CM 10 Terms (through Week 3)

CM 10 is a fun class because for many of you it is the first glimpse into a rewarding career. However, since many students are new to construction, a lot of terms used by guest lecturers are unknown to the audience. I will try to catalog those terms here as an easy and ever-growing reference.

ORGANIZATIONS
Owners: like their name implies, owners "own" the structure that architects design and constructors build. Owners come in so many different varieties that defining them adequately and in detail would require a lot more than a simple blog post. To simplify things, I'll just provide some examples of owners:

• Developers: developers invest and/or borrow money to build commercial spaces (e.g. retail stores, restaurants), residential buildings (apartments, single-family homes, condos), office buildings, etc.
• Corporate owners: These are companies that own facilities so that they can conduct business. Examples include Kaiser, Sutter Health or Dignity owning their hospital buildings, car manufacturers owning factories, entertainment companies owning movie studios, etc.
• Government agencies: these are organizations like Sac State, UC Davis, CalTrans, a branch of the military, etc. "owning" facilities on behalf of taxpayers. Sac State is the designated owner of facilities on our campus.

Designers: develop plans and specifications for structures. They also perform design calculations to ensure that structures will remain operable under normal situations and will survive extraordinary conditions (e.g. earthquakes, fires, etc.).

• Architects: in CM 10, when guest speakers use the word "designer", they are most likely referring to the architect. Architects, simply stated, prepare plans for buildings. While it takes more than architects to design buildings, the architect is typically the leader of the design team.
•  Civil engineers: civil engineering has many specialties, but putting it simply, civil engineers are responsible for designing the infrastructure of a structure such as getting water to the building, removing sewer water from the building, developing plans to ensure the site is graded so that the building will be level and much more. In infrastructure projects, such as freeway, dams and bridges, the civil engineer may be the lead designer.
• Other designers: this is a very incomplete list. Mechanical engineers (design mechanical systems like heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems), electrical engineers (design electrical systems that deliver power and lighting to buildings), structural engineers (a subset of civil engineering; they design the concrete, steel and/or timber systems that support structures), geotechnical engineers (design systems that interact with soil like foundations and retaining walls), landscape architects (design landscaping and irrigation systems), and interior designers (design the interior finishes for buildings such as room layouts, furniture, color coordination, etc.). I will expand on this list as the class progresses.

​Builders/constructors: these are the teams that take the plans and specifications and turn them into physical structures. 

• General contractors: owners hire the general contractor (GC) to assemble a team that will deliver a completed project. The contract between the owner and general contractor almost always specifies the amount of time the GC has to deliver the project (the schedule) and the amount of money they will be paid. While some GCs perform some of the work required to build a project (an act called "self-performing"), they tend to rely on subcontractors to perform most of the work. Heman Chand's company, S+B James, is a GC.
• Subcontractors: GCs hire subcontractors (sometimes called trade partners or simply subs) to perform specific types of work and will specific the time and budget for each type, or scope, of work. Rob Clark's company, Rosendin Electric, is an electrical subcontractor. Other types of subcontractors are mechanical subs (construct heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems), plumbing subs (install sinks and toilets and the pipes that connect them), structural steel subs (erect steel structures), glass and glazing subcontractors (install windows and glass storefront doors), concrete subs (install concrete for building structures and concrete for sidewalks and curbs and gutters). There are dozens of types of subs and I'll add to this list as the class progresses.

PEOPLE AND POSITIONS
Since this is a construction management class, I'm going to focus on the people who work on the constructor side of things (that is, we will not discuss the specific people involved in being owners or designers). In most cases, these people/positions exist with general contractors and subcontractors. I will further define these roles by "field" and "office". Field staff tend to spend most, if not all, of their time on the project site. Office staff tend to spend a lot of their time at the company's main or regional offices, although they do spend plenty of time on project sites. While some of these terms contain the term "man or men" in them, many women successfully hold those positions.

Field  staff:

• Journeymen and apprentices: these are the people that actually use tools, equipment and labor to turn materials into finished structures. They include laborers, cement masons, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, painters, etc. People start as apprentices and become journeymen once they prove capable at performing a trade.
• Foremen: foremen lead crews of journeymen and apprentices. While not necessarily considered management, foremen are the first layer of leadership on a construction site. Foremen are typically promoted from journeyman.
• Superintendent: Superintendents lead foremen. For a subcontractor, the superintendent leads multiple foremen for a particular trade, possibly on multiple projects. For general contractors, superintendents may provide leadership to foremen and superintendents working for subcontractors. Superintendents typically come from the ranks of foremen although many GCs are hiring superintendents with CM degrees. No matter where you learn to be a superintendent, you need to know how to build structures. Superintendents are the eyes and earn or the project site and are responsible for maintaining a safe and productive project site.

 
Office staff: 

• Project engineers and senior project engineers: typically the entry-level management position for GCs and subs. Most project engineers (or PEs) are hired with CM degrees. PEs are usually responsible for knowing the plans and working with subs to ensure they have completed required paperwork (submittals) and ensuring subs are installing work properly.
• Assistant  project managers and project managers: typically called PMs, they are responsible for managing the contract (ensuring the project is on time and on budget) and working with the owner to ensure they are satisfied with the project. Rob Clark is a PM for Rosendin Electric.

