Construction management on an agency basis continues to be a major element in delivery of projects, as owners increasingly are under pressure to cut costs and outsource noncore functions. But this doesn’t mean agency CM is immune to construction downturns. From a purely numeric standpoint, agency CM revenue took a hit in 2003 for the Top 100 CM-for-Fee firms, declining dramatically, from $7.8 billion in 2002 to $5.5 billion in 2003. That is a 29.5% drop. Some of this decline may be misleading, due to survey changes made by ENR in 2003. Last year was the first time the list
Construction management at-risk often is the stepchild of alternate project delivery methods. Some see CM at-risk as simply general contracting with an added level of risk-shifting by the owner. Some jokingly compare it to general contracting "while wearing a tie." But the nature of being a major general contractor has changed, just as the demands of clients have. "We as an industry have changed over the last 10 years from a blue collar business to a white collar business," says John Fish, CEO of Suffolk Construction. He says large general contractors are doing less self-perform and are emphasizing more management
Project delivery has evolved by fits and starts over the past 20 years. As corporate clients began downsizing their facilities’ staffs in the 1980s, construction firms stepped up to the plate–and into the shoes of owners to assist, and sometimes take over, management of projects. These included contractors that parlayed their management skills to take on construction management duties on an at-risk basis. Then the 1990s saw the advent of design-build. That approach may have been around since the times of the pharaohs, but the concept of assigning all responsibilities of design and construction to a single integrated contract suddenly
HELPING HANDS Skills are transferable. (Photo courtesy of DOD) After more than six years in the Army following his West Point graduation, Bill Gaul never dreamed he would have to worry about finding a job. He was trained as an engineer, had project management experience and flew helicopters. But when Gaul decided to leave the military in 1986 it would take almost five months before he found work. He remembers it as a stressful time, laden with anxiety. After several years in the civilian work force, Gaul decided to make his difficulty finding work actually work for him. Aware that
"My husband and 3,000 other innocent victims–people that want to work in what they thought was a safe environment–were slaughtered by the buildings, not the planes…. The need for reform of not only the codes, but also the code development groups that create the codes, is paramount to the safety and security of all people that live and work n high-rise buildings…. No more weighing in favor of those that benefit from the codes, such as the construction industry, developers and the financiers! No more building of indefensible buildings. No more building motivated by greed. This is the legacy we
The bombings on Madrid’s rail lines on March 11 that killed 191 and wounded 2,000 highlighted a stark reality long known to security experts. They say protecting ground transportation from terrorism is a task that will require billions of dollars, innovative approaches, years of effort, accelerated research–and ultimately will be only moderately effective. Achieving even acceptable risk will "require a lot of ingenuity from our engineering community," says Edward Badolato, executive vice president for homeland security in The Shaw Group’s Washington, D.C., office. "We are in a situation where we have to do better." Doing better will be a big
DEFENSE Battery Park City used 3-D models to predict speed, impact conditions at perimeter. (IKONOS satellite image by Space Imaging) A series of revisions to New York City’s building code, based partly on lessons learned from the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, are coming up for legislative and mayoral approval this summer. "Building code officials have expanded the thinking for newand difficult situations, especially for those we are not equipped to research," says Patricia J. Lancaster, New York City Commissioner of Buildings. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, for instance, is analyzing stair enclosures, building hardening, new
When terrorists flew the planes into the World Trade Center towers three years ago, the nation watched as medical personnel gathered at New York City’s emergency rooms waiting for casualties to stream in. Unfortunately, the catastrophic nature of the attack left little for the doctors, nurses and paramedics to do. But, even before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, a nationwide initiative called Project ER One brought together 200 experts to make recommendations on how to make emergency rooms (ERs) better able to prepare for large-scale disasters, such as terrorists attacks. The federally funded project started in November 2000 and involved
DETERRENT High-tech Israeli barrier begins to draw interest from abroad. The construction of Israel’s security barrier has been highly controversial for nearly two years but the project has been a boon for the companies involved in supplying the sophisticated technology. Two Israeli firms that focus on perimeter security are supplying most of the high-tech sensors and electronic equipment for the 730-kilometer array of fences, walls and trenches designed to impede terrorist threats. Magal Security Systems Ltd. and Ortek Ltd., a subsidiary of one of Israel’s largest defense companies, Elbit Systems Ltd., are approved by the Israeli Defense Ministry to provide
IMPACT Threat-assessment tools run the what-ifs you don't even want to think about. The U.S. Coast Guard is developing a tool for use with three-dimensional design models to predict the impacts and consequences of terrorist attacks on its facilities. In a growing pilot program, a threat-assessment module is being applied to object-based data models representing Coast Guard installations in Charleston, S.C., and Seattle, Wash. The models are created with ArchiCAD design software, from Graphisoft U.S. Inc., Newton, Mass. The Coast Guard has been creating the models as part of a two-year project whose primary goal is to develop an integrated
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