Construction Curiosities #113
The Case for Contractor Involvement in the Design Phase | Can we Stump the AI Contech Software??
Hey! Happy Sunday! Matt here.
Welcome to the Construction Curiosities newsletter!
We are still in March and looking at the Design Phase!
Summary
This week we will look at:
One Musing: Contractor Involvement in Design?
Contech Corner: Stump the AI Contech?
One Meme: Design Meeting Indecision
The Case for Contractor Involvement in the Design Phase
Dom Costantini left the above Munro & Associates visual in a LinkedIn comment on one of my posts.
Just substitute “Project Design” with “Product Design,” and it tells the story that we all inherently know. The biggest influence on the success of the project is the quality of the design… which only corresponds to a fraction of the overall cost.
So why do so many people still rely on the Traditional Design-Bid-Build method to deliver projects??
Yes, I know each delivery method has its Pros and Cons and there’s not a one-size-fits-all method. But if your project has any complexity whatsoever, why not get the Construction Expert on the team as early as you can?'
“Nearly 70% of construction projects exceed their original budget due to change orders, design errors, and miscommunication.” (Source: McKinsey Global Institute, 2017)
In the “Construction Manager At Risk” (CMAR) delivery method, the contractor gets involved early in the design phase, collaborates with the Owner and Architect, and takes on cost and schedule responsibility. While providing constructability expertise as well as real-time Industry insights.
The Benefits of Contractor Involvement During Design
1. Cost and Budget Control -
“Projects using collaborative delivery methods like CMAR reduce cost growth by 6-10% compared to traditional Design-Bid-Build.” (Source: Construction Industry Institute, 2020)
2. Fewer Change Orders & Reduced Rework -
“Design errors account for nearly 38% of all change orders in construction projects.” (Source: Navigant Consulting, 2018)
3. Faster Project Delivery -
“CMAR projects are completed 13% faster on average compared to traditional Design-Bid-Build.” (Source: DBIA, 2019).
3. Real-Time Industry Insights -
I’m currently working on a CMAR Program with multiple project phases which broke ground in the COVID supply chain mess. One of the biggest benefits of already having the CMAR onboard through it all was that we were able to design some aspects of the building/ equipment around what had timely lead times. We were also able to get creative on the package releases and release the steel decking and MEP equipment with insane lead times early so that they were able to arrive by the time the project needed them.
If you are going to Design a Construction Project; why not get the Construction Expert on the Team as soon as possible? (With the right guardrails of course… That’s where a solid Owner’s Rep comes in 😉)
Those stats I was able to pull are all from Pre-COVID studies but I have to believe as the Industry has only gotten less predictable in the last 5 years, the benefits have only gone up!
ConTech Corner
Introducing the ConTech Corner where we will look at an innovative Tech solution that I’ve started using, or I think is really cool, and/or BOTH!
This coming Thursday, March 27th at 12:00 noon Central, I’ll be doing a LiveStream with Tom Port from BuildSync.
BuildSync is a Submittal Review Automation platform. Essentially you upload your plans, specs, & submittals and the AI software does a very detailed submittal compliance review. Saving your Project Engineers & Project Managers HOURS per submittal. They boast that 95% of the submittals get approved the first time.
Sound too good to be true? Let’s find out as we put it to the test LIVE!
RSVP here: LinkedIn Live Event Link
Ps- I’m working on Tom to try to get a special offer for the Construction Yeti community. So be sure to tune it to see if I’m successful! 😂
Pps- Even if you are busy during the live stream time, go ahead and RSVP to get the recording!
One Meme
This week’s meme comes from my buddy Angelo Suntres and the humansideofconstruction Instagram account.
Speaking of Angelo, we started a Meme Battle Monday challenge last week and I’m proud to say I took the prize week 1 😂
Follow along and vote for your favorite next Monday! Last week was a poor turnout at the polls! 😂
What’s your thoughts on this week’s topics? What are your thoughts on the semi-new structure? Let us know!! Be honest…. we can take it!
See y’all next week! ✌
