![]() Many construction projects are unsuccessful. (Based on a study by KPMG last year only 31% of respondents’ projects over the previous three years came in within 10% of their budgeted cost and only one quarter of projects over that period came in within 10% of their original deadlines.) This judgement is based solely on the fact that they were finished over budget or late. But even when projects are finished within budget and on time are they necessarily a success? Well that answer often depends on your association to the project! Let’ ask these questions
Project stakeholders Every project has many stakeholders which include:
Does the client have to get the project delivered under-budget at the expense of the contractor? Does the contractor only make a profit at the expense of their subcontractors and their workers? Does the community want a cheap project that is a blight on the neighbourhood? Is the design team interested in the long-term maintenance of the facility? Dealing with stakeholders Unfortunately often all of the stakeholders aren’t considered, while in other cases some stakeholders are allowed to dominate the process at the expense of others. In some instances personal interests and egos are allowed to dictate the project. Running through all of this is money – everyone wants the cheapest price and the most profit. There needs to be honest dialogue with the various stakeholders to ensure the best outcomes for all parties and the project. They might not be the desired outcomes at the start of the process, but the outcome should be best result for all parties after due compromises have been made. What defines project success? A successful project is one which:
Conclusion Is it possible for a project to tick all the boxes and be successful in every respect? Good project management with open and honest dialogue and a team that is focused on the project and not on individuals and companies is surely a good start. One stakeholder’s success shouldn’t depend on another’s failure. What do you think? Have you delivered a truly successful project? What disastrous projects have you been involved with? Please share this post To read more about the author’s books and find out where you can purchase them visit the pages on this website by clicking the links below: 'Successful Construction Project Management: The Practical Guide' 'Building a Successful Construction Company: The Practical Guide' 'Construction Book reviews' To read more about the author visit the page 'Paul Netscher' Want to contact Paul Netscher please enter your details on 'Contacts' Find out how Paul Netscher can help you Order your books from Amazon Order your books from Amazon UK © 2016 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author.
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Construction is a tough industry and many construction companies are facing difficult times. Yet there are always some companies that are growing and increasing their profits. How do they do it? Are they lucky? Construction shouldn’t be about luck. Sure we sometimes appear to have projects that appear to be luckier than others – projects where the sun seems to literally shine. However, managers of successful projects and companies create their own luck. They get the basics right. My book ‘Building a Successful Construction Company: The Practical guide’ focusses on improving profits in construction companies. Below are some ideas that come from this book:
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This article was first published on the ClockShark website. To visit this website and continue reading the article click on the link above. Please share this post To read more about the author’s books and find out where you can purchase them visit the pages on this website by clicking the links below: 'Successful Construction Project Management: The Practical Guide' 'Building a Successful Construction Company: The Practical Guide' 'Construction Book reviews' To read more about the author visit the page 'Paul Netscher' Want to contact Paul Netscher please enter your details on 'Contacts' Find out how Paul Netscher can help you Order your books from Amazon Order your books from Amazon UK © 2016 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author. This last week I’ve had a cold which has made me feel tired and I have to constantly stop what I’m doing to blow my nose. This has impacted my work making me less efficient and leading to mistakes. Just as our performance suffers when we are ill our projects can suffer when they’re ill, or when they aren’t running as well as they should. Do you know if your project is healthy, or is there a cancer that’s slowly eating your profits and impacting progress? Project health tests We are encouraged to undergo regular health check-ups. In the same way our projects undergo health check-ups. These may include:
But can we detect unhealthy projects earlier? Unfortunately many managers try to manage their projects from the office, relying on meetings, emails and reports to monitor their project. However, there’s nothing that beats actually walking the project, being in the field and interacting with your team. When you do these walks, it’s usually obvious when the project isn’t healthy. Is the project neat and organized, or is it chaotic? Is everyone busy or are some standing around underutilized? Is all the equipment being efficiently used? Does there appear to be a plan in place? When I walk around my projects I constantly look for 3 things:
As I walk around the field I also ask the following questions: ......Continue Reading...... This article was first published on the ClockShark website. To visit this website and continue reading the article click on the link above.
Please share this post To read more about the author’s books and find out where you can purchase them visit the pages on this website by clicking the links below: 'Successful Construction Project Management: The Practical Guide' 'Building a Successful Construction Company: The Practical Guide' 'Construction Book reviews' To read more about the author visit the page 'Paul Netscher' Want to contact Paul Netscher please enter your details on 'Contacts' Find out how Paul Netscher can help you Order your books from Amazon Order your books from Amazon UK © 2016 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author. On almost every one of the 120 plus construction projects I’ve been involved in we have encountered variations which have resulted in us submitting change order claims. Some were for extension of time due to delays caused by our client. Other claims were for increased scope of work, changes in the scope, new specifications or altered project conditions. Many of these claims were for millions of dollars and some projects almost doubled in value. Yet, in most cases we received the full value of our claim or the full extension of time requested. Furthermore we resolved 99% of the claims amicably without resorting to arbitration or legal processes, and we maintained a good relationship with our customers, almost always going on to complete other projects with them.
