rule as it applies to the surety’s derivative liability to answer for the default by the contractor. However, the Court also observed that the surety has obligations that arise out of the bond itself that create separate contractual obligations to the Owner.

New Bern executed an AIA A111-1997 Agreement incorpo-rating AIA A201-1997 General Conditions with Weaver Cooke Construction to perform construction work. Travelers was the Performance Bond Surety based on the AIA A312 bond form. At some point, New Bern declared Weaver Cooke to be in default and called upon Travelers to honor the performance bond. New Bern ultimately filed for Bankruptcy protection, and the litigation became an adversary proceeding in Bankruptcy Court. Travelers field a motion to dismiss the claim against it for consequential damages. Initially, on December 5, 2014, the Bankruptcy Court denied Travelers’ motion finding that the recovery of consequential damages for the breach of a direct obligation of a surety under the bond is appropriate unless the bond expressly or impliedly limits such recovery.

The Court examined the obligations of the surety under the A312 [which is similar in these respects to the ConsensusDOCS 260 Performance Bond] to remedy the default, arrange for completion of the work, tender a comple-tion contractor or pay the owner the amount of damages up to the bond amount. The Court noted that the underlying contract contained a waiver of consequential damages, but the bond itself did not contain a similar waiver. The bond language obligated the surety to act and allowed for recovery of damages from the surety’s failure to act.

Not surprisingly, Travelers requested the Court reconsider its December denial of the motion to dismiss, and the Court did reconsider and reverse its decision on March 5, 2015, on the narrow ground that New Bern did not actually request conse-quential damages in its complaint against Travelers. Rather, the complaint only sought “compensatory” damages, so the pleadings did not satisfy the legal requirement of seeking non-derivative consequential damages from Travelers.

The lesson is to carefully examine the requests for relief to make sure that the owner is adequately alleging all appropriate measures of relief against the appropriate parties who may bear some responsibility. Failure to pay close attention may result in being legally precluded from seeking consequential damages from a party who breached contractual obligations.

Contractor Awarded “Delay” Damages Even Though The Project Was Completed EarlyThe Louisiana Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded the contract to widen a portion of Interstate 10 outside of Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Gilchrist Construction Company. The contract contained both liquidated damages and an early completion bonus. The project was completed ahead of schedule and Gilchrist was awarded a substantial early completion bonus. Shortly thereafter, Gilchrist sued DOT seeking an additional $4 million for delays encoun-tered during the contract performance that were alleged to be due to errors in the plans and specifications provided by DOT. The trial court awarded the requested $4 million that was largely affirmed by the Louisiana Court of Appeals finding that the errors in fact caused delays that likewise increased the contractor’s costs for performing the contract.

The contract required Critical Path Method scheduling as described in the AGC Construction Planning and Scheduling publication. Using the impacted as-planned schedule analysis method, the contractor argues that accommodating the errors in the quantity estimates required greater effort and more time to be expended. While the DOT critiqued the methodology and argued that interim change orders resolved some of the claims, the DOT did not perform an alternate calculation. Gilchrist acknowledged that the baseline schedule did include some errors relative to the assumed rate of productivity, but the court concluded that the baseline schedule was an accurate and valid work plan that was accepted by DOT. The increased produc-tion rate achieved by the contractor overcame the errors in the quantity estimates from DOT. Applying the production rate actually achieved to the original estimated quantities reveals that the project would have been completed even earlier.

While the trial court awarded the full damages requested by Gilchrist (including compensation for idle equipment and material stockpiling), the Court of Appeals deducted the award of Eichleay damages for home office overhead since there was no actual work stoppage. The Court of Appeals affirmed the award of $3.7 million in delay damages on a project that was completed early.


OWNER ALERTSWhile completing on schedule is an important measure of a project success, that is not the only consideration when evaluating exposure for delay damages. Either based on early completion incentives or the contractor’s general ability to complete early, delays that do not extend the completion date could still expose the owner to delay damages. This topic may be addressed in the contract and with appropriate documentation during the course of the project. As demonstrated by this case, early completion opportunity is another potential issue for the unwary.

Cyber Liability Is An Issue For Any Business With A Public PresenceThe risk of data breach is not limited to health care entities and retailers. Any business that uses computer technology, especially if it stores personal information relating to its employees, customers or others, is susceptible to an attack or inadvertent breach of data security. The now-in-famous Target data breach was traced to credentials stolen from an HVAC contractor who had access to the Target network possibly to monitor energy usage in various store locations. Once the hackers were able to enter the Target system, they were able to introduce malicious software that provided access to substantial financial data on the company and customers.

The increasing use of Building Information Modeling and the transfer of the BIM model and data to operations, which also allow entities to access real time data and possibly access other parts of an owner’s network, creates a greater risk for data breach even if you believe that there may be no connection between the building operations and other information stored on the network. The more points of entry to any network, the greater the risk of intrusion.

There are federal laws, agencies and rules that have benn developed to require various industries to enhance cyber security, and many states have likewise gotten involved in “encouraging” businesses to avoid data breaches in order to avoid substantial fines and penalties. While most lawsuits resulting from data breaches have been dismissed because the allegations largely asserted “fear of identity theft,” some courts are getting more sympathetic to the increasing numbers of people who have been the subject of a malicious or inadvertent data breach.

The Federal Trade Commission has issued Ten Lessons to Reduce Vulnerabilities that provide some structure to the preventive actions that can be taken:

1. Start with security

2. Control access to data sensibly

3. Require secure passwords and authentication

4. Store sensitive personal information securely and protect it during transmission

5. Segment your work and monitor who is trying to get in and out

6. Secure remote access to your network

7. Apply sound security practices when developing new products

8. Make sure your service providers implement reason-able security measures

9. Put procedures in place to keep your security current and address vulnerabilities that may arise

10. Secure paper, physical media, and devices

According to the Ponemon Institute, ninety-one percent of health care organizations have had at least one data breach. Likewise, the incidence of cybercrime is growing at a rapid pace. Despite the best efforts of industry and government, there is an increasing likelihood that every business will suffer some form of breach. With that in mind, the Department of Justice issued “Best Practices for Victim Response and Reporting Cyber Incidents” to provide some guidance for businesses who may experi-ence a breach of security.

a. Have a plan in place before a breach occurs

b. Make initial assessment

c. Implement measures to minimize damage

d. Record and collect information

e. Notify law enforcement/victims

f. Do not use compromised system to communicate

g. Remain vigilant

While most people do not consider themselves to be likely target of cyber criminals, the methods employed by those criminals does not discriminate based on the value of the target. It is becoming a crime of opportunity using automated programs searching the Internet for vulnerabilities that can be exploited. Alternatively, the human factor remains the greatest security vulnerability, whether by losing laptops or storage media, succumbing to phishing attacks, using weak passwords or malicious intent. The best plan involves the elements of a good security program as well as a good cyber insurance policy from a reputable carrier—in addition to your lawyer, of course.

John Sier, with the firm of Kitch Drutchas Wagner Valitutti & Sherborook in Detroit, Michigan, is Associate Counsel to COAA.


FEATURE ARTICLE

WITH A HEAVY FOCUS ON NEW STEM-BASED degree programs like mechanical and elec-trical engineering, life sciences, and computer sciences, the University of Washington’s

Bothell campus recently found itself both short on space in general and woefully lacking in laboratory and modern instructional space in particular. The Discovery Hall project was designed to be a solution to these challenges, and it was the first new building constructed on campus in 10 years. The new facility provides approximately 75,000 gross square feet of additional academic space to support the new and expanded degree programs.

