Services > Project
Delivery Support Services
Owner Representation
One of the most critical aspects of any project is communication. It is imperative that all project participants are kept current with project progress. This maintains the momentum of the project and holds participants accountable for responsibilities. Documentation is the means by which communication amongst project participants is captured.
Construction (and design) administration requires a clear communication of expectations and then performance (and monitoring) of the tactical plan to bring about those expectations. This starts with a clear description of these expectations (in contracts and conditions). One of the most important elements in the management of any process is the identification of the importance of action (and when it is really needed) so efforts can be prioritized. Technical expertise is needed to understand and manage the issues, as well as hold the members of the project team accountable for their obligations, duties, and tasks. CPS will serve in the role of monitoring accountability and setting deadlines for action.
CPS tracks and retains recorded documentation of progress, decisions, occurrences, changes, budget, schedule, quality, and resources. The extent of the project monitoring is proportionate to the requirements of the particular project. Larger complicated projects may require daily on-site observation and weekly meeting attendance while other smaller less complicated projects may only require weekly or monthly site observation.
CPS generates meeting minutes, field reports, daily logs, change order logs, photo logs, budget status updates and other reports to keep the owner and other project participants (lending agencies, sureties, contractors, design professionals, etc.) up to date on the current status of the project.
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Program Management
Just as solid footings provide for a stable building, a well formulated program is the foundation of a successful project. The project program defines the owner’s goals at the outset of the project, while the management of the project program as the project develops keeps the participants focused on those goals.
CPS assists the owner in navigating through project development keeping track of the Owners goals and objectives as the project progresses. CPS works with the owner through the multiple phases of project development identifying critical issues regarding program requirements, aesthetics, and constructability while balancing cost, quality, and schedule priorities.
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Delivery Methodology Selection
Project Delivery Systems are made up of various components all of which ultimately must fit together like pieces of jigsaw puzzle in order to define a framework for defining contractual relationships and risk assignment. The selection of the project delivery system is the first step in establishing the road map toward project completion.
CPS supports owner clients by weighing the relative merits and pitfalls of each methodology and arrives upon the best project delivery approach for that owner and that project. At the right time in the program development process, CPS introduces our owner clients to the universe of design and construction delivery possibilities. CPS exposes our owner clients to methodologies that fit the individual profiles of the owners. These profiles include in house design and management capabilities, management structure, and perhaps most importantly, the attitude towards risk allocation. CPS is experienced in participating and developing design-bid-build, integrated design-build, design facilitated design-build, construction management configurations, and all the nearly countless variations.
RFP Process Management
A project runs best when all the project participants are compatible. The actions that occur at the outset of the project during the selection process set the stage for the entire project. Relationships and personality will often times make more of a difference than a candidate’s experience or price. Communication of specific project requirements and criteria will allow candidates to submit information that can be evaluated on an equivalent basis. If proposals can be evaluated utilizing the same baseline then identifying the candidate that is the best fit for the project team should become very clear.
Upon the selection of the right delivery methodology for the owner and the project, CPS will use its diverse background and experiences to facilitate the selection process of the rest of the program or project team – namely designers and builders. CPS will take the project program, the delivery methodology selected and prepare and distribute the RFP to appropriate candidates who may have been subject to a CPS administered pre-qualification process.
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CPS will begin the selection process by going back to the program and developing requirements for a preliminary scope of services. The next step is to identify potential candidates who not only have the technical and professional qualifications, but also have business “personalities” that meet the owner’s and the project. CPS will then issue RFQ (“Request for Qualifications”) and support the owner in short listing the candidates. From this step, CPS will issue the RFP, conduct pre-proposal meetings and discussions, and then receive the proposals.
Upon receipt of the proposals, CPS will prepare a preliminary review (including meetings to address key issues) and present our findings to the owner. Utilizing these findings, and specifically generated review and ranking forms, CPS will facilitate the conduct of interviews, with the few selected finalists, and carry this through the discussion and selection process of the right team member for the owner and the project.
