Key Strategies for Producing Achievable Estimates

The key to a successful project is a budget that includes enough money to complete all of the work required. In a perfect world, a general contractor would have at least three competitive bids from credible, local subs to compete every scope of work. In today’s environment, competitive bids are hard to come by, and […]

The project master mindset

Thank you for following this blog series on how to leverage preconstruction strategies to prevent delays and change orders. The series began with strategies to create bandwidth by RFI “proofing” the plans and specifications. Then, I outlined an approach to leverage that bandwidth with five key procedures to anticipate and solve issues before they delay […]

Perfect Project – Part 3: The five keys to expediting project delivery

Thank you for following this blog series on how preconstruction strategies can be leveraged to prevent delays and change orders. The prior post of this series outlined an approach to minimize Requests for Information (“RFI”s) along with the change orders and delays they often create. Among the many co-benefits realized by fewer RFIs is increased […]

The Perfect Project – Part 2: A strategy and procedure to “RFI proof” your project

Thank you for following this blog series on how preconstruction strategies can prevent delays and change orders. In the first post of this series I outlined an outcome-based approach to documenting the owner’s project requirements and design intent along with tips to integrate that rigor through the design development, permitting and pricing documents. Today’s post […]

The Perfect Project – Part 1: 4 tips to target outcomes while minimizing redesign costs and delays

Every commercial construction project has a motivation – businesses want to relocate, expand, or improve their facility and that usually requires a construction project to achieve. This core motivation starts a conversation between an owner and architect that results in two important milestones of communication: owner requirements and design intent. Requirements are the bedrock of […]

The relentless pursuit of the perfect project

A “perfect” anything is aspirational. Most things worth doing are difficult to do, more difficult to do well, and full of opportunities to improve next time. Commercial construction may be amongst the most challenging endeavors with technical, logistical, environmental and human challenges to overcome, every day and sometimes, all at once. Today’s market conditions are […]

Tips to resolve or defend unavoidable disputes

Thanks for following my blog about how to reduce the risk and cost of disputes in construction projects. Today’s post explores strategies to apply when you find yourself in a formal claim / dispute. A friendly reminder – This is not legal advice. This post offers practical approaches to minimize the duration and cost of […]

4 tips you can use to keep disputes at bay during construction

Thanks for following my blog about how to reduce the risk and cost of disputes in construction projects. Posts in this series explore strategies for each phase of a project ending with tips for reducing the prep time, cost and duration of a formal dispute. Today’s post explores strategies to apply during the construction phase […]

3 key strategies you can use to reduce risk in the contracting phase of a project

Thanks for following my blog about how you can reduce the risk and cost of disputes in construction projects. Posts in this series explore strategies for each phase of a project’s development ending with tips for reducing the prep time, cost and duration of a formal dispute. Today’s post explores strategies to apply during the […]

3 core strategies to reduce pricing risk and 8 tips you can use to avoid disputes later on…

Thanks for following my blog about how you can reduce the risk and cost of disputes in construction projects. Posts in this series explore strategies for each phase of a project’s development ending with tips for reducing the prep time, cost and duration of a formal dispute. Today’s post explores strategies to apply during the […]

Designing Architectural Trends Shaping

Thanks for following my blog about how you can reduce the risk and cost of disputes in construction projects. Posts in this series will explore dispute risk avoidance strategies for each phase of a project’s development ending with tips for reducing the prep time, cost and duration of a formal dispute. Today’s post explores strategies […]

8 frames of reference you can use to evaluate the risk of dispute at each phase of your project…

Thanks for following my blog about how you can reduce the risk of disputes in construction projects and, if a dispute is unavoidable, reducing its cost and duration. Today’s post lays the groundwork for the subject; identifying the order of subjects the blog will use to explore the subject. I will also share a tool […]