Discovery Hall accommodates an increased capacity of more than 1,000 full-time students, providing for general capacity expansion, including instructional labs necessary to support the new science and technology programs, faculty offices, a 200-seat lecture hall/performance space, and classrooms sized and configured to meet the needs of the lower division curriculum. The project also provides a new central gath-ering space, a “crescent-path” walkway ready to serve future buildings, an upgrade to the campus chiller plant, and emer-gency power generation.

Project Leadership Silver Award Winner

University of Washington Bothell Discovery Hall

Compiled by Chris Towery

PROJECT DETAILSOwner

University of Washington

ArchitectTHA Architecture

Construction Professional Lease Crutcher Lewis

Type of ProjectHigher Education

Delivery MethodCM at-Risk

Gross Square Footage75,000

Final Construction Cost$44.2 million


Overall Project ManagementUW Bothell’s project management team instituted two key measures that greatly impacted the project’s success: 1) retooling the standard contracts for architects and contractors to include language that set clear expecta-tions for a project “culture” that was integrated, collabora-tive, and emphasized the use of BIM; and 2) managing the expectations of UW Bothell’s staff, who had never partic-ipated in a major design and construction project and came with high expectations for involvement and facility standards, which in many cases greatly varied from what’s typical on the nearby University of Washington Seattle campus.

While UW’s Capital Projects Office (CPO) has executed dozens of major projects successfully, the Major Projects Group’s leadership knew that they were not realizing the power of the sort of integrated project delivery that is possible in the private sector. Given the assorted statutory requirements that must be followed in the public sector, along with an institutional attitude about contract language that could be characterized as “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” making a course correction for the delivery of Discovery Hall was no small undertaking.

While certainly obligated to follow the letter of the statutes, CPO also explored the “grey areas” and pushed on its own Contracts Office and UW’s branch of the Attorney General’s Office to consider changes in the Architect/Engineer and GC/CM agreements. Within the contracts, several key expec-tations were established:

It is the Owner’s intention that the Owner, Architect and GC/CM work together collaboratively through the design and construction process. The following definitions are provided to clarify this relationship:

1. Project Partners (Partners): The University of Washington (Owner), the Architect, and the GC/CM. The term “partner”

as used herein refers to the informal collaborative and cooperative relationship intended between the parties and is not used in the formal legal sense. As a “partner” on this Project, Architect does not assume any special responsibili-ties or duties (including but not limited to fiduciary duties) to GC/CM, as would be required of a legal partner in a true formal partnership.

2. Partnering Activities: Activities undertaken by Project Partners intended to foster commitment by and between the Partners to improve communications and avoid disputes by working together towards shared and common goals and objectives on a project specific basis.

14. The Architect will work with the Project Partners throughout the term of this contract in a collaborative and proactive manner to deliver a project that meets the program, schedule, and budget goals of the Owner. The Architect will participate with and support the GC/CM in the GC/CM’s execution of its responsibilities in the following areas, at a minimum: value engineering and assessing alter-native design and construction options for cost reductions to achieve the Construction Budget; cost estimating; deter-mining construction feasibility and constructability; site logistics; determining subcontract bid packages; sequencing of work and scheduling; and coordination with GC/CM’s subcontractors during design, including support necessary for early selection of electrical and mechanical subcontrac-tors; incorporation of GC/CM’s subcontractors’ work into design documents, if required by Owner. The Architect shall be responsible for addressing all reasonable issues identi-fied by the GC/CM as directed by the Owner.

20. Construction drawings, addenda, and change orders shall be prepared utilizing a computer-aided design (“CAD”) system in accordance with Owner’s CAD standards and requirements. Architect shall submit data and information to Owner for approval to confirm that Owner’s standards and requirements are met. Architect shall utilize 3-D (BIM) modeling software to prepare Project documentation to the extent practicable, and shall transmit 3-D model electroni-cally to GC/CM, as required. The Owner, Architect, and GC/CM shall, at the earliest practicable time, establish CAD protocols and tolerances as may be required for the proper execution of the Project. Architect shall work with GC/CM to ensure that the BIM software used by Architect is compat-ible with BIM software used by GC/CM.

The project team was expected to operate in a highly collaborative manner; go “all-in” on BIM to an extent that the University had not yet done; take advantage of new legislative authority to hire mechanical and electrical trade contractors to assist the design engineers and then skip

FEATURE ARTICLE


much of the traditional CD phase and go straight to shop drawings; let the project needs determine what documents would be produced rather than following the “same old checklist;” not utilize a third-party estimator and spend weeks reconciling competing estimates; and to use a mutu-ally accessible budget to fund key—but difficult to quantify in advance—services, such as safety and BIM, to provide what the project needed in those areas. Any of these items would be a significant advance in major project delivery for UW Bothell, but to implement all of the items as a “pilot project” on an important new building was a bold and trans-formational initiative.

Of course, spelling out the Owner’s expectations in the contracts was only the beginning. It took consistent emphasis early and often to achieve the team’s confidence in the approach and more importantly, each other—and this is what led to project’s superior success. Co-location during design and construction also helped with both confidence building and collaboration, and at the end of the job, the different parties involved emerged as a unified team with a great project and great metrics.

Another important example of project management success involved the management of a difficult situation, in terms of being able to proceed with the project in an efficient and linear manner. Early design work did not produce a good fit for the growing campus, so the team decided to switch architects and go with THA Architecture. Despite that initial setback, the campus master plan and the associated design of Discovery Hall made great prog-ress through early construction documents, until funding for the completion of the design and construction was not provided by the State of Washington. This proved highly discouraging, but CPO kept the team’s contracts in place by suspending them, rather than terminating them, with hope that the project would be re-started and would not have to go through a new selection process. After nearly a year hiatus, the state came forth with a “stimulus package,” which included the project, and this put Discovery Hall back in business. This good news was tempered by the expectation that the project be “shovel-ready,” and the team feverishly worked to complete bid documents on an early site-work package. Those documents were completed in time for early site work to begin, while the rest of the building was still in design.

During the hiatus, UW Bothell underwent changes in its academic offerings and in its approach to infrastructure, and this resulted in significant design changes once the project restarted. For example, new labs for mechanical and electrical engineering programs were required, a sizable server room was eliminated after a move to the “cloud,” and

the team studied more efficient approaches for the campus chiller plant expansion and sizing of the emergency gener-ator. Through it all, the integrated team met every challenge and worked to complete the design sequentially as needed to serve the construction requirements.

Project Scheduling: UW Bothell set the expectation that the project schedule could be compressed, without compromising design or construction quality. In fact, both were expected to improve. A “draw-it-once” approach was emphasized, in which construction documents were not followed up by shop drawings, which repeat much of the same information. In many cases, the shop drawings were the construction documents. The team was also willing to take the risk of starting construction before the building design was completed, even with the academic program in flux due to the funding interruption. The team could not wait for design to finish before starting construction, because then the project would not be “shovel ready,” and funding would be at risk. While the team did make changes after construction started, it was made clear that anything that would require changes in the structure were off the table.

The scheduling approach required the use of “over the shoulder” reviews by university stakeholders, such as campus engineering and UW technology, to compress the cycle through which designs are reviewed and comments addressed. The “over the shoulder” approach involved giving staff just a few days to familiarize themselves with the documents, and then having a face-to-face meeting with their design and construction counterparts to explain the design, review issues, discuss solutions, and document the agreed-upon outcomes. This method shaved months off of the project develop-ment schedule, while still maintaining document quality and allowing technical staff to ensure that the universi-ty’s requirements were met.


