October 22, 2004—The beginning and end are the phases that most need improvement in the typical construction project, according to the most recent survey of project owners by the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) and FMI Corporation, Inc. The annual survey collects information and opinions from more than 100 owners in both private and public sectors.
A large majority of project owners agreed that “architects need to be held more responsible for completing a quality design that can be built without numerous change orders or requests for information.”
In response to a separate question, owners said the most significant causes of cost overruns on their projects were incomplete drawings and poor pre-planning. Particularly during the pre-design phase, the survey found, owners feel a pressing need to control the scope of their projects.
Nearly 80 percent agreed that “the quality of design documents has declined to the point where subcontractors such as electrical and mechanical are actually completing the design through shop drawings.”
However, they also reported in large numbers that they believe they have insufficient time and funding in a typical project to give the pre-design stage the attention it requires.
Construction Managers could help remedy this problem, but they often don’t become involved in time. Discussing the survey findings at the CMAA Conference, Bob Silver, PE, of the US Naval Facilities Engineering Command noted that “most owners are not engaging their Construction Manager or operations and maintenance team early in the process, and are missing a significant opportunity.”
Similarly, owners reported a striking degree of dissatisfaction with project commissioning, the final stage of a project when a facility is delivered to the owner for occupancy and use. “Effective execution of construction commissioning remains a significant weakness among most constructor teams,” Silver said. “High-risk areas include HVAC, fire protection and life safety systems, elevators and roofs, and envelopes.”
Many of these challenges could be met by better communication, collaboration, and coordination, but FMI points out that these three can not be accomplished simply through a contract, which is just a legal document. Long-term working relationships are needed where trust has developed and been proven.
In other key findings, the CMAA/FMI Owners Survey revealed that:
- More than half of all owners expect their Construction Manager to provide leadership in managing projects from beginning to end, including design, funding, scheduling, and construction.
- Nearly 80 percent of owners believe project collaboration software can help avoid disputes and miscommunications, but about 65 percent still do not mandate its use on their projects.
- Although nearly 80 percent of owners said interoperability of software products was important, about 65 percent also said they were not satisfied with vendors’ efforts in this direction to date.
- Less than half said they planned to require interchangeable or interoperable software of their contractors in the future.
- Nearly 80 percent agree that owners should drive the improvement of ethical practices in the industry, and nearly two-thirds said they make ethical conduct a part of project discussions.
- More than 40 percent said “green” building design was becoming increasingly important.
Timely decision-making, a clear scope of work, and good project definition topped the list of areas in which owners most need to improve.
For complete survey results, visit CMAA.
