Use project management tools to control quality, cost, and schedule on ANY residential construction project!
Managing Residential Construction Projects: Strategies and Solutions provides you with an effective, real-world blueprint for using the latest project management tools to gain control over every essential aspect of a residential construction project. Residential construction projects are notorious for being over budget and behind schedule, and the industry is in dire need of an effective solution. Construction expert Derek Graham addresses the practical issues behind budget and scheduling problems, providing you with the expertise to anticipate crises
before they arise and develop a residential construction process that flows more smoothly and efficiently.
Get the skills you need to take charge of residential construction jobs:
- Project management strategy
- Cost estimating
- Scheduling and planning
- Contract management
- Construction management
- Business tools
- Crisis and siege management
- Resolving conflicts
Managing Residential Construction Projects: Strategies and Solutions provides a unique visual presentation that gives you at-a-glance solutions and shows you step by step how to:
- Customize a project management strategy for your specific needs.
- Create a model for bids and project cycles.
- Establish administrative models for each project type.
- Use staff and facilities to the best advantage.
- Deal effectively with clients, vendors, and subcontractors.
- Resolve disputes among team members, clients, design professionals, and managers.
- Troubleshoot problems, such as errors and omissions, change orders, delays, quality control failures, and litigation.
From the Preface
Opulent magazine spreads of lavish apartments, appointed with fine finishes - every month, periodicals are bursting with them. But if you venture behind the scenes, things are seldom as pretty as the picture, which also may pale at closer examination. To be sure, the aesthetics of published work tends to run only skin deep. Any seasoned architect or contractor will tell you that a large percentage of projects are invariably wrought with mistakes, acrimony and innuendo, not uncommonly,
ad nauseum. The terms Kafkaesque and Murphy's Law come to mind; and finally - Comedy of Errors. Those seemingly extravagant and complex projects tend to be so ridden with the dual strife of being over budget, and behind schedule, that to finally finish them is a Pyrrhic victory. Why is the construction industry, particularly the residential sector, so prone to such failure? There is no simple answer.
This book intends to enlighten the layman and scholar alike, as to the modern thinking and skills required to be successful in a field that is extremely problematic, resistant to change, with a low margin of success. Through facilitation and empowering knowledge, this book will show the way to a healthier residential contract management perspective. Finally, it is hoped that someday, the process can catch up with some of the more successful end-products, that is, both being bona fide works of art.
Contents
Chapter 1: Mission. Chapter 2: Valuation. Chapter 3: Time. Chapter 4: Building. Chapter 5: Residential Construction Management. Chapter 6: Operations. Chapter 7: Crisis and Siege Management. Chapter 8: Resolving Conflicts: The Art of Negotiation and Survival. Appendix A: American Institute of Architects (AIA) Documents. Appendix B: Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) Documents. Appendix C: Introduction to Basic Epidemiology and Principles of Statistics. Appendix D: Recommended Standard. Appendix E: The Spearin Doctrine. Index.
About the Author
Derek Graham has more than 20 years of experience in construction and construction project management. Currently an independent consultant in the New York City high-end residential sector as an owner's representative, quality control inspector-specialist, planner, and expert witness, he has also worked extensively in the commercial and hospitality sectors. Mr. Graham is skilled in all aspects of construction, including building trades, cost estimation, contract negotiation, troubleshooting, financial reporting, and crisis management.