Cost Management: Aside from the usual “budget options logs” and similar tools for tracking potential Owner-scope changes and their associated costs, UW Bothell leveraged its early integrated team to explore several options for reducing cost while still maintaining quality:

• The electrical subcontractor led a study to re-think the size of the emergency generator, and after reviewing the detailed analysis of generator options, the Owner elected to reduce the generator size and save over $250,000.

• Similarly, the electrical subcontractor suggested a revised location for the generator that saved $600 per lineal foot of relocation. The mechanical subcontractor was key in a study that looked at the upgrade to the campus chiller plant and helped the design to be optimized for first cost, flexibility, and ease of maintenance.

• The GC/CM was instrumental in reducing cost on the building enclosure and cladding, spending several days each week with the architect refining details, coordi-nating subcontractor and supplier ideas on detailing, and developing prefabrication approaches. This work made the curtain wall and a complex steel armature that supports both terra-cotta panels and brick much simpler—and less costly—to document and build.

• The GC/CM worked with the civil and structural engi-neers to re-think how one of the below-grade building walls could be constructed as a shoring wall during the early site work, thus preventing the need to export—and later import—soil to meet the intended grades.

• The intensive use of BIM for early and frequent collab-oration was paramount in reducing change orders and buyout errors.

Through these and similar efforts in collaboration and coordination, the project was completed on schedule and at approximately six-percent under budget. These savings were critical, as the Owner hoped to build a campus-corporation yard for material and equipment storage, shipping and receiving, and similar back-of-house functions. However, that scope was entirely at risk, since it would have to be funded out of the Discovery Hall budget. The project’s integrated approach was instrumental in achieving these savings. Just as important, capturing these metrics to justify the ROI in modeling and preconstruction coordination was critical in making this approach the standard by which other major projects are now delivered at the university.

Quality Management: In keeping with the Owner’s emphasis on integrated delivery and leveraging BIM, the team helped select the bid packages that should contain requirements for modeling and participation in the coor-dination effort. In the end, 19 trade contractors performed modeling, and several of them had not previously engaged with this level of effort. The modeling led to improved project quality for many reasons:

• The work was well planned and coordinated, which allowed workers in the field to focus on doing their work well, rather than asking the home office to send in another RFI or discover that another trade’s work was in their way.

• Up-to-the-minute documents are available electroni-cally on the job site, allowing the field staff to get quick answers and work efficiently. Less re-work kept morale up and improved quality.

• The model became the basis of a Bluebeam-based punch-list management system, which greatly increased the efficiency of the contractor’s pre-punch list and the design team’s punch list.

Overall Project SuccessA number of factors contributed to the project’s overall success, including:

• Creating the expectation for a culture of collaboration prior to the selection of the design and construction teams, and then maintaining that culture as the project progressed.

• Using a target-value design approach for early MEP trade contractors after target budgets were set with multiple independent estimates.

• Early selection of electrical and mechanical contrac-tors under new statutory authority from the State

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of Washington. This was the first project to take full advantage of this new tool for project delivery, and it was fully embraced.

• Going “all-in” on BIM, with 19 trades modeling and coordinating their work. The GC/CM provided a BIM Integrator, who led the entire modeling and coordination effort between the design team and trade contractors.

• Keeping UW Bothell’s staff well informed, with regular review meetings outside of the overall team meetings.

• Providing a technical liaison from UW Seattle’s engi-neers to mediate between doing things “the Seattle way” versus “the Bothell way.”

• Investing in preconstruction services, coordination, and modeling paid returns many times over and led to signif-icant underspend on project contingencies.

Project ComplexitySeveral factors made the Discovery Hall project challenging, including:

• The project featured a highly involved Owner, with many stakeholders who had not been involved in delivering a major project before. The Owner organized a building committee to set the vision for the project, and then moved to a smaller core team as the design progressed and construction commenced. A regular update meeting was scheduled for the university’s team leaders outside of the weekly Owner/Architect/Contractor meeting, so issues could be reviewed, questions answered, and direc-tion provided in advance of the OAC meeting.

• The unsteady funding stream had a stop-start impact on design and construction. The Owner quickly reinstated the design and construction contracts and gave early authorization to begin work in advance of the funding reappearing.

• The design program was changed due to rapidly evolving academic programs. The team met with the faculty leading the new engineering programs and toured several facilities on the Seattle campus to quickly decide what was needed, so design could be rapidly advanced as site work was started.

• The sloping site was addressed through on-grade building entries on four of the five floors. A site stair and associated runnel water feature will serve Discovery Hall as well as future buildings built nearby.

• A large portion of the UW Bothell campus was impacted by the project, as it provided a new pedestrian and vehicular road, a “crescent path” pedestrian walkway to

serve this and future buildings, a new plaza and “seating steps,” and expansion of the campus chiller plant housed in another building.

SustainabilityThe State of Washington required that the Discovery Hall project achieve LEED Silver. However, the project team went above that minimum standard by shooting for LEED Gold, and the documentation for that certification is currently being reviewed. Some of the project’s key sustainable elements include:

• A skylight and light well brings sunlight to the center of the top two floors.

• High-efficiency light fixtures improved lighting and reduced energy usage.

• Construction debris was sorted to maximize recycling.

• Wood from a portion of felled trees was salvaged, refin-ished, and used in new benches.

• All rooms within the daylight zone of the building feature occupancy sensors to dim or turn off lighting, depending on whether or not the room is in use.

• No- and low-VOC materials and finishes were used for improving interior air quality.

• Highly energy-efficient chilled beams were used for some classrooms and laboratory spaces.

• Roof rain runoff is collected, transferred to a runnel adja-cent to the building, taken through a sculptural water feature, and conveyed to an adjacent wetland.

• An east-west-oriented building layout optimizes daylighting and ventilation, while controlling heat gain.

• Continued use of the chilled water plant and infrastruc-ture, rather than provide a new chiller in the building.

• A sustainability dashboard featuring energy and resource smart metering created opportunities for data-driven studies of campus sustainability initiatives, as well as measuring and providing transparency for the building’s sustainability success.

• The project incorporated water-conserving plumbing fixtures.

• The project’s landscaping utilized native, native-adap-tive, and drought-tolerant plantings.

For its excellence in project management, The University of Washington was selected as the winner of COAA’s 2014 Project Leadership Silver Award for the Bothell campus’ Discovery Hall. For more information on this project, visit www.bothell.washington.edu.

How to Finish Strong: Project Closeout Strategies

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DON’T YOU HATE IT WHEN a movie has a bad ending? The first 115 minutes of the film may be thrilling,

inspiring, hilarious, innovative, or all of the above, but if the ending is weak, what do you remember most vividly about the movie? If you are like most people, you recall that it had a weak ending. As with movies, so it is with project management. A project may exceed all expectations of efficiency, value, schedule and budget, but if the occupants are not comfortable when they move in, they will be disap-pointed with the project. If the facility managers cannot properly operate the facility due to lack of closeout documents and training, they will be frustrated with the building and the project manager. Months of hard work and thousands of smart deci-sions could be forgotten if the project closeout is not well managed.

Fortunately, Owners don’t have to leave project closeout to chance, and there are proven ways to enhance this vital stage of the project delivery process. Here we’ll look at four key strategies to help ensure your project has a strong finish: start early, manage change, integrate Owner-furnished items, and manage the punchlist process.

Start EarlyAs the construction Owner, you need to lead the effort. Do not assume that the construction manager (CM) or design team is working on the closeout. It is up to you to establish that an effective and efficient closeout will be a high priority.

