The Owner's Representative      

One of the greatest ways to assure the successful completion of a project is to properly match your project to the right General Contractor or Construction Manager and properly build the project team.  We can help...

 Value Engineering offers greatest success to a project:  Click Here:  Engineers On Value Engineering 

Contractor Fees are typically within a few points of one another, regardless of the contractor.  However, General Conditions charges vary greatly.  Let's discuss...  

The first issue is: How do you contract this project.  Design-Build, Design Bid, General Contractor, Construction Manager, or if possible, simply us a subcontractor to complete a smaller project.  Each means offers an advantage over the other.  Which one you choose could be critical to the success of the project.

Value Engineering:

The role of the Owners Representative is similar to that of the orchestra conductor, without which, there is less.  First you design a process control methodology, then you build your team, next you manage the team with goal setting and review, you keep them all at the same tempo, and finally, you push them to greatness with a spectacular end of the program.  On budget, on time, great value!!!

No one ever knows what a project costs until it is complete.  And this has always been the issue.

Value Engineering is the key to bringing a project in at the lowest possible cost.  Value engineering is, “A construction design/estimating process by which alternative materials and methods are sought out and used to reduce the cost of a project, without reducing the value or integrity of the project.” dmr

That’s simple enough right?  So why doesn’t everyone just value engineer their project to death and save a fortune each time?  Because few understand and appreciate the advantages of Value Engineering.  Selecting the right Team is a critical issue.   But Value Engineering can be achieved and it can significantly reduce costs as well as the further reduction of expensive change orders.  Value Engineering is accomplished through proper Process Management and Control.  And that is my primary responsibility to your project. 

On the surface my responsibility appears to be keeping the owners informed.  Simple enough and easily achieved.  But then , the greater value to the project owner is, that I am involved in orchestrating the process by which team creation/selection produces those members offering the utmost unity, creativity and cooperation, and then from there managing the process of production and productivity of the chosen few.

The building of the team:  Architects, civil engineers, structural engineers, MPE, general contractor, testing engineers, landscaping, suppliers, subcontractors, consultants, etc., all have a direct and significant impact upon the project.  Value Engineering process control requires coordination, cooperation and management of expectation.

The first critical issue of any project is that the building team be correctly matched to the project and its goals.  Having a giant firm do a small project is actually worse than having a small firm do a giant project.  Why?  Because the larger firm looks at the small project as insignificant and the project is neglected.  Conversely, the opposite is true. This applies to all Team Members.

Team selection is based upon several factors such as reputation, size, scope of experience, willingness to work within your set parameters, trust, ability to accept new processes, ie, significant time and energy devoted to value engineering.

The second critical issue is management of the design/estimating process.  Anyone can design a project.  But at what cost?  Cost is the differentiator and the determinating factor as to whether the design/estimating process is or was a success or failure.  Did the entire Team produce the desired results?

Only within the design/estimating process, throughout and up to the conclusion of Construction Documents can value engineering produce cost savings.  If the Team is unprepared or unwilling to sincerely commit to value engineering during this time period, few savings will be achieved.  On the other hand, if the team makes the commitment and value engineering is integrated into the design/estimating process, significant cost savings can be realized. 

Assuming value engineering was part of the design/estimating process and that all the architects, engineers, suppliers and subcontractors participated fully, there is an additional savings achieved.  Change order reduction is typically the result of this team effort.  If the Team was part of the design/estimating process, then everyone had their creative juices flowing with value engineering ideas.  Consequently, everyone became intimately familiar with the project in explicit and precise detail.  And that, that is something no amount of additional design detail or specification could have ever accomplished.  Change orders will be reduced.  

The Team Members producing cost numbers for the project are far more accurate in their pricing when they are brought in early and become so intimately familiar with the complete detail of the project. 

Sometimes the team simply falls into place and everyone is happy and cooperative.  But not often.  Usually team building and team management is a process.  I manage the process and resultantly improve the project economics, schedule and overall value.  True savings can  be achieved through Value Engineering and the reduction of change orders.  Greater economics, tighter schedules, teamwork. These are my project goals.

For more information, let’s talk… 615-371-6432 

Don Reid – Sustainable Building and Construction Consultant