Scope First, Then Price

Steve Martin used to have a bit in his routine where he tells a joke, supposedly to an audience of plumbers, delivering an esoteric punch line that only plumbers would appreciate -- the rediculousness (?) was even funnier than the actual joke (I highly recommend Steve Martin's autobiographical "Born Standing Up"). In the same vein, when I was working in estimating, we used to have Steve Martin-like jokes - Jokes funny only to estimators. As an example, a number that was way-off due to a typo, like "$10,000/cy for concrete material - aaaaggghhhh, that's hilarious!" (Estimators rolling on the floor laughing) - we would call that an "Estimating Joke".

OK, back in your chairs, both of you.

Estimate vs Budget

It is useful to think of a "Budget" as what you have to spend, and an "Estimate" as what the specific scope of work should cost. In the Design & Construction industry, it has been my experience that these terms are pretty much interchangeably used - but the distinction is an important one. Before you give a reasonable estimate, negotiate a price, or even take a scientific wild @$$ guess (SWAG) at a budget, it is wise to clarify the scope first. A price without an accompanying scope is a problem waiting to explode.

This probably sounds like common sense, but budget-and-scope or estimate-and-scope mismatches happen all the time. I would bet that more change orders, disputes and claims on projects come from "missed scope", "misunderstanding of what was included", or "apples-and-oranges" mismatches than any other recurring project problem.

Who's To Blame?

There is a certain amount of anxiety on projects (more on larger projects) when it comes to being "on-budget", depending on what commitments are made, and at what point you are in the scope definition and price-assignment process. The ramifications and repercussions of being "off", or "over-budget" can be severe. Imagine the Red Queen in Alice and Wonderland: "Off with their heads!"

There is definitely an art to leveraging past experience and assigning an accurate number to a sparsely-defined scope -- This skill is something professionals work hard to refine, based on experience, past project cost histories and "tweaking" to match special considerations of the project at hand (read, for large projects: "don't do this at home, or without supervision"). I would be delighted to provide assistance or make a referral - however, at any level of endeavor, a price without a scope is comical. That would be like going to the store and saying to the clerk, "I'm hungry, how much will my groceries cost?" ---aaaagggghhh, that's hilarious!

No Kidding

OK, so what do you do? Here is a 5-step formula:
1. Agree on the Major Scope items (80-20 rule) - once you establish the major items, including labor, materials, equipment, professional fees and incidental costs, it's kind of like "The Price Is Right" - But you don't need to guess, there are many ways to get to a reasonable price once the Major Scope items are set.
2. Agree on a "Go-By" - establish quality and quantity standards for these major items. Using what has been done before as a guide "tweaks" or further refines the cost level, and helps confirm expectations.
3. Identify Unknowns - Agree on a place-holder for what isn't quantifiable or decided, but will be required. This is typically a range, and will be the variable cost within a budget or estimate.
4. Look for Unusual Aspects - Usually, estimates and budgets are based on educated extrapolations of previous experience, but miscalculations happen when they don't take enough into account what is different about THIS project.
5. Review, Reflect and Adjust - Estimate/Budget/Scope-Matching is an ITERATIVE process, it needs to be reviewed and tweaked (with input from team members and affected constituents) to be most effective.

If It's That Easy . . . .

There are all kinds of stumbling blocks involved in this process - including political, personal, tactical, avaricious, evil (?), etc . . . But just starting with agreement on scope can lead to more successful negotiations, happier clients and fewer disputes.

As an exercise, don't just get a receipt, but take a minute to review it and make sure the scope is right BEFORE you agree to pay.

An Estimating Joke where you pay the consequences isn't funny.





Here's another joke:

Right Tool For The Right Job

One of my Dad's favorite expressions when I was growing up building stuff with him was, "Use the right tool for the right job." - I'm sure he meant "get the tool that was designed for the specific need at hand." And, since he has a great tool collection, it's a matter of locating the tool in his garage or toolbox, and getting on with the job. He would proceed to show me why the tool was right for the job and how to properly use it - an extremely invaluable education that lead to my appreciation of tools, and also to notice the finer attributes of really fine craftsmanship.