Before the project even begins, make certain that your contracts and construction standards clearly communicate and define your requirements and expectations. It is incumbent on you to know what is required in your documents. You

How to Finish Strong: Project Closeout Strategies

By Stuart Adler

1 As the construction Owner, you need to lead the effort. Do not assume that the construction manager or design team is working on the closeout.

2 Make closeout an agenda item for every Owner-Architect-Contractor (OAC) meeting.

3 Make sure that your “customer” is included in changes as appropriate and informed of all changes that will impact them.

4 You can avoid delays, extra costs, and surprises when you coordinate Owner-furnished items early in the process.

5 Long before the punchlist phase of a project, put procedures in place to manage the punchlist process.

LESSONSLEARNED


1 As the construction Owner, you need to lead the effort. Do not assume that the construction manager or design team is working on the closeout.

2 Make closeout an agenda item for every Owner-Architect-Contractor (OAC) meeting.

3 Make sure that your “customer” is included in changes as appropriate and informed of all changes that will impact them.

4 You can avoid delays, extra costs, and surprises when you coordinate Owner-furnished items early in the process.

5 Long before the punchlist phase of a project, put procedures in place to manage the punchlist process.


FEATURE ARTICLEcannot make certain your team is doing what is required if you do not know the requirements. Make certain the design and construction teams clearly understand the requirements and your expectations. One strategy would be to hold a closeout strategy session at the beginning of construction. At this meeting, you would discuss agenda items, such as record drawings, as-built drawings, opera-tions and maintenance documents, and attic stock require-ments. Create a concept closeout schedule at this meeting, and then include key closeout activities in the more detailed construction schedule. Identify who is responsible for each item on the list.

Establish a checklist of closeout activities and deliverables. There are just too many items involved with closeout for anyone to keep up with everything without a checklist. Make closeout an agenda item for every Owner-Architect-Contractor (OAC) meeting. This practice will keep closeout top-of-mind and provide a good opportunity to review the checklist regularly.

Manage ChangeChange is an inevitable part of any construction project. The perceived success of a project is often determined by how we manage change. As with many aspects of project management, good communication and timely deci-sion-making is paramount. Always remember that although you and many others on the team may be very familiar with the construction process, the end users typically are not familiar. Make sure that your “customer” is included in changes as appropriate and informed of all changes that will impact them. Clearly communicate the advantages to making decisions early in the process and establish criteria to evaluate requested changes.

It is common for many change requests to arise during the building activation phase. You should prepare strategies ahead of this phase to address changes that take place during this phase. One approach would be to “triage” requests. In this context, triage would be a method to prioritize the urgency of each potential change and to evaluate whether the change can wait until after occupancy. Another approach is to establish a “change moratorium” policy. Some Owners establish a policy that end-users must occupy the building for three or six months before requesting any changes.

Expect the unexpected. A good project manager is always looking ahead, scanning the horizon for potential issues that may arise. Even if a critical scenario is only remotely possible, develop a Plan B and maybe even a Plan C, so that you are always prepared for any change that may be lurking in the weeds, waiting to bite you.

Owner-Furnished ItemsCoordinate Owner-furnished items with the design and construction. You can avoid delays, extra costs, and surprises when you coordinate Owner-furnished items early in the process. These items may include furniture, A/V equipment, marker boards, lab equipment, artwork, or even toilet accessories. Some examples of coordination include making sure certain electric outlets (floor-mounted and wall mounted) are coordinated with furniture locations, making certain that fire alarms and thermostats are not mounted where they conflict with marker board or artwork loca-tions, confirming power/data coordinates with A/V equip-ment. Include key Owner-furnished items in the detailed construction schedule. The contractor needs to account for Owner-furnished items, and you need to know when to have these items delivered and installed.


Punchlist ManagementPunchlist management is a common source of stress for all project stakeholders. The contractors are in a hurry to finish the job and move on to their next commit-ment. The end users are in a hurry to move in to their new space. However, facilities management does not want responsibility for the operations and management of the space until the punchlist is complete. And you do not want to be in the middle of disputes regarding whether damage was caused by the contractor or by the Owner’s representatives.

Long before the punchlist phase of a project, put procedures in place to manage the punchlist process. Here are some strategies to consider:

• Develop punch list format/document form with the Project Team during design with sign offs.

• Determine the punch list sequence (start at top floor, first floor, etc.) with the Prime Contractor.

• Require Prime Contractor to pre-punch the project.

• Identify specific representatives to be involved in punching out the building.

• Schedule the punch list so that there is ONE FINAL LIST

° Select date(s).

° Don’t issue Punch List over and over again.

° Don’t confuse Punch List with warranty work.

° Multiple versions reduce AE and Trade Contractor cooperation.

• Consider requiring the Prime Contractor to have a “Closeout Engineer” on staff.

• Require the Contractor to provide an on-site carpenter to be available to correct simple items before they are even added to the punchlist.

• Get as much done as possible before move-in. Otherwise there are inevitable consequences.

• Don’t let items sit on the list!

Finish StrongCloseout should be the highlight of the project. After all, you are nearing the completion of a project, and in most cases, this should be a time to celebrate success. However, if closeout is not managed well, it can become a time of disappointment and frustration. It is human nature to remember how a project finishes and forget the beginning and middle, so it is critical that closeout is a smooth, efficient process. Do not wait until the end of a project to start planning closeout. Start early. Prioritize as a team. Assign specific tasks to specific individuals. Include closeout as a regular OAC meeting topic. Be a strong leader. Encourage your team to plan ahead and finish strong!

Stuart Adler is the Director of Program Management in Planning, Design & Construction at Emory University. Stuart is a COAA board member, registered architect, a LEED Accredited Professional, and holds a Master’s of Architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology.


INTEREST IN LEAN DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION HAS grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, as reflected by enhanced national media coverage, major presentations at COAA conferences and other national meetings, and

rapid growth in attendance at Lean workshops and events around the country. Clearly, a substantial and growing number of industry players—Owners and contractors alike—are seeking to learn more and beginning to implement Lean, Integrated Project Delivery, and related elements of more collaborative forms of project delivery. Here, we’ll provide a brief overview of what Lean is all about and discuss what’s in it for Owners and others in the supply chain.

Simply stated, Lean Design and Construction is all about increasing value (as defined by the customer) and identi-fying and eliminating waste on projects. Lean emphasizes respect for people, the promotion of true collaboration, and continuous learning and innovation to produce better outcomes in every phase of project delivery.

Lean’s focus on value is reflected in its goal of enhancing flow on projects. It aims to continuously structure work in order to maximize seamless handoffs among project participants and promote reliable and predictable outcomes in every phase. By optimizing team performance—even at the expense of indi-vidual elements within the team—Lean serves to transform teams from disparate sets of specialists, with separate and sometimes conflicting goals, into cohesive production part-nerships that share the goal of promoting total project success at every turn. This is the goal and outcome of successfully implementing the Last Planner® system, a trademarked tool developed by the Lean Construction Institute (LCI).

Team-Based PlanningUnimpeded and predictable workflow starts with collabora-tive planning. We seek to involve every player on the project in “pull planning” each phase of the project, working back-wards from a milestone or target identified in the master schedule. This is typically accomplished in a sizable work-space with a large wall area on which planners can organize project activities by phase, always working backwards from a specific milestone or deliverable. Tasks are labelled on sticky notes and posted right-to-left in reverse order of completion. Each specialty contractor or team responsible for individual work elements is expected to contribute its knowledge towards defining and sequencing tasks so as to create timely and effective handoffs to the next craft or set of players. The goal is to maximize value creation as we develop a plan that everyone understands and can support.