Contract Development and Negotiation
A good contract is one that clearly defines expectations of all the parties including the duties, responsibilities and obligations of each project participant. Often times identifying the services or items that will not be provided is as important, if not more so, as identifying what will be provided. A contract that is fair and precise is generally considered a good contract.
There are basic form agreements that are used in the industry. However, CPS will identify and discuss alternative approaches to defining risk allocation, compensation, and participant responsibilities. During the Project Team Member Selection process, CPS will support the owner in the negotiation process to bring about the owner’s goals as laid out in the contract and as identified for the project.
CPS will gain a thorough understanding of owner’s expectations by participating in program development, developing and analyzing the RFP and the proposals, and understanding the owner’s risk aversion/acceptance profiles. CPS will take this understanding and our knowledge in the body of law and will work with the owner’s counsel to address concerns.
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Risk Management Support
Every risk has an associated and unavoidable cost which must be assumed somewhere in the process. Risks cannot be eliminated but they can be minimized, assumed, transferred, or shared. When assigning risk it is important to remember that risks belong with those parties who are best able to evaluate, control, bear the cost, and benefit from the assumption of risks.
CPS assists project participants in identifying risks and implementing processes and procedures to manage risks. Working closely with counsel, operations staff, risk managers, and outside brokers/agents, CPS will help arrive at appropriate holistic management programs to meet the project participants’ needs. For example, the inclusion of Building Commissioning objectives, success criteria, and plans into the overall project plan will increase the likelihood that a building will meet the owners’ expectations. CPS can help identify the appropriate Commissioning resources and integrate their plans into the overall project plan, schedule, and budget.
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Constructability Review
A constructability review is an intense cross check of all contract documents to identify interface issues between design disciplines. Each design discipline is reviewed independently, and as a whole, with the desire to reduce conflicts, ambiguities, or reduce the potential for change orders, time extensions, and liability claims.
CPS is comprised of personnel with legal, architectural, engineering, accounting, construction management and general contracting backgrounds and will utilize its actual field based experience to review construction documents during the different stages of development for completeness, sufficient detail, logistics and sequence impacts, and conformance with actual building practices, project budget and schedule.
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Budget Management
Budget development and control begins with input from each of the critical project team members at project inception. The ability to positively influence the outcome of a project is reduced significantly as the project moves from concept through design and construction. Likewise, the cost of improving functionality and design increases dramatically over the same period.
CPS provides cost management from project initiation through the close out phase. Starting with conceptual estimates, through the production of periodic estimates in the design phases, CPS is constantly on the alert for scope creep and budget growth. In the initial contracting and award phase CPS participates to ensure that the cost being proposed as a contract amount will buy what needs to be, and what is expected to be bought. During the construction period, CPS manages and interfaces with the project participants on change order negotiations and management. We ensure that costs being proposed are reasonable and, perhaps most importantly, the scope and terms of the change order defines the project participant’s expectations.
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Schedule Management
Resources |
= Schedule |
Time |
The project schedule is developed by balancing the project resources (labor, cost, and materials) against the allotted time. Owner’s and contractor’s expectations regarding time of project completion are communicated through the project schedule. The proper management of the project schedule minimizes time-related costs, avoids inefficiencies, ensures timely material delivery, determines appropriate allocation of project funds, and establishes responsibility for time impacts.
CPS provides scheduling services to owners, designers, construction managers, contractors and projects. CPS, trained and experienced in proprietary scheduling software, utilizes its construction knowledge to develop and maintain appropriately detailed schedules.
A key aspect of scheduling is not just the initial schedule production, but also the institution of a monitoring and updating process that meets the needs of the particular project. CPS works with the project participants to ensure that the process developed is a realistic cost-effective process in which responsibilities are clear. To attain the full benefit of a thorough scheduling process, CPS’ scheduling supports starts on Day One of the program with our clients’ end goals in mind. From these goals, necessary commitments from all participants (owner, designer, construction manager, contractors, etc.) are identified and adherence to these commitments is monitored. The results of this monitoring process are then incorporated into the regular periodic schedule update process.
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