So why were we so successful submitting construction change order claims and why do so many contractors’ change order claims end up not being accepted, or if they are it’s only after an expensive and time consuming legal process? Your customer The ease of settling a construction change order claim starts with your customer, your relationship with your customer and sometimes relates to their budget. Some customers are adversarial with their contractors and will dispute every change order submitted. Do you really want to work for these customers? It’s essential you understand your customer when bidding for a construction project. Don’t work for those who have a reputation for frequent legal disputes with their contractors. Having a good relationship with your customer is essential. If you are adversarial they will take the same approach. Continually talking to your customer keeps them informed so when change orders are submitted they aren’t taken by surprise. If customers think they can trust you and that generally you’re honest with them they’ll often be more receptive to your claim. However, if you have a habit of submitting spurious or inflated claims they’re likely to oppose your claims immediately. It helps if your customer has money in their budget to pay for change orders. Some clients have no funds to pay change orders and will do everything possible not to pay extra to their contractors. Try and ensure your customer remains within their budget and resist pricing projects where you know their budget is too tight. The contract document Contractors often get into trouble because they sign and agree to contract conditions which offer them little protection. Before pricing a project ensure the terms and conditions of the contract are equitable and that the risks you have to take on are reasonable and manageable. The terms of some contracts may make it very difficult to submit a claim or the contract may confer the risk of many variations on the contractor, even when they have little control of these risks. It’s essential you understand the contract document, that you are familiar with the scope, and know both your obligations and your customer’s. Claims need to be submitted in the time frames in the contract and risk being refused if they aren’t. Presenting your construction change order claim I’ve seen many poorly put together change order requests. Some for millions of dollars, yet construction companies often apply minimal time and effort to formulating their claims. Some even delegate their claim preparation to junior inexperienced quantity surveyors or contract administrators. Sometimes the construction project manager isn’t even aware a claim has been submitted and is blindsided when their client takes offence to a spurious or unsupported claim. I’ve seen claims with math errors, spelling mistakes (even incorrectly spelling the client’s name), factual errors, contradictory information, confusing language and unsupported evidence. Construction companies should ensure that a knowledgeable and experienced person is allocated to draft the claim (familiar with the contract, the client and the work that’s been done) and that it’s reviewed and checked by the project manager before it’s submitted. It’s preferable to keep claims separate unless they are linked and one impacts another. Combining different claims in the same submission can be confusing for the customer. Rejection of one claim could delay approval of the others. What should be included? A properly drafted and well thought out construction change order claim will be hard for your client to refute and it’s likely to be successful. Claims should be clear, concise and logical. Successful change order claims should have:
Remember to include all of your legitimate and claimable costs. It’s usually difficult to add in extra forgotten costs after you have submitted your claim. It’s unprofessional and will annoy your client. It may even cast doubts on the legitimacy of your original claim. It’s useful to discuss your change order claim with others in the project team to ensure you have the facts set down correctly and that you have referenced the relevant documents and included all of the costs. Get someone to check your claim for errors and to see if they can follow your logic. If your logic is flawed, or can’t be easily followed your customer will be inclined to reject it first, before asking questions. Once a change order claim is rejected it becomes more difficult to change their mind and convince your customer you’re entitled to the variation. Submitting your change order claim ......Continue Reading....... This article was first published on the ClockShark website. To visit this website and continue reading the article click on the link above. Please share this post To read more about the author’s books and find out where you can purchase them visit the pages on this website by clicking the links below: 'Successful Construction Project Management: The Practical Guide' 'Building a Successful Construction Company: The Practical Guide' 'Construction Book reviews' To read more about the author visit the page 'Paul Netscher' Want to contact Paul Netscher please enter your details on 'Contacts' Find out how Paul Netscher can help you Order your books from Amazon Order your books from Amazon UK © 2016 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author. ![]() What is arguably the greatest cycle race in the World is underway and I’m sure many are glued to their televisions, while millions more line the roads to cheer on their cycling heroes or just to be part of the atmosphere. Now I’m not a cyclist but I do enjoy seeing the beautiful French scenery and stunning villages and chateaus unfold while cyclists from a host of nations battle up the hills and dodge screaming spectators. But watching the cyclists I’ve also realised that construction could learn from the race.