Don't Have The Right Tool?

Not having the Right Tool for me (with a more pedestrian toolset than my Dad's), means a trip to Lowes for a look at the latest cool stuff -- but sometimes the "Right Tool" just isn't available or affordable. So what do you do? We all tend to improvise, but there's a reason why there is a massive tool industry that is constantly coming up with new and better tools for new, more specific uses - starting with safety. Part of proper planning should involve thinking through what tools and equipment will be needed-- but, over the course of a project if a new need arises, improvisation is at least a consideration.

Yes, you can use a small flat-head screwdriver to drive in a Phillips-head screw, when a Phillips isn't available (same with thousands of like-tool substitutes)-- and usually, a beefier or higher-quality tool will work better than a cheaper one -- but aside from Safety and Common Sense, there is no good way to get around the "Right Tool" rule. Along these lines, there are a number of humorous pictures being sent around of people working in ridiculously contrived "Rube Goldberg" contraptions*. You may have seen the one with the guy working under his car on the side of the road while it is propped up by two boards - looks like the guy has his life in his hands.

When No One's Looking

The best advice I heard about considering contriving something to substitute for the "Right Tool" - Think about what the headlines would say in the paper the next day after your accident - then, a more conservative approach (maybe even hiring a professional) may be the answer. Most people who get hurt using the wrong tool were really just trying to "get 'er done" - think again, maybe there's a more reasonable way . . .

Related Trivia:
*Rube Goldberg - actually Reuben Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970) was a Jewish American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for a series of popular cartoons he created depicting complex devices that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways – now known as Rube Goldberg machines. In the construction industry, we often refer to an improvised plan to accomplish a task as a "Rube Goldberg".
A commonly known Rube Goldberg Machine is the game "Mouse Trap".

There is a really great Rube-Goldberg-inspired video of the band OK Go, that I recommend, even if you don't like the music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w

As-Planned vs Pure Luck

A Goal is Not a Plan

As Zig Ziglar would say, "You gotta have Goals!!"-- Ideally, goals are realistic, written down, and with some timeframe. Goals are important, there is a ton of stuff written about them, and that's not what this article is going to discuss further--

OK, so having a goal is a big step, but you can't just do that and go to lunch. I would say the hard part is the execution-- the subsequent actions that lead to the achievement of the goal. There is an excellent book by David Allen - "Getting Things Done" -- one of the best take-aways I learned from that was the concept of the NEXT STEP. If you think about it, most of the anxiety people have (and the resulting procrastination) in going about a task, a project or a goal, is "How the heck am I going to accomplish this?" --Allen says that you can get anything off dead-center by making a note, right on it, saying what the next actionable step needs to be. As an example, you may have an in-basket with a pile of mail, reports, etc., that need your inspection, approval, review or other action. If you were to set aside an hour or so, and go through each item and, if the action would take less than a few minutes, then act immediately (like "throw in trash")-- if not, then make a note as to what the VERY NEXT STEP needs to be. You should find this very satisfying and feel a great sense of accomplishment when you finish. I don't do that nearly as much as I should - but every time I do, that is how I feel.

Luck Isn't a Plan Either

When it comes to project planning, everyone probably can agree that the GOAL is to complete the project on time, within budget and to the expected level of quality--- but the PLAN (the steps toward reaching the goal) is the most significant contributor to SUCCESS --with LUCK, being the other contributing factor. Most projects get completed, but there is a wide-range of degrees of success (good vs bad), with the more successful projects being on the better-planned end of the spectrum.

You may be thinking "That's just Common Sense" - OK, how many times do we all jump in to an activity, saying to ourselves "I can just wing this", or "I have an idea of what to do in my head" - and the task may be so simple that it works out, or if it is complicated, luck plays a role - and success results. But more often than not, action involving multiple parts or team members, or communication (even between a client and builder), to achieve success REQUIRES a PLAN. The PLAN that is more thought-through, and communicated with the team, the better.

