AP/Wideworld New York schools use multiple primes above specified project costs. With changes to its controversial contracting law in a budget bill, New York state could become the sole champion of multiple-prime contracts. Other states have abandoned or are reconsidering the method in favor of flexibility while collaborative delivery systems may soon make it obsolete. The Wicks Law in New York has its roots in a series of laws the legislature passed starting in 1912. It requires the state and local goverments to have separate prime contracts for electrical, heating and plumbing subs as well as for the general contractor
At no time in history have there been as many choices in construction project-delivery systems as there are today. Owners can select design-bid-build, general contracting, construction management, design-build and turn-key development. Each system is, in its own way, a productive means of accomplishing a project, but with little exception, each method conveys to owners how the work will be done rather than what work will be done. IGEL Easy access to lines of credit over the past 15 years led to a building boom along with a rapid increase in the costs and demands of construction across all markets. Contractors
Less than a year to design and construct 7,000 feet of runway? Until the runway asphalt at the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport (Pa.) was upgraded to concrete, the U.S. Army Reserve’s large C-17 cargo planes would not be able to land. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planned on completing the reconstruction project over two seasons. But the Corps’ design-build team of Hi-Way Paving Inc. and PBS&J asked itself: “Is it possible to do the work differently to expedite the schedule—shortcutting the process without compromising quality?” The answer was: “Absolutely!” The team told the Corps, “We’ll do it in
We should remain doubtful, on practical grounds, about the veracity or longevity of the American Institute of Architects’ Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) manifesto and its single-purpose-entity (SPE) offspring as a widespread solution to industry woes. Practitioners, instead of policy wonks, need to weigh in and put them to the test. BISHOP Any proposed solution to industry problems is obliged to confront basic industry reality. One industry driver is the fundamental stalemate from which most negative project outcomes and most legal protections flow. Owners, designers and constructors are all victims, contributors and beneficiaries. The stalemate simultaneously is an impasse with divergent
Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino Banks forced foreclosure on $9.3-billion Las Vegas casino in midconstruction. Record high oil and steel prices during the first half of the year were just starting to work their way into construction industry cost indexes when the financial meltdown on Wall Street threatened to drastically reduce the demand side of the cost equation. Commodity prices had already started to slip from their second-quarter peaks, but that slip could turn into a major step back as commercial construction gets sucked into the subprime-mortgage debacle. “Our forecast was already looking for a decline in nonresidential building work this
AP/Wideworld After staggering price increases during the past year, prices for structural steel this quarter appear to have stabilized as indexes begin to show the first signs of a long-awaited correction. The leveling-off of structural steel prices this month follows a drop in scrap metal prices over the last two months and fat inventories that producers have accumulated this year amid waning demand. Structural steel prices “have peaked,” says John Anton, director of steel services for Washington, D.C.-based forecasting company Global Insight. “Mills have been increasing production throughout this year and now that inventories are replenished it’s time for producers
The collapse of some investment banking firms and the government restructuring of Chicago-based insurance giant American International Group has generated some uncertainty as to how the financial crisis on Wall Street will affect funds for workers’ compensation. Some insurance executives, however, are optimistic. Related Links: Steel Price Spike Meets Credit Crunch Crisis Changes Demand Side of Costs Prices Slip After Last Spring’s Spike Bottlenecks, Labor Shortages and Volatile Prices Produce Sticker Shock New Index Spotlights Spike in Powerplant Construction Costs Tight Labor Markets Push Wages Up Complete Report “Our organization sees ample amount of risk capital, even a surplus of
Shifting powerplant markets, supply bottlenecks, volatile equipment prices, global competition for powerplant materials and shortages of specialty craft and professional labor have conspired to produce what one source calls sticker shock” for powerplant owners. Price escalation is up from five years ago, driven by market conditions that have allowed “profiteering” by makers of specialty products, according to another source. Shaw Power Group/Mark Banks Costs of specialty metals as well as commodities have been driven by global demand. Coal-fired powerplants have held the field for the last four or five years, but they are about to yield to combustion turbines. That
SOURCE: POWERADVOCATE. NEW 550 MW COMBINED-CYCLE FACILITY. A new series of construction cost indexes for powerplant projects has recently been launched by the firm Power Advocate, Boston, Mass. ENR will publish its index for a 550-MW combined-cycle powerplant in its cost report. The most recent PowerAdvocate cost index for a combined-cycle plant shows a year-to-year increase of 10.2%, well above the 3% to 7% tracked by other indexes for commercial buildings. Most of this is due to the surge in steel prices, which has a greater impact on powerplant work than commercial buildings, as well as increased demand for
Shaw Power Group/Jason Brod Despite concerns that the nation’s economic woes could impact the construction industry, open-shop wages continue to rise at a steady rate to meet strong demand in certain sectors. Wages among open-shop journeymen jumped 5.1% in 2007 and they could rise another 4.8% in 2008, according to a survey by Personnel Administration Services, Saline, Mich. While some sectors have slowed or flattened, the growing need to staff petrochemical and power projects is pressuring wage increases, says Jeff Robinson, president of PAS. “In areas around the country where we’ve seen a lot of powerplant work, we’re seeing some
RSS