As this process unfolds, some remarkable behaviors begin to emerge. As their diverse skills and experience are brought to bear, people negotiate with each other over task sequencing. They share anticipated challenges and pitfalls, and begin to think through how to head them off before they occur. They start to see their set of individual tasks as more than solo work plans to be completed as quickly as possible, so they can move on. Instead, they see how their actions and traditional work modes impact—and often impede—others on the team. Traditional tasks and sequences that add little or no value can be restructured or abolished to enhance workflow rather than contribute to waste.

By empowering individual workers to manage commitment planning and control workflow, they assume responsibility for making reliable performance promises to other team members. This process continues as pull plans are imple-mented onsite, and weekly meetings (often augmented by brief daily huddles) ensure that all outcomes and handoffs—positive and negative—are surfaced and reviewed regularly. Weekly work plans help the team track its progress (more on this below), and six week “look-ahead” plans keep them focused on the relationship between current tasks and upcoming handoffs to others scheduled to arrive on site. Over time, flow continues to improve as personal pride in

FEATURE ARTICLE

Why Owners Should Care About Lean The key benefits of Lean Design and Construction

By Dan Heinemeier


one’s work and peer pressure of the team encourages members to promise reli-ably and deliver consistently. This, in turn, builds trust and fosters true collabora-tion: the kind of team effort that sees individual failures not as opportunities for assigning blame, but as challenges to be overcome as a team. In other words, “We all fail when one fails.”

Continuous LearningIf Lean only enhanced teamwork, that would be good, but even the best team can be made better by engaging in continuous learning and identifying and addressing the reasons for its recurring failure to meet specific goals and sched-ules. Each week’s completed tasks are reviewed, then divided by the number of tasks planned (based on the weekly work plans) to create a weekly Percentage Plan Completed (PPC) index (the industry average historically has been a less-than-inspiring 55-percent). Lean teams may even start out substantially below average. However, by engaging in the Plan-Do-Check-Adjust (PDCA) cycle, based on the scientific method, teams begin to march up the learning curve, removing recurring constraints to their productivity. The “5 Whys” questioning technique is often utilized to fully understand where constraints are coming from and to develop plans as a team to remove them based on their root causes. Teams regularly begin to achieve PPC in the 80 to 90-percent range as project work continues. This is an optimal range of performance, as 100-percent PPC actually indicates a team that is not pushing itself to truly excel.

A substantial set of Lean tools have been developed to support and augment the PDCA cycle and other processes described above. In addition to the PPC and “5 Whys” concepts noted above, there are a few others: the so-called “A3” reporting format, which promotes effective decision-making/documentation on project alternatives through an established template providing informa-tion in one page on the team decision process; Value Stream Mapping, which helps teams analyze systems and processes and develop improvements; Target Value Design (TVD), a technique to promote designs that are informed with constructability considerations as well as detailed cost estimates (rather than the traditional process of estimating once detailed designs are available). While all of these tools exist, no tool or set of tools is right for every project or every organization. LCI encourages the use of what works best for your team, and the augmentation of those tools over time as the organization and personnel gain experience.

1 Lean emphasizes respect for people, the promotion of true collaboration, and continuous learning and innovation to produce better outcomes in every phase of project delivery.

2 Each specialty contractor or team is expected to contribute its knowledge towards defining and sequencing tasks to create timely and effective handoffs to the next set of players.

3 No tool or set of tools for implementing Lean is right for every project or every organization. It’s about using what works best for your team and augmenting those tools as your team gains experience over time.

4 There are numerous examples of successful use of Lean in both the private sector and in complex, regulated public projects.

5 To effectively implement Lean requires true cultural change, which can only be accomplished through hard work, persistent follow-through, and a corporate-wide commitment to training and implementation.

LESSONSLEARNED


The Benefits for OwnersSo now that you know more about Lean, you may be wondering, “What’s in it for me?” Admittedly, documenting the benefits of Lean is a challenge because no two projects are exactly alike, and critics can point to the variables in questioning whether Lean techniques are really the root cause of success. However, we have a substantial body of analysis that suggests the success realized on Lean projects is real and replicable.

Few, if any, organizations have implemented Lean to the extent and depth of Universal Health Systems (UHS), which builds medical facilities around the country. In dozens of cases, many of which have very comparable characteristics in terms of project size, complexity, and other factors, the results have been dramatic. A snapshot of 50 UHS projects from $1M to $150M using Lean techniques and collabora-tive forms (albeit not pure-play Integrated Project Delivery) reveals 97-percent were completed under or on budget (the worst at 103 percent of budget). Over 20 percent cost reduction was realized on similar projects from 2009-2013, from $231k per bed to $175k per bed. In the process, the Owner gained enhanced safety, better value decisions, and greater predictability of outcomes. In a more recent example, the Temecula Hospital project in California, results were equally dramatic: delivery at 40-percent below market cost, 30-percent improvement in operational efficiency, and 200-percent labor efficiency. Participants even cited “fun” as a direct benefit of the process.

Another criticism often voiced about Lean is that even if it works in the commercial private sector, how can it possibly be used in highly regulated public-sector procure-ment environments? Yet, there are significant examples of successful use of Lean in complex, regulated public projects. Michigan State University used a true Lean IPD approach to transform its Shaw dining facility, a $12M project. As is the case with many Lean projects, the team invested significantly more than typically is done in design, including the use of TVD and saved significant cost throughout the construction phase as a result. The design firm estimated 28-percent savings on its construction administration work alone. The use of RFIs was cut over 90 percent—just 12 were issued compared to an estimated average of 144. Final costs per seat were cut roughly 15 percent, and operations commenced with minimal issues. The project was even LEED certified with a goal of Silver. Last but not least, the team experienced an unusual level of friendship and camaraderie throughout the course of the project. MSU had a good basis for comparison, since this was the fourth such dining hall renovation it has done in the last 10 years.

Another impressive example has been the remarkable track record of Lean project delivery at the University of California, San Francisco. In as complex a state regulatory environment as any other, UCSF has used Lean design and construction principles successfully for selected capital projects since 2007. This has included projects valued at more than $2 billion. The university selected project teams who could use Lean tools to improve the process and the built product and adapted its contracts to require that these tools be used during both design and construc-tion. What have been the benefits compared to traditional capital project delivery methods? Improvements cited include consistent on-time delivery; complete avoidance of claims and costly adjudication; competitive, predictable costs; improved design and building performance; crisp and effective start-up and commissioning; and improved end-user satisfaction. For a complete look at UCSF’s experi-ence by Michael Bade, associate vice chancellor and campus architect, visit www.leanconstruction.org/media/docs/415G-FRLeanConstruction.pdf

Cultural ChangeWe often hear that the Lean techniques espoused by LCI and other advocates are nothing new. “We’ve been doing that for years. We talk to our subcontractors and work collaboratively.” Well, maybe that’s true, but more than likely, it’s not. To effectively implement Lean requires true cultural change, and this is only accomplished through hard work, persistent follow-through, and a corporate-wide commitment to training and implementation that exceeds the norm. Discipline is required not just to embrace new tools, but to unlearn unproductive behaviors that previ-ously served people well. This is not only hard to cultivate, it’s even harder to sustain. Done right, it requires a level of Owner involvement throughout the process that is new to many organizations.