What's The PLAN?

The PLAN I'm taking about should have:
1. Clear Completion Expectations (including Drawings, Specifications or other Scope Clarifiers) - What will it look like when it's done?
2. Sequence & Logistics of Assembly (pre-building the project) - How will the parts come together? Where do the parts get placed prior to assembly? What equipment will be needed?
3. Time Frame (Schedule & Milestones) - What will happen first, second, etc? How long will each (and the total) activity take? What are the activities that will affect other activities (critical path)?
4. Special Considerations (Safety, Access, Adjacency, Noise, Weather Protection, Utilities Service) - What is unusual about this project? What assistance is needed?
5. Estimate of Cost (Sum of all the anticipated labor, materials, equipment, utilities, and other stuff that will be needed to complete the project - plus an appropriate allowance for unknowns and inexperience) matching Budget (How much available for the project) - Is there enough money to do the project? - DON'T START if there is a question about this.

No Egg On Your Face

I could go on about planning, and there are thousands of resources available that provide much more detail about planning - and, in fact, I would be delighted to assist with specific project needs by providing a professional consultation or referral - but the intent of this is to outline a simplified way of thinking about projects, from constructing large commercial buildings, to making furniture, assembling a child's toy or building a tree fort.

So hopefully, you are already doing these things, and this is just a reminder for those times when you may think you have everything set in your mind - But, when starting a new project, I would ask you to think to yourself: "Is this something I do all the time, every day?" if not, it may be more like building your first tree fort, but now you're older - if you're not lucky, someone might get hurt.

This cracked me up when I was a kid:

Shemp is flipping eggs a couple of times, when they don't come down, he turns around, shocked to see Moe who just walked through the door--

Shemp: "Hey Moe, where'd you get the sunglasses?"

From: Hokus Pokus 1949



Keep smilin'!
Happy Memorial Weekend--

Done? What Would Smokey Say?

The Production Crew

Early in my construction career I was responsible for the interior build-out of the Headquarters office of the mall developer, Taubman Company, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The drywall contractor had begun falling behind - the steel studs had been installed on time but the wallboard had not started as scheduled. The drywall contractor's superintendent assured me that he would be "done" in two weeks (heard that before?). He said his "production crew" was coming off another job and they were going to "knock it out in no time"-- Sure enough, within a week, the job looked completely different. Upon closer inspection, the crew had installed all the full-sheets of wallboard, and had left uncompleted the cut-outs at the top of the wall, where the structure above and the above-ceiling services intersected the wall. The crew was packing up when I asked them when they planned to finish -- they said they were "done" - another crew did the cut-out work.

The Last 5%

It ended up taking another two weeks to get the last 5% of the wallboard installed---- and the lesson I learned from that experience has become vivid in my mind - There is a natural tendancy on any job to accomplish the high-productivity work (the big pieces, the repetitive work that makes the most money per amount-of-time-spent) FIRST, and leave the rest to be done "all at the same time", "when we come back to finish-up", etc.---

Allowing that to happen adversely affects the attitude and overall quality on the job. If one trade sees another trade's work left incomplete or with significant corrections to be made, they are less inclined to raise the standard themselves. It is best for the project NOT to allow the work to be "finished later" -- the goal should be, to add-on to the Nike ad: Just Do It --NOW!

Done? or Smoldering?

Another lesson from the "production crew" that I have learned over the years is the concept of what "done" means. "Done" should mean "done", but often it means, "complete, EXCEPT for a few things that in my mind are insignificant compared to the overall amount of work I have done, but probably did not bring up . . . "

Many years ago, the US Forest Service had a problem with people leaving campfires "mostly extinguished", and major forest fires starting hours later from the smoldering ashes left by well-meaning campers. They created an ad campaign with Smokey The Bear, where he would urge people to make sure their fires were "out -- dead out". This may be a good image when you think of "mostly complete" work or issues -- similar to a fire that could flare-up unless extra attention or efforts are paid to make SURE.

