STRATEGIC CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

More than anything else, The Paine Group desires successful projects for our clients.  And a project that ends in an adversarial dispute, no matter who prevails or the size of the settlement, does not meet our test for project success. It is only common sense that the best way to resolve disputes is to prevent them from arising in the first place.

Our strategic construction management services eliminate ambiguity, clarify deliverables, communicate expectations, implement robust control processes, and specify remedies and corrective actions when it counts – at the beginning of the project, before RFP’s have even gone out.

The Paine Group will accomplish this by assisting with the development of contract documents, reviewing proposals, facilitating Partnering Agreements, and implementing a Manage to Schedule program.  

Contract Documents:

	Design Contracts – We will suggest revisions to you and your legal team to specify deliverables at design milestones, insure the adequacy of design and of construction documents, and encourage your Architect to proactively take responsibility for Errors and Omissions.
	Specifications – The Paine Group knows that a healthcare project is not just the construction of the building.  It must take into account the environment of the project – a fully operational 24x7 hospital.  Specifications that do not address that key fact guarantee future claims.  We will work with your Architect and key stakeholders to develop specification language that clearly sets out processes for protecting the Environment of Care, managing and mitigating disruptions, maintaining access, and implementing rigorous cost and schedule controls.
	The Request for Proposal –The Paine Group will work with you to craft an RFP that clearly communicates your expectations, and insures that the proposals you receive satisfy not just the terms of the Plans and Specifications, but also align with your Mission, Vision, Values, and corporate culture.
	Construction Contracts – We will suggest revisions to you and your legal team to eliminate ambiguity, insure complete scope coverage, comply fully with the JCAHO mandate to protect the Environment of Care, close loopholes associated with Allowances, Bid Alternates, Budget Contingency, and Schedule Float, instill rigorous cost and schedule controls, and improve the processes for Changes, Claims, and Disputes.  This service is backed by our Project Savings Guarantee.

Proposal Review - More than just getting “apples to apples,” this process insures that the quoted price, terms, conditions, inclusions and exclusions will actually get the building built in a manner consistent with your expectations.

Partnering Agreements – Not a formal, risk-sharing contractual agreement, the Partnering Agreement that we will facilitate between the Owner, Architect, and Contractor is Quality Assurance for the entire project.  We will start by using the past experiences of the project team, both positive and negative, to identify common values in order to build a shared vision of project success.  We will then move on to a nuts and bolts review of the key submittal, RFI, Change, Field Report, AHJ Inspection and Special Inspection, and Closeout procedures.  In the final test for our shared vision of project success, we aggressively tackle problem and dispute resolution, emphasizing immediate disclosure and action, voluntary accountability, team-based problem solving, and informal processes at the lowest possible management level.  Guidelines for escalation, Owner involvement, and recovery steps will be developed.

Managing to Schedule – Managing to Schedule is the implementation of the processes used in Lean Construction Management and Windows Schedule Delay Analysis during the design and construction phases of the project itself.  A joint effort of the Owner, Architect and Contractor, its result is a relentless emphasis on schedule, leading to an absolute certainty of what happened yesterday, where we are now, and exactly what must happen right now to insure that we will be on schedule next week, next month, next year.

DISPUTE ANALYSIS

95% of all construction disputes have a schedule delay element.  The fundamental schedule questions – “What was supposed to happen?” and “What actually happened?” must be answered in a way satisfying to all parties if they are ever to resolve the ultimate question in a dispute – “What are we going to do about it?”

Instead of other common techniques, which ignore claimant delays, concurrency, the context of project decision making and actual events, The Paine Group employs the Windows method to analyze schedule delays.  From an analyzed baseline, the project is recreated in periodic snapshots (“Windows”) using the project record, and both defendant and claimant delays are analyzed and inserted to account for concurrency, providing all parties with an understanding of the project and its impacting events in context.  This process fosters mutual trust and produces an analysis that is usually accepted by both parties, laying the foundation for meaningful settlement talks. 

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Traditional dispute resolution in America has failed to meet the needs of the construction industry.  While improvements have been made since ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) began to gain acceptance in the late 1980’s, almost all major claims are still addressed after Substantial Completion.  In the past, this “Let’s agree to disagree until the project is complete” approach was seen as a way to maintain project progress, even in the face of disputes.  Human nature being what it is, though, positions harden, bitterness sets in, and the underlying causes that lead to the dispute in the first place – usually correctable management practices – continue to damage the project, often leading to even larger claims.

Upon Substantial Completion, negotiations, mediation, arbitration, or even litigation commence.  By that time, however, the damage is done, and no settlement, no judgment, can ever truly make up for the damage to the financials, relationships, and reputations of the parties in dispute.

The Paine Group practices and advocates a relatively new approach to dispute resolution, the Neutrals Process, where the intent is to resolve not just the specific claim, but also the underlying management dysfunction in real time, in order to restore momentum toward project success.