Challenge of the unexpected during construction.

Building out a tenant space--like any construction assignment--is anything but an exact science. Something unplanned or unanticipated always comes up. What's essential to meeting targeted goals for completion date, budget and quality is this: how and when the unexpected is handled. The danger areas are many: deliveries, cost control, scheduling, tenant delays, change orders, and items with long lead times.

The key is a well-coordinated project team of client, architect, general contractor and building manager, starting the work together at the earliest possible moment, followed by regular and frequent meetings throughout the job.

A top priority should be an immediate assessment of potential problem areas affecting cost and/or timing. The team must look at the feasibility of the plans in terms of availability of materials, labor and time, so that alternatives can be considered early on, while they are still possible. Special attention must be paid to materials that may be in short supply or subject to price increase so that they can be pre-ordered. The problem, of course, is that once the job is under way, every change will require an update in the budget and the schedule--especially if the completion date might be affected

Let me give an example from our recent work that involves several of these issues. A financial company hired us to install louvers on the side of their building to feed air to new air conditioning units to be placed in the building. We discovered that there was no way that the air conditioning units could be installed in the designated space without removing the skin from the building--at a cost of more than $100,000, plus a lot of time.

The engineers had designed a system that would work, but they did not factor in the installation problem. We were able to warn the client before the units were ordered and delivered. Our study also saved them from bidding the job based on the drawings before they found out the units could not go in as designed. Because we thoroughly evaluated the situation before starting work, we headed off three-to-four months of unnecessary construction and at least $250,000 in building costs. And our assessment enabled our client to find the needed alternative solution.

We then investigated several options for a piping route to the roof and chose to go through a shaft, providing a scaffolding rig inside it. Two other complications emerged which were resolved by good communication, pre-planning and coordination. The building owner wanted to install a new roof during the course of our project and also intended eventually to install a generator on the roof. We came up with a plan to run the riser for the generator in the shaft while we were working there on the HVAC pipe runs, thereby eliminating additional costs later on.

This required more complex scheduling, since only one trade could work in the shaft at a time. We had to alternate the two trades as they worked their way up. We also coordinated the new roof installation, fast-tracking the steel so that our work on the roof could be finished before the building started theirs. We didn't want our client to cut into a brand new roof and assume the liability for any leaks.

Simple research, communication and follow-up like this can help a company through the unexpected. One especially frequent example of the timing and coordination problem is an aspect of tenant build-out that's increasingly popular today: pre-built offices. That's when speed is especially important. After all, the owner wants to turn space from raw to revenue-producing in the shortest possible time, and a month of lost rent can never be recovered.

Even with build-to-suit space, speed is key, but realistic scheduling also becomes a factor. In general, everything works better with the earliest possible start. This is a major argument in favor of choosing a construction manager rather than a lump sum general contract, where there is an inherent delay while the bids come in and you identify the subcontractor-members of the building team.

When there just isn't enough time to get the job done in the normal way, you may have to resort to fast tracking, where everything is compressed. For example, we recently faced an assignment for a production company that included sound stages and a mini-theater with their associated major soundproofing requirements in an otherwise typical corporate office building.

The client needed occupancy in full working order in only seven weeks for a project that would normally take twice that long! We were able to bring the project in on time through a combination of very tight control (via daily meetings) and by scheduling the installation of larger items on Saturday, when it wouldn't get in the way of the regular work.

Since there's no such thing as a normal construction job, the ability to deal with the unusual and unexpected is crucial. Close coordination among the team members, with a large dose of give-and-take and the greatest possible degree of advance planning, is essential for a successful project.

MICHAEL GALLIN

PARTNER, JOHN GALLIN & SON