Once you take part in a successful Lean project, however, it’s easy to see why increasing numbers of Owners and contrac-tors are persevering in adopting the concept. When done right, Lean allows you to truly collaborate as a team; tightly couple learning with continuous improvement; optimize the whole, not the parts; and to see projects as networks of commitments in which people promise boldly and then deliver consistently. These are features of Lean that drive successful outcomes for Owners and competitive advantage for the supply chain. Not to mention hearing participants using a new F-word—FUN—in association with your projects. As the T.V. commercial says, that’s priceless.

Dan Heinemeier is the Executive Director of the Lean Construction Institute (LCI).

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Attend Congress and learn from other Owners on their Lean experience.

• Learn about how projects have been completed on or under budget using Lean tools and techniques

• Hear from your peers how they have used Lean successfully to obtain better predictability, consistent on-time delivery and fewer change orders on their projects

• Learn from our Congress sessions (four keynote speakers PLUS over 70 concurrent sessions) as well as other Owners how to avoid claims and costly adjudication on your projects

• Join conversations with your peers about how to obtain improved design and building performance through Lean Project Design and Delivery. Attend an Owner panel featuring executives who will address “Why are you so committed to Lean and Lean IPD? What does it take to bring it about in your company?” The panel is being moderated by Victor Sanvido, Senior Vice President, Southland Industries.

“The Lean Construction Institute is unique in creating an open forum for the sharing of ideas and lessons learned. In this environment, people are willing to discuss failures and what they learned from them. When coupled with educational opportunities and multiple venues to network with peers, the collaborative mentality is extremely valuable to advancing the design and construction industry.”

–JAMES PEASESenior Project Manager, Sutter Health

JOIN OTHER OWNERS LEAN CONSTRUCTION INSTITUTE’S 17TH ANNUAL LCI CONGRESS SCALING LEAN IN THE ENTERPRISE

For complete information and registration, go to: LeanConstruction.org/Congress


FEATURE ARTICLE

IN MAY, COAA MEMBERS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY gathered in Baltimore, Maryland, for the 2015 Spring Owners Leadership Conference. Running from May 13-15, the event was held at the Hilton Baltimore, which is

centrally located just across the street from the legendary Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The conference was jam packed with valuable educational sessions, interactive discussions, and networking opportunities designed to help Owners hit a home run with their next project.

Integrate and Collaborate The first session on Wednesday, “Soaring to New Heights in Project Delivery: Let’s Talk About It,” was led by Walt Disney’s Bill Seed, and it discussed how Owners can make their projects more collaborative and efficient by adopting Integrated Lean Project Delivery. While Integrated Lean Project Delivery is one of the industry’s most cutting-edge processes, many Owners have little experience with it, so Seed outlined exactly what it entails and talked about how

Disney has made the method work for its latest projects. Seed’s knowledge and enthusiasm for this collaborative approach was infectious and left attendees inspired to use a more integrated style within their own organizations.

“Bill Seed is a visionary and an evangelist,” said Jeffery Lynch, Director of Client Services at Wagman Construction, Inc. “Bill is leading the way to new thinking about how to make project delivery more collaborative, and this presenta-tion showed that.”

Following Seed’s presentation, attendees were given the chance to pick key topics related to Lean and engage one another in carousel roundtable discussions. The carousels were led by seasoned facilitators and centered around published white papers on the topics. Once the carousels concluded, everyone met again for an out-brief session and open forum on the topics. These discussions provided attendees with practical take-home lessons for adopting such methods in their own projects.

Navigating Project SuccessA Recap of COAA’s 2015 Spring Owners Leadership Conference in Baltimore

By Chris Towery


“The carousel-style breakout sessions were dynamic discus-sions that leveraged the vast experience in the room,” said Sue Klawans, Vice President and Director of Operational Excellence and Planning with Gilbane Building Company. “In these discussions, we shared what works as well as our ideas about how to overcome obstacles.”

Historical AdaptationOne of the conference’s most popular sessions was Friday’s “Adaptive Reuse At UChicago: Overcoming Obstacles To Create a New Campus Destination.” Led by the University of Chicago’s Larry Blouin, the presen-tation detailed how the Owner and his team success-fully transformed a 100,000 square-foot theological seminary built in the 1920s into a vibrant campus hub featuring lecture halls, offices, study areas, and meeting spaces.

Undertaking a project like this came with many inherent risks, including the building’s age, the lack of as-built documents, historic preservation consider-ations, site logistics, and budget constraints. In spite of these challenges, the team was able to adapt this historically significant space into a thoroughly modern facility, while maintaining much of the building’s tradi-tional charm. The session covered the main strategies the Owner used to overcome these obstacles, including facilitated partnering, design assist with key subcontrac-tors, and the establishment of a collaborative culture and team-oriented approach.

Making Design Assist WorkThe benefits of using design assist were also high-lighted in Thursday’s session “Design Assist From a Subcontractor’s Perspective,” which was led by Southland Industries’ Victor Sandivo. Although the construction industry can be highly fragmented and often inhibits clear communication, Sandivo explained how Owners can use design assist to engage with trade contractors early on in order to streamline design as well as increase understanding and efficiency. The session proved an attendee favorite, and one of the reasons for this was due to the practical nature of Sandivo’s discussion.

“Vic gave a lot of actionable information and insight,” said Lynch. “He backed up his ideas with real data and provided some great ideas we can use in our own projects. Some of the solutions I liked most included using the ‘A3’ solution/format to document all decisions, establishing project targets very early in the process, and eliminating unneces-sary ‘electronic junk’ in the models.”

The National Aquarium One special benefit of holding the conference in Baltimore was its proximity to the National Aquarium located along the city’s Inner Harbor. Established in 1873, the National Aquarium is the nation’s first public aquarium and was initially housed in Wood’s Hole, Massachusetts. Over the next century, it was moved to various locations in Washington D.C. until it found its current home in Baltimore in 1981. On Friday morning, the Aquarium’s Dale Schmidt hosted the conference session “National Aquarium Renovations: Swimming With Sharks And Coming Out On Top,” in which he shared the best practices his team devel-oped while constructing two of the aquarium’s newest exhibits, Blacktip Reef and Living Seashore.

Both the Blacktip Reef and Living Seashore are incredible, one-of-a-kind exhibits, and the design and construction of both came with a number of challenges due to their unique purpose and the number of internal stakeholders involved. To facilitate the success of these two projects, Schmidt described how the aquarium created integrated project teams that strived for transparent and open communications.

By clearly communicating and valuing the vested interests of the individual stakeholders as well as the Aquarium’s overall project goals, the team was able to make value-added decisions and deliver these state-of-the-art exhibits, while staying true to the aquarium’s corporate mission. Moreover, following lunch and the Owners Roundtable on Friday afternoon, COAA members were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of Blacktip Reef to see the breathtaking results of the National Aquarium’s superior project manage-ment efforts.

“The new exhibit was really intriguing,” said Jack Mumma, Construction Contract Administrator at Michigan State University.” I heard comments on people flow, accessibility, and function of the space. It was valuable to see how a fellow Owner dealt with issues that we all have, even in a very different venue.”


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Merging BIM and BASAs always, the spring conference offered multiple presen-tations devoted to the latest advances in technology, and the session “BIM Meets BAS: How Technology Integration Is Leading The GSA To Smarter Buildings” provided insights for getting the most out of two extremely high-tech tools—Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Building Automation Systems (BAS). The session was led by the GSA’s Steve Devito, who explained how Owners can achieve enhanced value from BIM and BAS by getting the two plat-forms to “talk” with one another. Devito discussed how the GSA has married BIM with BAS in one of their mid-Atlantic facilities and how they plan to use a similar approach in future projects.