Smokey would say: DONE = Dead Out.

I hope this is helpful when working with construction teams or in everyday communication--



Answer to the Trivia Question:
President who could write Latin with one hand while writing Greek in the other:
James A. Garfield (20th president), who unfortunately died in office from an assassin's bullet that was never found. They later concluded from an autopsy that he would have lived if the doctors had not tried to find it (!!).

Latest Construction Trends Update

Please send me an e-mail if you are interested in receiving information from the AGC, Bureau of labor Statistics and AIA on the latest Construction Industry Trends. Things are improving for the single family market, Stimulus money is getting to Construction projects, employment is up and AIA work on the boards is on the rise.

Hopefully these trends solidify and continue---

Clean Up - Later? Or As-You-Go?

Professional builders or trade contractors look at projects (or they should, if they want to stay in business) as "How can I Get In, Exceed Expectations, Get Out, and Get Paid?"--- All well planned projects should be approached the same way, except the "paid" part may be in the form of non-monetary remuneration (accomplishment, praise or thanks). If you approach the planning of the construction of a project, but neglect the clean-up part, a lot of the good done in planning can come unraveled.

Successful projects are very much a product of the process of construction "How did it go as the project was being built?" -- You don't see a lot of ruins, or partially completed projects around (although with funding problems, there seem to be more lately), so projects get built eventually -- "Was it a good process, well planned?", "How was it viewed by the public?" -- these perceptions all contribute to the success or failure of the project.

The End In Mind

There are generally two ends of the spectrum on project clean up: Clean up at the end of a project and Clean up as-you-go. Many believe that clean up as-you-go is more time consuming and costly (for those being paid in money), but I am convinced that well-planned cleanup as-you-go actually reduces the amount of clean up needed to be performed, and saves overall time/money.

Consider project jobsites - We have all seen examples of the cluttered, trash-strewn jobsites (maybe even in your neighborhood). The idea is that a separate crew comes in at the end, or on a weekend and "does all the cleanup at the same time". The trash created in those sites invariably gets run over by equipment, foot traffic, carts, vehicles, etc and even if damage to adjoining work is avoided, all the debris is never completely removed. In the case of exterior masonry for example, it is difficult to pick up all of the brick, mortar and other debris, and when landscaping is later planted, it may affect the proper growth of trees or bushes. In the case of interior flooring and cabinetry, it is difficult to ensure that completed work is properly protected, amongst debris, and additional damage could result. Both of these examples show that although the initial work may be completed faster than the as-you-go cleanup, the likelihood of call-back or rework is greatly increased.

I learned a lesson early in my career when I was in Detroit, when I used to drive north up Jefferson Avenue along the lake to a hospital project I was working on (now St John Riverview Hospital)--- I got to see first hand the demolition of the old Uniroyal Plant that was nearly across the street. It took a relatively short time to get most of the structure torn down, but removing the debris took months. The huge pile of debris, with water squirting up, seemed to grow, flow into the street, first taking one lane, then two, and then I heard they got fined for having to shut down all the northbound lanes. The takeaway from this was, the hard part is not the initial work, but getting the debris out! You may have seen fabulously produced "building implosions" that take about 10 seconds for the building to come down, but months later they still are cleaning up the last of the rubble.

So, when it comes to your project, think about how you can get the waste material out as-you-go, and you will save time, save money and you will get credit (from those who appreciate well-built projects) for the great job you and/or your team did as the project was constructed.

I hope you find this thought-provoking and useful in your project pursuits--



Trivia question:
Which US President was famous for his parlor trick of writing in Latin with one hand while writing in Greek with the other, at the same time?