*I'm a little reluctant to refer to PEs and PMs as office staff. They spend a lot of time on project sites (PEs may spend all of their time on a project site). But they are responsible for paperwork and contracts and are almost always college educated (whereas field staff oftentimes learn their trades from apprenticeship programs and experience). 

• Project Executive: often referred to as the PX, the project executive leads multiple PM, often on several projects. Before being an owner at S+B James, Heman was a PX at Whiting-Turner.
• Estimators: these are the people who take the plans and specifications drafted by architects and engineers and figure out how much the project should cost. Estimators at GCs receive bids prepared by estimators at subs and create a completed bid that the GC will send to the owner. The owner then selects the GC they want to work with.

DELIVERY METHODS
While it is early in the term, we've already heard our guest speakers mention design-bid-build and design-build so I will briefly describe them below. In summary, the delivery method defines the relationship between the owner, architect and GC and how they will be organized. If these terms do not make complete sense by the end of CM 10, don't sweat it--they will be discussed in great detail throughout several future CM classes. The descriptions below come from a graduate-level class I teach, so it is a fairly advanced description of the delivery methods presented. 

Design-bid-build: In D-B-B, the owner has a separate contract with the designer and GC. The designer designs the project in total and then gives the plans to the owner. The owner then provides the plans to GCs who, in turn, create bids for the work that state how much each GC thinks the project will cost and how long the project will take. The owner selects the best bid and awards the project to the selected GC who then builds the project.

Design-bid-build is the most traditional delivery method.

• The owner has one contract with the designer (typically an architect for a building project, typically and engineer for infrastructure projects) to provide design services.
• The owner has one contract with a general contractor to provide construction services.
• Therefore, the owner has two total contracts.
• General contractors hold contracts with subcontractors.
• Usually, the general contractor is not involved with the project design. The general contractor will typically bid for the project when the design is complete.
• There is risk to the owner and/or general contractor take on risk if the project is bid before the design is “complete”.
• “Complete” is a relative term. It is common for design documents to contain errors and/or omissions. The owner is typically responsible for those errors.
• To manage the design and construction phases, the owner might hire an agent construction manager (agency CM). Very commonly (always by definition), the Agency CM is NOT contractually responsible for delivering a constructed project. Rather, they provide management services to the owner.

Pros:

• Owner may select the designer and builder based on separate criteria. In theory, the owner may hire the best designer and the best general contractor (best being a relative term that may include least expensive, best value, and/or other metrics).
• There are checks and balances between the designer and builder.
• For straight forward projects where the designer delivers a complete set of plans and specifications, competent and qualified general contractors should be able to accurately bid the project. Therefore, the owner should (in theory) have a good idea of what the construction costs of the project are going to be.
• In that same vein, with complete plans, the owner can competitively bid the project and expect the bids received from the general contractors can be compared like-to-like with each other.

Cons:

• Low bid does not always equal lowest cost. If the plans are incomplete of the owner introduces changes, the cost of the project can increase.
• Because the designer and builder have separate contracts and may be vying for the favor of the owner, design-bid-build may foster adversarial relationships between the designer and builder.
• Because of the contractual separation between designers and builders, not all project information makes it to the builder prior or after bid. This may lead to change orders and increased project scope and duration.
• Taking all of the above cons together, design-bid-build may make it difficult to accurately track project construction costs. 

Design-build: In D-B, the owner has a single contract with a design-build team that is usually a joint venture between an architect and GC. The key is that the owner is dealing with a single team responsible for both designing and building the structure.

Design-Build is considered and alternative delivery method. 

• The owner has one contract with a firm that provides both design and construction. This is also considered single source procurement. This means the owner has a single contract and point of contact. It also means that a single firm, the design-build group, is responsible for BOTH design and construction.
• More commonly, a general contractor will enter into a joint venture with a design firm to create a temporary (for the specific project) design-build firm of the general contractor will hire another firm to perform design services for the design-build firm.
• Less commonly (at least for the west coast) integrated design-build firm may have designers (architects and engineers) on staff.
• Design-Build the project can be phased so that construction begins prior to a complete design. With design-build, construction can typically begin before the design is complete. In theory, construction activities (such as mobilization) can start at the same time as the beginning of design. The total construction duration should be shorter that D-B-B.
• Owners can hire a Bridging Architect or Engineer to create a preliminary design that can be used for the basis of selecting a design-build firm. Bridging documents can range from conceptual drawings to partial construction documents.
• Sector expertise is important in design-build.

There are other delivery methods that D-B-B and D-B, but this is a good starter for CM 10 for now.

SPECIFIC TAKEAWAYS FROM SPEAKERS

Heman Chand:

• Your reputation follows you and is more important than the companies you have worked for.
• Construction management is a tough career for people who procrastinate or are shy.
• You're late if you're on time. Be early.

Rob Clark: 

• The construction industry is a small world. Your reputation is important.
• Look at the entire company when selecting a place to work. Look at all of the benefits (Is it employee owned? How stable is it? What are the promotion opportunities?)