Attendee Lisa Ferreira, Associate Principal with Goody Clancy, said she was particularly taken by how the GSA managed to implement such progressive practices given the amount of “red tape” a federal agency typically encounters.

“The GSA is one of the largest bureaucratic entities in the country,” said Ferreira, “so if they can manage to modify and stretch their processes to achieve such excellence, it should really be easy for the rest of us. I was also impressed by their ability to achieve net zero on a historically significant structure.”

Facilitating Conversations and ConnectionsIn addition to the tour of the National Aquarium, conference attendees also had the opportunity to catch a Baltimore Oriole’s game on Friday evening. The Major League Baseball matchup saw the Orioles take on the Los Angeles Angels, and although the home team ended up losing 4-5, the opportunity to attend a ballgame at historic Camden Yards and mingle with other COAA members in a festive atmo-sphere was quite a memorable experience.

Of course, even those who didn’t catch the game had plenty of chances to network with other attendees.

Outside of the sessions, COAA conferences always offer many of casual opportunities for members to connect, including catered breakfasts and lunches, happy hour-style receptions, and numerous breaks held throughout the event. Indeed, by giving attendees the chance make new friends and connections, these networking opportunities can prove just as valuable as the educational sessions.

“I’ve been coming to COAA conferences since 2008,” said Clay Hanks, Director, Texas A&M Health Science Center. “The conferences provide an intimate networking environ-ment that is both welcoming and collaborative. It’s great to have the opportunity to interact with other Owners and our industry partners in the different settings. I find that discussing projects and sharing on-the-job experiences with new friends and old is invaluable. In short, the professional relationships developed through COAA provide tangible value and purpose.”

For those members unable to attend the Baltimore confer-ence, the presentations are available on COAA’s website, www.coaa.org. To access the conference files, log in and select “Members Only Content” and then “Archives.” While online, don’t forget to reserve your spot at the 2015 Fall Owner’s Leadership Conference, which takes place November 4-6 in Henderson (Las Vegas), NV.

JOIN TODAY!You’ll be amazed at the connections you’ll make!

WHAT IS COAA?

Founded in 1994, COAA was established to provide a forum for Owners to meet, share, and learn in order to enhance their project success. As Owners, we need to have appropriate expectations of our designers and contractors, convey these expectations to them and then hold them to these standards. And we need to do our part in achieving project success — successful for the owner, designer, and contractor!

COAA • 5000 Austell Powder Springs Rd, Suite 217 • Austell, GA 30106 • 800-994-2622 • www.coaa.org

“My COAA membership allows me to connect to Owners across the country to discuss topics that matter most to me. I get real-time answers on issues I’m dealing with now which makes me a stronger professional and more valuable to my organization.” — Rebecca Koller, University of Nebraska

There is a wealth of knowledge among our members and they are willing to share with you!

CONNECT WITH THE BEST!

WHO/WHAT IS AN OWNER?

If Builders build and Designers design, what do Owners do? Everything else! We teach students, practice medicine, manufacture products, offer entertainment and hospitality, provide government services, and much more. We need buildings to do what we do!

COAA members are connected to a national, local, and virtual network of colleagues and business partners. Leverage the wisdom of our collective membership by networking, collaborating and sharing best practices for professional development and project success!


JOIN TODAY!You’ll be amazed at the connections you’ll make!

WHAT IS COAA?

Founded in 1994, COAA was established to provide a forum for Owners to meet, share, and learn in order to enhance their project success. As Owners, we need to have appropriate expectations of our designers and contractors, convey these expectations to them and then hold them to these standards. And we need to do our part in achieving project success — successful for the owner, designer, and contractor!

COAA • 5000 Austell Powder Springs Rd, Suite 217 • Austell, GA 30106 • 800-994-2622 • www.coaa.org

“My COAA membership allows me to connect to Owners across the country to discuss topics that matter most to me. I get real-time answers on issues I’m dealing with now which makes me a stronger professional and more valuable to my organization.” — Rebecca Koller, University of Nebraska

There is a wealth of knowledge among our members and they are willing to share with you!

CONNECT WITH THE BEST!

WHO/WHAT IS AN OWNER?

If Builders build and Designers design, what do Owners do? Everything else! We teach students, practice medicine, manufacture products, offer entertainment and hospitality, provide government services, and much more. We need buildings to do what we do!

COAA members are connected to a national, local, and virtual network of colleagues and business partners. Leverage the wisdom of our collective membership by networking, collaborating and sharing best practices for professional development and project success!


NEW MEMBERS

OWNERSBuckle, Inc.• Scott Harvey

California Institute of Technology• Matthew Berbee• Rob Mehrkish

Carnegie Mellon University• Brennen Garrison• Mike Kelley• Jennifer McDowell• Megan Worbs

Christman Capital Development Co.• Anthony Bango

City of Surprise• Dana Garr

Cook Children’s Medical Center• Martin Macias

Covance• John Fox

Emory University• Joshua Gilbert• Ann Morris• Jeffrey Tate

Florida International University• Gary Alicia• Enrique Del Riego• Isabel Diaz• Leslie Marine-Marill• Aime Martinez• Albert Santos

Fulton County Schools• Michael Wilbourne

Grand Valley State University• Chad Kellogg

Harris County Department of Education• Jay Atkins

Harvard Business School• Paul Dietel• Kevin Ruby• Jennifer Wrynn

Johns Hopkins University• Mark Geppi• Mike Gourley• Charles Hilseberg• Chris Kelly• William Makowy• James Peach• Kelley Robison• Matt Strott

Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences• Duncan McIlvaine

Loudoun County Public Schools• Brenda Bowler• David Helmke• Andrea Philyaw• Sybil Snee• Brian Stocks

Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission• Joan Barnette• Anthony Derro• Edward Hurdle• Diana Kelley• Alvin McNeal• Marsha Oates• Ian Obligin• Tiaa Rutherford

Methodist Health System• Cliff Clark

Metropolitain Washington Airports Authority• Darren Durbin• Mujeeb Basha• Bernadette Caparas• Larry Chandler• Collier Cook• Ralph Dwyer• Kim Goos• Diane Hirsch• Tanya Kaplun• Olin Kinney• Laura Laudon• Chad Menge• Shimelis Meskellie• Greg Michna• Ray Mizner• Rick Mlinarcik• Jim Needham• Greg Pappas• Mark Puttock• Britni Rhett• Jim Schaeffer• Stephan Smith• Richard Turner• Moe Wadda• Ryan Wolfgang• Nada Zein• Josh Zelechoski

Miami Dade College• Jacquelyn Caldwell• Eduardo Cepero

Mount Carmel Health• Eva Freeman• Julia McClure• Alison Purdon

Northwestern Medicine• Christine Strom• Irvin Wagner

Oakland University• Stuart Rose

Ohio State University• Faye Bodyke• Paul Sherwood

Oregon Health & Science University• Bill Bowen• Rebecca Finch• Anthony Moreschi• CiCi Ross• Ed Trotter• Dan VanBrabant

Pittsburg State University• Joe Levens

Purdue University• John Furry

Sandra Fraser Developer• Sandra Fraser

Santa Clara University• Don Akerland• David Cajigas• Jeff Charles• Greg Davis• Ralph Fitzsimmons• Staci Gustafson• Kuang Hsaio• Dave Mathe• Lourdes Morales• Chris Shay• Mako Ushihara• Gary Vargas• John Veargason• Chris Watt• Chris Young

State of Iowa• Doug Carper• Jennie Elliott• Scott Gustafson• Josh Herman


State of Tennessee Department of General Services• Anna Catherine Davenport• John Hull• Sherry McCutcheon

