101 Case Studies in Construction Management

101 CASE STUDIES IN CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT This book provides 101 real-life construction management case studies from an author with over 40 years’ experience in the construction industry and as a lecturer in construction management. Over 14 chapters, Len Holm has included case studies from real jobsites that cover organization, procurement, estimating, scheduling, subcontractors, communications, quality and cost control, change orders, claims and disputes, safety, and close-outs. Other hot topics covered include BIM, sustainability, and lean. Each case is written in straightforward language and designed to test the reader’s independent and critical thinking skills to develop their real-world problem-solving ability. The cases are open to interpretation, and students will need to develop their own opinions of what’s presented to them in order to reach a satisfactory solution. The cases are ideal for use in the classroom or flipped classroom, for individual or group exercises, and to encourage research, writing, and presenting skills in all manner of applied construction management situations. Such a broad and useful selection of case studies cannot be found anywhere else. While there is often no “right” answer, the author has provided model solutions to instructors through the online eResource. Len Holm is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Washington, USA. He has over 40 years’ construction industry experience at all levels and owns his own construction management firm. He is the author of numerous books on construction, including Management of Construction Projects: A Constructor’s Perspective, 2nd edition, also published by Routledge. 101 CASE STUDIES IN CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT Len Holm First published 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business 2019 Len Holm The right of Len Holm to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Holm, Len, author. Title: 101 case studies in construction management / Len Holm. Other titles: One hundred and one studies in construction management | One hundred one studies in construction management Description: Abingdon, Oxon : Routledge, 2019. Identifiers: LCCN 2018020482| ISBN 9780815361978 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780815361985 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781351113632 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Building—Superintendence—Case studies. | Construction industry—Management—Case studies. Classification: LCC TH438 .H65 2019 | DDC 690.068—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018020482 ISBN: 978-0-8153-6197-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-8153-6198-5 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-351-11363-2 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, UK Visit the eResources: www.routledge.com/9780815361985 CONTENTS The 101 case studies are generally organized according to their primary topic or “chapter,” as indicated below. The order of the 14 chapters follows the textbook Management of Construction Projects: A Constructor’s Perspective, 2nd ed., Routledge, 2017, by John E. Schaufelberger and Len Holm. List of illustrations vii About the author viii About the illustrator ix Preface x 1 Construction organizations, including personnel issues 1 2 Procurement, including pricing and delivery methods 12 3 Construction contracts, including insurance and bond issues 30 4 Estimating 49 5 Schedules and schedule control 56 6 Subcontractors and suppliers 62 7 Start-up, including preconstruction, mobilization, and value engineering 76 8 Communications, including RFIs and submittals 85 vi Contents 9 Pay requests, including liens, lien releases, and retention 92 10 Cost control, including lean construction 99 11 Quality and safety controls 106 12 Change orders 119 13 Claims, including dispute resolution techniques 128 14 Advanced topics, including close-out, BIM, and sustainability 138 Appendix A: Abbreviations 148 Appendix B: Glossary 152 There are several case studies that fit within each of the above primary topics. Each of the 14 chapters begins with a general topic overview and its own detailed table of contents. Many cases relate to other sections as well (most of the examples cross many topics). A complete detailed table of contents with all 101 cases is included with the instructor’s manual (see www.routledge.com/9780815361985). ILLUSTRATIONS Figures 1.1 Traditional organization chart 1 1.2 GC’s jobsite organization chart 2 2.1 Project variations 14 2.2 Project manager’s toolbox 29 3.1 Contract documents 31 3.2 Contract house 33 4.1 Summary estimate 51 5.1 Summary schedule 57 6.1 Organization chart 63 7.1 Preconstruction contract 79 8.1 Active quality control 86 9.1 Pay request summary 94 10.1 Cost control cycle 100 11.1 Evolution of project controls 107 12.1 Change order proposal 121 12.2 Potential suspects 127 13.1 Three-party agreement 129 13.2 Attorneys 130 14.1 LEED gold 140 Tables 4.1 Estimating process 50 7.1 Value engineering log 82 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Len Holm grew up in a construction family. His father Arne Holm was a high- end residential and light commercial general contractor in Grays Harbor County, Washington. Len was shoveling concrete and driving nails from the age of 10. He eventually became a journeyman carpenter and foreman. Len was the only member of his family to go to college, and earned bachelor’s degrees in Building Construction and Economics and a master’s degree in Construction Management, all from the University of Washington. Len’s first job out of college in the early 1980s was as an estimator and a scheduler traveling around the country building power plants for one of the largest construction firms in the world. He later found his way back to Seattle and worked on numerous high-technology, medical, and industrial projects with a large local general contractor as a project manager, senior project manager, and company stockholder. Len founded his own company, Holm Construction Services, in 1994, which has provided a variety of construction consulting services on hundreds of residential and commercial projects, including owner’s represen- tation, expert witness, and contractor training. He has been an instructor at the University of Washington since 1993 and has taught over 110 quarter-long courses on 13 different topics to over 3,500 students. He has authored and co-authored several books and articles on a variety of construction issues, including project management, estimating, and dispute resolution. Three books are standard textbooks for many construction management programs throughout the United States and in other countries: Management of Construction Projects: A Constructor’s Perspective, 2nd ed., 2017, Routledge, and Construction Cost Estimating: Process and Practices, 2005, Pearson, both co-authored with Dean John Schaufelberger, Ph.D., and Introduction to Construction Project Engineering, 2018, Routledge, co-authored with Dr. Giovanni Migliaccio. Another new book is in construction close-out with Routledge as well, with an expected release in late 2018, titled Cost Accounting and Financial Management for Construction Project Managers. Questions or comments regarding this case study book may be sent to [email protected]. I hope you enjoy the stories. ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR Barbara Holm is a stand-up comedian, writer, author, artist, and actor based out of Portland, Oregon. She has performed in several comedy festivals across the United States, and was recently seen on NBC’s Last Comic Standing TV series, as well as LaughsTV and Portlandia. Barbara has written for several publications, including IGA and the Huffington Post. She was awarded Time Out New York’s Joke of the Week and was named “one of the best things about comedy” in 2012. Her comedy has been described as clever, unique, idiosyncratic, and exuberant. Barbara has published several graphic novels, which are also available on Amazon. Follow Barbara’s work on Twitter @barbara_holm or look her up at barbaraholm.com. PREFACE This book began many years ago with a collection of just a few short stories. There was a desire within the Department of Construction Management at the University of Washington to strengthen the students’ written and verbal com- munication skills. The stories transformed into case studies, and were first used to improve the students’ presentation skills within a project management course and also to provide practice for the subsequent quarter’s capstone course. At that time, the department was just becoming active in student competitions. The activities of research, working in a team environment, preparing both a written and verbal response, and competing among fellow students helped the department raise their competition teams to national recognition. A few construction stories were added each year. This book now includes 101 case studies, with subsections for several cases and numerous questions for each one. The sources of the cases are mostly from projects that I have personally been involved with, from over 40 years in the construction industry as a carpenter, project engineer, project manager, owner’s representative, construction consultant, and expert legal witness. A few of the topics have been donated from other friends in the industry. The cases included here represent concepts from actual construction projects, but no real construction project has been used in this book, and any similarity with an actual project is coincidental.

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