So even if cycling isn’t your passion it may be worth watching a few hours of the race, you never know what you could learn. Avid cycling fans now have an excuse for lazing on the couch watching the drama – at least you can say you are learning how to make your project more successful. But more seriously we can make our projects more successful with a great team, strong support, committed employees, good equipment, the right preparation, excellent planning, hard work, the right systems and honesty and integrity. What do you think it takes to make a project successful? Please share this post To read more about the author’s books and find out where you can purchase them visit the pages on this website by clicking the links below: 'Successful Construction Project Management: The Practical Guide' 'Building a Successful Construction Company: The Practical Guide' 'Construction Book reviews' To read more about the author visit the page 'Paul Netscher' Want to contact Paul Netscher please enter your details on 'Contacts' Find out how Paul Netscher can help you Order your books from Amazon Order your books from Amazon UK © 2016 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author. I’ve always prepared monthly project cost reports for my projects. They’ve often been the fun part of the project where we’ve seen how well we’ve done that month on the project – how much profit we have made. Of course there have been some projects where we’ve lost money and these cost reports haven’t been quite as fun. These cost reports produced their own challenges as we tried to figure out where we were losing money and what we could do to recover the money and prevent further losses in the future.
Construction project cost reports can provide a huge amount of valuable and useful information which can literally save projects, save companies, and save lots of money. But unfortunately some cost reports are wholly inappropriate for the construction industry, others are completed poorly, and a few take an inordinate amount of time to complete. Many don’t utilize the correct information - all of which can mean that the project team wastes their time producing misleading or useless data. In some cases the data may be out of date by the time it’s produced while in other cases the data is simply ignored. The Good – How Cost Reports Help Make sure your cost reports process is setup to help in the following ways:
Unfortunately some cost reports can be complex and time consuming to prepare. Furthermore contractors sometimes make errors in their cost reports which then provide bad data. Occasionally management ignores the cost report and doesn’t take action to figure out why the project is incurring losses, or they misinterpret what the cost report is showing. Some Project Managers leave the preparation and interpretation of the cost report entirely to their Estimators or Contract Administrators and pay little attention to the end report. They view it as just another document produced for their senior managers. You’ll likely find the following problems with costs reports:
But even when the project team has all the correct information we can encounter ugly, dangerous problems:
.........Continue Reading......... This article was first published on the Insightful Accountant website. Click the link to continue reading. Written by Paul Netscher Please share this post To read more about the author’s books and find out where you can purchase them visit the pages on this website by clicking the links below: 'Successful Construction Project Management: The Practical Guide' 'Building a Successful Construction Company: The Practical Guide' 'Construction Book reviews' To read more about the author visit the page 'Paul Netscher' Want to contact Paul Netscher please enter your details on 'Contacts' Find out how Paul Netscher can help you Order your books from Amazon Order your books from Amazon UK © 2016 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author. Are your workers tired? Would you notice if your team was suffering from fatigue? Is fatigue killing your project without you noticing?
Construction work is often strenuous, involves working long hours and working in difficult conditions – heat, rain, cold, dust and noise. Yet we expect our crews to deliver maximum productivity day after day, working tirelessly to meet the construction schedules we’ve committed to. Sometimes we forget that it’s people out in the field – not machines. But we rely on these people to produce quality work safely. As managers our jobs literally depend on our team delivering our projects on time. But our crews do suffer from fatigue which:
What causes fatigue? Fatigue can be due to a number of reasons:
To reduce fatigue, the project should:
.........Continue Reading........ This article was 1st published on the ClockShark Website. Please click on the link above to read the full article on ClockShark. ClockShark paperless Time Tracking. Please share this post To read more about the author’s books and find out where you can purchase them visit the pages on this website by clicking the links below: 'Successful Construction Project Management: The Practical Guide' 'Building a Successful Construction Company: The Practical Guide' 'Construction Book reviews' To read more about the author visit the page 'Paul Netscher' Want to contact Paul Netscher please enter your details on 'Contacts' Find out how Paul Netscher can help you Order your books from Amazon Order your books from Amazon UK © 2016 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author. |
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The opinions expressed in the attached articles are those of the writer. It should be noted that projects are varied and different laws and restrictions apply which depend on the location of the contractor and the project. It's important that the reader uses the supplied information taking cognisance of their particular circumstances. The writer assumes no responsibility or liability for any loss of any kind arising from the reader using the information or advice contained herein. "I have what I consider some of the best books on construction management."
Books are available from: Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk takealot.com kalahari.com Amazon.in Amazon.de Amazon.fr Amazon.it Amazon.com.au Powell's Fishpond uread bokus Amazon.ca Amazon.es Other retail stores Available in paperback or on Kindle "28 YEARS OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE, DEVELOPING SUCCESSFUL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGERS AND BUILDING SUCCESSFUL CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES"
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