...result in savings three to five times more than the cost of the review,” Aliabadi says. “We bring all the major subcontractors together in a cooperative environment,” he adds. “It doesn’t eliminate problems, but it helps to prioritize and solve them without impacting the schedule and budget.”

Photo: Vanir Construction Management Inc.

Vanir CM now has a North Carolina-based sister firm that is involved in renewableenergy development and that could generate new construction management opportunities.

Certifying Managers

As Vanir CEO, Aliabadi is devoting more time to team-building and elevating standards of practice in CM. Long active in CMAA and its president in 2003, Aliabadi has been outspoken in his push to establish and expand a certification standard. �If we don�t create a measurement, someone else will,� Aliabadi says.

The certification process developed by CMAA through its Construction Manager Certification Institute can be rigorous. Qualification alone usually takes six months. It requires proof of experience and also includes testing on principles and ethics.

�Mansour understood leadership,� says Bruce D�Agostino, CMAA president and CEO. �If he wanted his folks to be CM-certified, he�d have to do it first.� And Aliabadi did, with some trepidation. �I was taking [the course] with some of the younger guys in the company, and I was worried that they would get their certificate and, after 30 years in the business, I would fail. Luckily, I passed,� he says.

Dorene C. Dominguez, daughter of Vanir Group founder Frank Dominguez and its current chairman, credits Aliabadi�s certification push. �Vanir�s success is directly attributable to the professional development of our dedicated construction management staff, including our commitment to the [certification] program,� she says.

Aliabadi is also lobbying state legislators to require the CM designation on public projects. �It�s a chicken-and-egg case where there needs to be enough certified CMs to allow for competitive bidding, but people won�t go through the process until it is required,� he says. So far, only Idaho has made the requirement law, according to Aliabadi. But while the mandate is not on the books in California, most public requests for proposals now give a preference to bidders who indicate they will use certified managers.

"We were successful because we were good at looking ahead to where the market was going."

— � Don Russell, Vanir Director

With many private-sector projects on hold and public-sector work slowed and besieged by competitors, Vanir has felt the repercussions in its development business and overall growth. Aliabadi says a 20% growth rate in 2008 is likely to decrease to 5% this year.

Looking Ahead

But the company hopes still to make the case for its services. �In tough economic times, clients are looking to cut everywhere they can, but savvy owners�especially those who have been hurt before by low bids that didn�t work out�understand the importance of investing in CM for greater savings later on budget and schedule,� Aliabadi says.

Vanir currently is overseeing the $160-million, design-build project for a new headquarters building in Folsom, Calif., for the California Independent System Operator, the state�s nonprofit wholesale power grid. The project, which seeks a LEED-certified Gold rating and includes enhanced security, is on track for an early 2011 completion�ahead of schedule�according to Aliabadi.

The company also is venturing into new arenas. In 2008, it won a $12-million contract, which had stiff competition, to oversee a $300-million hospital project in Saudi Arabia. "Some things are very different in a country like Saudi Arabia," Aliabadi says. "There are cultural issues, contractual issues, and the laws are different. But the basics of how to build and keep a team together are the same."

While some competitors wonder if Vanir�s price will hold, Aliabadi says the owner was satisfied after visiting the firm�s U.S. clients. �We currently are marketing for a hospital in Abu Dhabi and plan to do more work there,� says Russell. �That is where the money is.�

Vanir Group�s 2008 purchase of a North Carolina solar energy developer also is expected to boost the parent�s Vanir Energy LLC unit and offer more opportunities for Vanir CM, its sister company. Charlotte-based utility Duke Energy announced last fall that it would buy �green energy� credits from Vanir Energy to produce hot water as well as heat and cool buildings.

Aliabadi says he plans to stay in his post at least another seven years, but under a formal company succession plan, two executives now are being groomed for new roles.

The future of CM is very strong, Russell contends. �Program management in particular can deliver terrific economies of scale, and standardization can save a lot of money,� he says.