Corrections or additions?
This article by Bart Jackson was prepared for the September 27,
2000 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper.
All rights reserved.
Construction Management: Pros & Cons
In his drippingly sardonic book “From Bauhaus to
Our House” author Tom Wolfe discusses the old inimical triangle
of the wide-eyed Owner vs. haughty Architect vs. sly General
Contractor.
Inevitably, he states, the owner has to “just stand quiet and
take it like a man.”
To this Eugene Marsh replies simply “Bull.” On Thursday,
October 5, at 11 a.m., at Fleet Bank on 200 East State Street in
Trenton,
in a two-hour seminar for Trenton Small Business Week, Marsh will
walk prospective builders through the pre-construction process
including
scheduling, estimates, basic blueprint reading and the horrific
labyrinth
of government applications. Cost: $25 for materials. Go to
or call 609-396-7246.
Eugene Marsh is scarcely naive. He says that, since earning his
construction-engineering
degree at Cornell, he has hammered out 25 hard years in the field,
building housing developments from North Carolina to Trenton, a
courthouse
in lower Manhattan and contributing to the $400 million Merrill Lynch
Center in Hopewell. He admits his is a tough trade where government
needs endless soothing and the owner too often is seen as an ignorant
open pocketbook. He merely asserts that with a little training and
the right representation, the entrepreneur can be as tough on the
construction site as he/she is in the boardroom.
It’s a matter of goals and vision, notes Marsh. The owner sees a
castle
for his business on-the-cheap; the architect sees his own castle,
cost be damned; while the general contractor sees a mountain of
headaches
solved only by a fountain of funding. The structure invariably rises
on conflict — a struggle among equals. “The owner,”
insists
Marsh, “needs greater force and authority in the building
process.”
His solution, and one that has gained increased popularity this
decade,
is for the owner to arm himself with a construction manager as his
agent.
“The construction management firm is designed to be a one-stop
shop for the builder. The firm can bid-out and supply you with a list
of architects and G.C.’s (general contractors) or he can accept and
work with ones you know.” He affords the owner an expert shield,
and affords him as much participation as he wants in the building.
Eugene Marsh’s glowing endorsement of construction managers gushes
forth with no little bias. Two years ago he opened the doors of
Construction
Projects Management, Inc. in Trenton where he has deftly and
profitably
juggled a continuous series of multi-million dollar projects. He
insists
this success comes from his company’s acting strictly as the owner’s
agent.
Sensing the suspicious tingle of a sales talk, I decide to give Mr.
Marsh a test. I tell him I am building a 34,000 square-foot office
building and I don’t want a flat roof. I have surveyed scores of
flat-roof
owners and every one of their roofs leaked. What can you do for me?
While the structure is imaginary, the survey is real. Several years
ago, in an article for U.S. 1, I unearthed the soggy facts of flat
roofs. At that time, when I questioned architects about installing
a more pitched roof, all of them denied the leaks and heartily tried
to dissuade me from the norm. Ten percent total cost increase was
minimum they protested. The general contracting firms winced, rolled
their eyes, and said that if I absolutely had to have it, they would
build whatever I wanted.
Against these, Marsh’s response was refreshing indeed. Ten percent
for a dry roof, to him, seemed an outrageous cost overrun. His plan
was to collect a series of specialty roofing firms, discuss my need
and after winnowing the chaff, let the top contenders present designs
to me. He recounted several low-cost metal examples. By going to the
roofing firms, rather than architects, I would be purchasing a plan
already in this sub-contractor’s repertoire and thus glean savings.
Perhaps having your own problem solver on the job site is not such
a bad idea.
A good manager may allow the owner to stay on the side lines, but
it is still the owner’s game. Marsh demands three pillars of
preparation
from his owner-clients: “Neglect one, and the project falls into
ruins.”
Scope. Scope goes beyond need. The owner needs officespace for 50 employees. But what’s entailed? One South Brunswick ownerdemanded more under-floor computer wire ducts. The next day he rantedcrazily at the poor worker who had sliced back the carpet and stoodjackhammering the concrete slab to carve a path for the new wireconduit.You’ve got to know what you’re asking for, in each step of thestructure.Basic knowledge of blueprints is essential for the owner.If you can’t at least interpret a basic floor design, you wander”likea chicken among the foxes,” laughs Marsh. Don’t just negotiatewalls with your architect, query about wiring, plumbing, materials,and labor.Budget. Estimating costs based on square footage aloneis a path to disaster. Again, Marsh tends toward estimating basedon the individual project. “I’ve seen carpenters bid one week’swork for a job that takes two hours. Nice work if you can get it.”Rarely considered is the cost of government applications and permits.The owner’s staff time, fees, not to mention work stoppage forinspectionscan fritter away the best borrowed funds.Scheduling General contractors love to pull men off yourjob-site to fill in slots elsewhere. Work slows. Someone, hopefullyyour manager, must crack the whip.Yet just as frequently, owners inadvertently squelch their ownprogress.A stalled bank appropriation is a typical delay. The windows arearrivingand ready for installation. But your bank won’t release the moneyuntil their inspector gets out there; or until you can show the localpermit for those yet-uninspected walls. You forgot to present thepermits and nudge the bank’s inspector. Oops. Carpenters sit on theirhands.”It’s all complex and requires expertise,” says Marsh,”but the better prepared the owner is, the smoother it alwaysgoes. And it’s truly a trade where the watchful eye bringssavings.”He recounts how costly change orders can be foreseen and forestalledby sharp materials purchasing and proper liaison work.Mike Toth, general contractor and head of MR Construction Inc.in Cranbury, rebuts this roundly. He claims the greatest saving isto fire the unnecessary construction manager. “He’s an unneededman in the middle.” Toth, currently building a 16,000 expansionof Pierre’s Restaurant in South Brunswick, says that the contractorand architect alone serve well and amicably the owner’s needs. Hedid seem a bit vague, however, when asked who would walk the ownerthrough the government paperwork.Cranbury-based contractor Marty Coffey points out that theconstructionmanager tends to charge a lower percentage than the contractor, yetinfinite variety is possible. He is currently managing a project foran owner who is his own general contractor.After all the arguments are in, I’m still not sure whom I shouldchooseto build my dream castle. But Eugene Marsh did teach two things:he/shehad better be an expert and I had better start making myself intoone.— Bart JacksonPrevious StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
