Best Practices Commercial Building Construction US

The guiding light for Wilkinson Building Advisors is to “Plan thoughtfully and act purposefully.” A pillar of the consulting practice is to help everyone “win” when the project needs fixing. Thus the title of this post: “Fix your project.”

Unfortunately, the need for “fixing” usually arrives after a design and construction project is in the advanced stages, i.e. construction is well underway. By then the “one-time manager” is feeling as though events are getting out of hand. The usual suspects are:

• The financial operations threaten  to break the budget
• The schedule is slipping and the needed opening dates seem unlikely

Visible City (Jon Commers and his group) are on the midwest planning scene. They are analysts and planners using high end business intelligence tools including applied GIS (Geographic Information Systems). These tools crunch data in many ways including producing "smart maps": visualizations that reveal hidden development opportunities. Users of the visuals are often heard saying: "I haven't seen that before (despite all my driving around)."

Ethics and the “Shop Drawing” anecdote (an editorial, 041421)

(disclaimer: this document is solely the opinion of George Wilkinson and Wilkinson Building Adviors, and does not represent that of any of its clients or employees)

Ethics: “Moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity”

Morals: “Standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is acceptable”

Professional: “A person competent in a particular activity”

The cultural headwinds have long been on the bow of the so-called design-build movement. It took nearly 50 years of cultural warfare for the various participants to see their integrative potential.

It is easy to see how the cultural divide is built into the DNA of the various designers, engineers, builders, salespeople, financial engineers, and business managers; they are all different people with different worldviews and ways of behaving. The marketplace finally demanded cooperation and collaboration. By the 1990’s, the acceptance of the design-build approach was no longer in dispute.

Applied technology in the building industry is now at a tipping point. The intersection of timber construction technologies with indoor climate energy exchange and management is creating powerful new market opportunities.

FFE - Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment - (fixed or otherwise) are needed to complete your project and are not always expressly included in traditional design and construction services.

Examples are:

• Security systems (designers and builders don’t want the liability)
• Data and communication systems (often part of the business work flow)
• Furniture and accessories (includes plants and specialties)
• Modular furniture and work stations (often called “cubicles”)
• Decorations (includes wall art)
• Special equipment (cooling systems for computer equipment etc)

At Wilkinson Building Advisors, projects have 3 stages:

1. Planning and setup
2. Execution and administration
3. Project completion

This post is about Project Completion, the stage when the Owner has spent a lot of money and needs to move in and commence operations in order to derive value from the investment.

Before investing in a building project, consider these points:

In commercial life, it is a common best practice to have a business plan before spending a lot of money. This concept applies to planning, designing, and building (and paying for it). Why then is it so common to hear: "it cost more", "the schedule was really late", "I was disappointed in the design but it was too late to change". Here is our perspective based on many years experience.

For Wilkinson Building Advisors, our mantra is to “Plan thoughtfully and act purposefully.” A pillar of the consulting practice is to help everyone “win” when the project needs fixing.

Unfortunately, the need for “fixing” usually arrives after a design and construction project is in the advanced stages, i.e. construction is well underway. By then the “one-time manager” is feeling as though events are getting out of hand. The typical problems are:

• Financial operations threaten to break the budget
• The schedule is slipping and the needed opening dates seem unlikely

Ethics and the “Shop Drawing” anecdote (an editorial, 041421)

(disclaimer: this document is solely the opinion of George Wilkinson and Wilkinson Building Adviors, and does not represent that of any of its clients or employees)

Ethics: “Moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity”

Morals: “Standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is acceptable”

Professional: “A person competent in a particular activity”