Mike Waller II 11/28/00
Job of a Project Manager
- As the project manager you are singly responsible for the project
- You are given total control
- Starts from a set of plans and specs
- Must determine the critical path
- Set schedule of events
- Go through a start up check list in the beginning of the project, a day lost on the front end cannot be made up for
- Most of the paper work happens in the first few months of a job
- Get moving on the critical path as soon as possible
o Remember long-term procurement items, i.e. Rebar, Hollow Metal Frames, and mix designs
- Owner Bonding- make sure to do a back ground check on the owners financial well being
- Ask for evidence of financing, letter of credit, or other documentation of the owners financing. The delivery of this documentation should be the first warning sign
- Buy Out: contracting & purchasing of all materials and labor on the project.
o Quotes are only good for a limited time, usually 60-90 days
o Writing up subcontracts
o Getting the estimates rolled over into the accounting system
o Writing Purchase orders for the procurement items
- Subcontract- most subcontracts are the same from a general contractor, but they are written to be all inclusive of anything in the specs or plans, this is done by being as definitive as possible, by saying as much as possible, while being as ambiguous as possible. Use such statements as including, but not limited to.
o Treat all subcontractors equally because they talk and many have the same lawyers
o Successful projects are projects where everybody wins, form partnerships with the subcontractors
o Broad scope statements in subcontracts will save you from things you have overlooked or not understood from the specs, i.e. 16th of an inch tolerance on studs, level five finish for walls, and no cut tiles
o Make sure that your contracts cover what you have signed to in your contract. Make sure that all warranties last to the assigned time past final completion, not installation.
- Bring the architects in when you are ready to begin, they will let you know what is important to them and he might show you some things you missed in the specs.
- Send or have available a full set of plans and specs for each sub, even the termite guy. You want them to be liable for the whole document. You may make them available in a plan room and have specs that are able to be copied at a local copy store at their expense
- Fire stopping is an example of something that is hardly ever mentioned in the specs, but must go into the building. You need to assign these things to specific subs. Underwriters Labs has good standards for fire stopping. You will most likely have to get a design cleared by the inspector because the Architect rarely draws this due to liability.
- Last 3 months of project- almost every job turns in to a Chinese fire drill at this point
o Make sure all finish out material is ordered
o 70% completion is when things start to go wrong, if they are gong to, make sure millwork is ordered
o This is when delegation becomes the most important
o Have to keep yourself and others from retreating to what is easy for them rather than what are the critical issue, Prof. Williams Chrome example
o Finish of project and warranty are what the lasting impression on the owner.
- Building completion can be the most satisfying aspect of the job. Just remember that 80-90% of the people entering a new building are looking for something wrong.
- Bid Day
o Know your scopes
o For bids people will be assigned to specific scopes
o 40-50 million dollar jobs may have 15 people on bid day