Temple University• Dozie Ibeh

Texas General Land Office• Jeffery Kauffmann

University of Chicago• Elizabeth Shanin

University of Maryland Baltimore County• Tom Argasinski• Heather Bishop• Celso Guitian

University of Maryland, Baltimore• Jean Graziano

University of Maryland, College Park• Jojo Duah• Cornell Jones• Kathy Lopez

University of North Carolina, Charlotte• Kathryn Horne• Lisa Lanier• Dorothy Vick

University of Oregon• Tim Allenbaugh• Nathan Chaffee• Maggie Gordon• Jen Miley• Patrick Mucker• Janet Yood

Wayne State University• Mark Allen• Christa Azar• Deb Brazen• Chrystal Camilleri• Jason Davis• Thomas Edwards• Ashley Flintoff• Larry Fodor• Robert Hoekstra• Robert Jacobs• Ekta Kamalia• David Kuffner• William McVea• Nancy Milstein• Sylvia Moore• Claudia Padilla• Randy Paquette• Steve Pecic• Erinn Rooks• Sherry Searcy• Jim Sears• Gabrielle SiKora• Anne Vandenbussche

West Virginia University• Terri Konchesky

Westminster Ingleside Group• Thomas Seybold

ASSOCIATESAegis Property Group • John Cacciola

AFG Group Inc• Selena Lo

Ballinger Architects and Engineers• Josh Levy

Brendan Vaughan• Rob Voss

Brent Darnell International• Brent Darnell

Clark Construction Group, LLC• Shea DeLutis-Smith• Kelly Olson

Clayco Inc• Ann Althoff• Rick Moeckel• Steve Street• P. Kirk Warden

EwingCole• Charles Rudalavage

Forum Studio Inc.• Kapil Khanna

Gilbane Building Co• Michelle Orr

Goody, Clancy & Associates, Inc• Lisa Ferreira

Integrated Design Solutions• Karen Kelly• Paul Stachowiak

Kinsley Companies• John Sivulka

Kramer Management Group• Dan Rooney

Langan Engineering & Environmental Services• Christine Hough

Manhattan Construction Co.• George Kreis

MySmartPlans• Shelley Armato

NV5, Inc. • Mark Seifried

Oelrich Construction, Inc. • Bethany Bates

Pennoni Associates, Inc.• Greg Stavrou

Pepper Construction Company• Kevin Bredeson

Reed Smith LLP• Thomas Folk

RIB US Cost, Inc• Jon Weiss

STV Construction, Inc• Gus Maimis

The ReAlignment Group• Dick Bayer

The S/L/A/M Collaborative• Robert Pulito

Turner and Townsend• Leslie Selmser

Viewpoint Construction Software• Doug Reichard

Walbridge Aldinger Company• Pat Podges

Zurich Insurance• Erin Bubelis• Bruce McNabb


CALENDAR OF EVENTS

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

SEPTEMBERCOAA-PA Fall Workshop

September 17, 2015University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA

COAA-TX Fall WorkshopSeptember 21, 2015Courtyard by MarriottAustin, TX

COAA-MI Fall WorkshopSeptember 22, 2015Crowne Plaza NoviNovi, MI

COAA-IL Fall WorkshopSeptember 24, 2015University of ChicagoChicago, IL

COAA-OH Fall WorkshopSeptember 25, 2015Ohio University Dublin CampusDublin, OH

COAA-VA Fall WorkshopSeptember 29, 2015University of VirginiaCharlottesville, VA

OCTOBERCOAA-GA Fall Workshop

October 1, 2015Loudermilk Conference CenterAtlanta, GA

COAA-MD/DC Fall WorkshopOctober 1, 2015Bowie State UniversityBowie, MD

COAA Webinar: Last Planner System: Why Should Owners Care

October 22, 20151:00 pm EST

NOVEMBERCOAA Owner Training Institute: Introduction To Construction Project Management

November 2-3, 2015Green Valley Ranch Resort and SpaHenderson, NV (Las Vegas)

2015 Fall Owners Leadership Conference

November 4-6, 2015Green Valley Ranch Resort and SpaHenderson, NV (Las Vegas)

AGC of America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Outside Back Cover

COAA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Inside Front Cover, 3, 27

Kitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Lean Construction Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

PC Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Fall/Winter 2014 1

Prevention Through Design A New Way of Looking at Safety—and Sustainability

Project Leadership Silver Award WinnerOdegaard Undergraduate Library Renovation

Fall/Winter 2014

The Official Magazine of the Construction Owners Association of America

Spring/Summer 2014 1

Integrated Project Delivery Optimizing Project Performance

Spring/Summer 2014


The Magazine of The Construction Owners Association of America

Project Leadership Gold Award WinnerMethodist Olive Branch Hospital



Create Your Own PMIS Build a Custom Database Using MS Access

Project Leadership Gold Award WinnerDelta/ JFK International Airport Redevelopment

SPRING/SUMMER 2015


Owners Perspective’s distribution includes senior professionals directly involved in Building Ownership and Development, Construction, Facilities Management, Planning, Procurement, Design and Project Management. With a wide variety of backgrounds, they all share the same goal of bringing balance to the construction process and promoting the professional development of Owners through educational programs and peer networking. They are directly responsible for developing and managing construction and renovation budgets, product and service specifications and procurements.Owners Perspective represent decision makers who are directly involved in building operations and facilities management.Owners Perspective is one of the only magazines that is distributed directly to all four segments of the institutional building market.

For Advertising Info:Maureen [email protected] ext. 6717


The official publication of


Fall/Winter 2014 1

Prevention Through Design A New Way of Looking at Safety—and Sustainability

Project Leadership Silver Award WinnerOdegaard Undergraduate Library Renovation

Fall/Winter 2014




Spring/Summer 2014


The Magazine of The Construction Owners Association of America




Create Your Own PMIS Build a Custom Database Using MS Access

Project Leadership Gold Award WinnerDelta/ JFK International Airport Redevelopment

SPRING/SUMMER 2015


Owners Perspective’s distribution includes senior professionals directly involved in Building Ownership and Development, Construction, Facilities Management, Planning, Procurement, Design and Project Management. With a wide variety of backgrounds, they all share the same goal of bringing balance to the construction process and promoting the professional development of Owners through educational programs and peer networking. They are directly responsible for developing and managing construction and renovation budgets, product and service specifications and procurements.Owners Perspective represent decision makers who are directly involved in building operations and facilities management.Owners Perspective is one of the only magazines that is distributed directly to all four segments of the institutional building market.

For Advertising Info:Maureen [email protected] ext. 6717


The official publication of

Lean Construction Education ProgramDon’t get lost in the construction process. Take the direct route.

AGC’s Lean Construction Education Program includes:

• Unit 1: Variation in Production Systems• Unit 2: Pull in Production• Unit 3: Lean Workstructuring• Unit 4: The Last Planner® System• Unit 5: Lean Supply Chain and Assembly• Unit 6: Lean Design and Preconstruction• Unit 7: Problem-solving Principles and Tools

Learn more about the courses in the program at:www.AGC.org/LCEP

Everyone related to the construction process has incentive to get the project

done faster and at a lower cost - from the project owners who want to see tangible

results for their investment to the contractors and designers who want to do their job well and

move on to the next project. Lean Construction is based on the holistic pursuit of continuous

improvements aimed at minimizing costs and maximizing value on a construction project: planning, design, construction,

activation, operations, maintenance, salvaging, and recycling.









































Documents

Owners Perspective | Fall/Winter 2015