Join-To: Overlooked Quality Impact

Join-To Conditions
Most recurring quality problems (and the most difficult to fix after installation) happen at locations where two materials meet -- what I have learned to call "Join-To Conditions". Look around the room you are in--You will see several examples:

• Where the wall meets the floor
• Where the ceiling meets the wall
• Where windows or doors meet the wall
• Corner conditions
• Carpet-to-tile or wood transitions
• Cabinet to wall
• Etc. . . .
  

How do they look? If they look good, it is because the designer and builder considered and solved the conditions. More frequently though, these conditions are not thoroughly considered, and the impression of lesser quality results - even if the materials used are expensive or high quality themselves.

It is very beneficial for any project to take time, before the design is completed, to review with the design and construction team the constructability of the project plans. As far as finish quality is concerned, solutions to Join-To Conditions can cause the biggest impact. Here is a summary of 4 of the most common I have seen over the years, with a few considerations for each.

1. Exact Match - Easy to say, hard to do in real life. Materials move over time and what may start out as "flush" may become a "gap" or develop a "lip" later on. Exact Match is probably the most difficult Join-To Condition to make look really good, but it also may be the only available solution due to adjacent conditions. If Exact Match is the way you have to go, it is recommended to make sure the backing or substrate is solid. Since all materials are exposed, much more attention to surface finish, edge treatment and fasteners (or adhesives) will be required. Exterior applications for Exact Match are even more difficult to accomplish successfully, because of weather. Materials expand and contract at different rates, and when moisture is involved, freezing and thawing cause even more pronounced movement.
2. Butt Joint - A Variation of the Exact Match of two different materials is a Butt Joint - typically two of the same materials, separated by a caulk joint. This Join-To solution has an advantage over the Exact Match, in that the caulk joint allows for some movement without affecting the appearance of workmanship problems. Some Butt Joints allow fort significant movement as part of the design. Major Butt Joint examples include prefabricated expansion joints (seen on highway bridges or large buildings). This solution does not try to conceal the joint, which makes the location, dimensions and configuration of the joint important to the overall design aesthetic.
3. Reveal - A channel recess between two materials, often square in section. Reveals have the appearance of a clean line or band, as compared to the proportions of adjoining field material. Reveals typically provide a more modern, high-end appearance and tend to highlight the quality or impact of the field. Reveals are commonly used with thick materials, including wood, stone and built-up gypsum walls. Reveals can be made to allow a certain amount of movement without affecting the look or quality, and the "line" can be more easily maintained (than, for example, a painted field with a stripe). Properly designed and installed Reveals may cost more than other Join-To solutions, but they tend to provide a longer-lasting quality appearance.
   
4. Trim Cover - The most common, successful Join-To solution is to cover the joint with "trim". Common examples of this are door and window casings, crown molding, flooring base and door thresholds, to name a few. The trim cover provides an additional design feature to be considered in the aesthetic scheme and installation solution. Trim conceals the rough or unfinished edges beneath, allowing for a more expeditious installation. Also rough fasteners are covered, and more flexible tolerances are allowed behind the trim. In general, the Trim Cover solution is more economical, and more often seen (especially in residential construction) than other "planned" Join-To solutions.

Other solutions to difficult Join-To Conditions involve covering the entire field and joint with one material or by using an obstructing element so that the condition cannot be seen. Examples include "floating" over an uneven joint and covering with carpet, or by covering a joint condition behind a column.

Identifying and solving Join-To Conditions will save countless hours in rework or "call-backs" down the road. Ultimately, the success or failure of the Join-To solutions on every project will have significant impact on the overall perception of quality.

On one hand, failing to address Join-To Conditions will cost money and cause disappointment, but addressing them early is one of the best ways to increase the Quality and Value of your project.

Hopefully this information is helpful in stimulating ideas to make your projects better, whether you are building a multimillion dollar commercial project, a piece of furniture for your home, or a tree fort in your back yard.



Answer to the Trivia question - what three different presidents later went on to be:
(1) Senator: Andrew Johnson
(2) Congressman: John Q Adams
(3) US Chief Justice: William H Taft

CHW gets lunch!