• CSC20logograyorangenoyear
  • CSC 2022
      • About
        • About the Conference
        • Floor Plan / Sponsor List
        • Sponsors
        • FAQ
        • Contact Us
        • Health & Safety
      • Hotel & Travel
        • Hotel Accommodations
        • Travel Information
      • Attend
        • Why Attend?
        • Registration & Pricing
        • Conference Schedule
        • Speaker Resources
      • Sponsor
        • Why Sponsor?
        • Sponsor / Inquire
        • Sponsor Resource Center
        • Sponsorship & Advertising
  • News
    • Latest News
  • Subscribe
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Show Updates
  • .
  • CSC 2022
    • About
      • About the Conference
      • Floor Plan / Sponsor List
      • Sponsors
      • FAQ
      • Contact Us
      • Health & Safety
    • Attend
      • Why Attend?
      • Registration & Pricing
      • Conference Schedule
      • Speakers
      • Speaker Resources
    • Sponsor
      • Why Sponsor?
      • Sponsor / Inquire
      • Sponsor Resource Center
      • Sponsorship & Advertising
    • Hotel & Travel
      • Hotel Accommodations
      • Travel Information
  • News
    • Latest News
  • Subscribe
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Show Updates

December 6 – 8, 2022 |
MGM Grand, Las Vegas

Sign Up Sponsor / Inquire
Q
POPULAR SEARCHES
News + Features
News + Features
News + Features
News + Features
News + Features
News + Features

Latest News

November 29, 2017

Opinion—Estimating and Project Management Remain the Key to Success

Latest News
Economic Forecasts | Ethics and Compliance | Infrastructure and Transportation | Insurance and Surety | Latest News | Litigation Strategies/Dispute Resolution | News | Risk & Contract Management | Workforce and Labor
November 29, 2017

Opinion—Estimating and Project Management Remain the Key to Success

By Don Wallis.

Field operations cannot succeed without competent office support.

According to Elizabeth Sanborn, chief operating officer at Independent Project Analysis, Inc., “about two-thirds of [construction] projects over $1 billion fail compared to smaller projects’ 40% failure rate.’’

These astonishing statistics are included in an article in Engineering News-Record co-authored by Debra K. Rubin, Alisa Zevin, Janice L. Tuchman, and Scott Blair.

Projects managed by the largest, most sophisticated construction, architecture, and engineering companies in the world fail 66% of the time. The failure rate for the construction industry as a whole approaches 30 to 40 %.

The main reason for these failures, according to the ENR report, is not shoddy workmanship. It’s inaccurate estimating, imprecise risk analysis, and poor coordination between the design professionals, the owner, the general contractor, and subcontractors and suppliers.

Everyone in construction knows that attention to the details of project management is essential. All construction managers know that profitability is best ensured by sharp pencils in the negotiating process prior breaking ground.

Modern estimating and project programs make it possible to control and coordinate every facet of the construction process. Real-time communication between companies in any part of the word is now available.

Why then do companies in our industry continue to lose money on their projects? There are several reasons.

Many projects are still awarded to the lowest bidder. This is often the company that overlooked a cost item in their bid.

Pricing information provided by owners to bidders is sometimes incomplete. This is especially true for projects where state-of-the-art technology is being tested for the first time.

And there are the classic cost overruns due to weather or unexpected increases in the cost of material.

Contingency funding is often insufficient.

“Stephan Cabano, president of Pathfinder LLC, stressed the importance for the owner to understand clearly a project’s scope and lock it down before the project is fully funded.” Contractors should do the same before signing contracts.

Source—

Economies Are ‘Fragile,’ but Firms Push Robust Strategies, Debra K. Rubin, Alisa Zevin, Janice L. Tuchman, Scott Blair, Engineering News-Record, Nov. 6/13, 2017.

Don Wallis has more than 40 years experience in residential and commercial construction, and land development. He also has a law degree and currently teaches Environmental Law at Santa Fe Community College.

Economic Forecasts•Ethics and Compliance•Infrastructure and Transportation•Insurance and Surety•Latest News•Litigation Strategies/Dispute Resolution•News•Risk & Contract Management•Workforce and Labor

SHARE

Share on Email
Share on Linkedin
Share on Facebook
Share on Pinterest
Share on Twitter
← Previous Article Next Article →
Latest News Latest NewsNews

Steering Construction Projects Through Stormy Economic Seas

PHILADELPHIA - With the economic outlook uncertain, savvy project stakeholders should carefully examine construction documents concerning financing provisions, construction contingency, early commitments, and assignability.

Latest News Ethics and ComplianceLatest NewsNews

Remember the Basics: Good Faith and Fair Dealing

NEWARK, N.J. - I learned to think of a contract as basically a handshake, though I am in no way saying that detailed contracts are not needed. In that regard, I always think of Robert Frost, and how “Good fences make good neighbors.”

Latest News Latest NewsNews

Steering Construction Projects Through Stormy Economic Seas

PHILADELPHIA - With the economic outlook uncertain, savvy project stakeholders should carefully examine construction documents concerning financing provisions, construction contingency, early commitments, and assignability.

Latest News Infrastructure and TransportationLatest NewsNews

Infrastructure Act: Legal Landscape

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL - The White House announced that $110 billion of the trillion-dollar Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA) has been distributed to states, with another $100 billion available to fund infrastructure projects.

Latest News Latest NewsNews

Biden Vows To Speed Environmental Reviews

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new press release from the White House outlines a plan to release a new Permitting Action Plan to strengthen and accelerate Federal permitting and environmental reviews.

Latest News Latest NewsNews

AGC Urges End To Tariffs

ARLINGTON, VA - Prices of materials and services for nonresidential construction leaped nearly 21 percent from year-ago levels, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data.

Latest News Latest NewsNews

Pandemic Lessons Loom

LAS VEGAS – Everyone hopes the pandemic is a once-in-a-century event, but contract language never sleeps. Construction attorneys, contractors, and governments can learn from pandemic issues in a variety of ways.

Latest News Latest NewsNews

AGC Calls For Tariff Relief

AGC urged the Biden administration to relieve major cost pressures by removing remaining tariffs.

SHOW INFORMATION

SIGN UP

Register now for the opportunity to connect with thousands of atttendees and vendors

Sign Up
Sponsor / Inquire
FOLLOW US ON
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
© 2022 Emerald X, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

ABOUT    CAREERS    AUTHORIZED SERVICE PROVIDERS   TERMS OF USE   PRIVACY POLICY