Page 6AA —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— December 3-December 16, 2014
Senior Housing & Care
Brad T. Schmahl, LEED AP
Both issues present significant chal-
lenges across all of our markets and I
believe are primarily tied to the same
issue:
manpower and capacity of the
subcontractor market.
Costs continue
to be on
the rise and
make it
increasingly
difficult for
projects to
be feasible,
despite the
growth of
the senior
market.
The princi-
pal cause of
this escala-
tion is the
availability
of qualified
subcontrac-
tor labor.
With the market growth and limited
resources of the subcontractors comes
the increased cost. Limited manpower
and excessive subcontractor volume
growth makes staffing jobs appropri-
ately nearly impossible, resulting in
extended schedules for completion.
The key to conquering these issues
is mitigating risk through a variety
of factors. We capitalize on our sub-
contractor relationships. Having been
very active in the senior market over
the past decade, we have a long list of
valuable subcontractor partners that
allow us to match the right subcon-
tractor to the size of job being con-
sidered. Early procurement of those
key subcontractors is also vital. The
old theory of hard bidding a project
to keep your costs down actually can
drive project costs up in this market,
because by the time you have a per-
mit ready project out to bid, the right
subcontractor’s backlog is already
filled. We take a proactive role and
market the project to the subcontrac-
tors, in essence, reserving our client’s
project within their backlog.
For a project to be delivered on
time and within budget, these issues
cannot be ignored. Having an experi-
enced team with
recent,
reliable cost
data and schedule awareness will lead
to total project success.
Erik Petersen
Rising costs and on-time delivery
challenges
are not
unique
challenges
to the
senior mar-
ket. The
construc-
tion indus-
try across
the board
is expe-
riencing
unpredict-
able cost
increases
and incon-
sistent
schedule delivery, which are caused
by multiple underlying issues – labor
shortage along a generational gap and
longer delivery times of materials and
equipment. To counter these chal-
lenges, JE Dunn is approaching proj-
ects with an intensified Collabor-ative
Project Delivery (CPD) model. We’ve
sought innovative tools and redefined
our processes to instill a mindset of
continuous improvement throughout
the project.
When addressing the labor short-
age, it is imperative we manage our
talent and to maintain our high
quality standards. To do so, CPD,
supported by technology-enabled job
functions, increase the flow of com-
munication and reduce redundancies
to save time and money. We work
closely with subcontractors to under-
stand their resources and needs. On
job sites, we conduct “pull planning,”
where the foreman, superintendent
and crews meet to talk openly about
work progress and challenges. This
fosters collaborative problem solving,
schedule buy-in and efficiency in the
work.
The CPD method also allows us to
make purchasing decisions earlier in
the process thereby locking in pricing,
which is crucial when ordering mate-
rials and equipment. Manufacturers
have moved to a much tighter sup-
ply chain and only produce so much
material at any given time. Our
ability to self-perform work and take
greater ownership of project tasks
allows us to manage costs and work
efficiently. Overall, there are many
steps we take to overcome the market
challenges we face, and we continue
to look for creative and collaborative
models to incorporate into JED’s
work.
Tom Seaman
One of the most overlooked aspects
of success to a project, specifically as
it relates to rising costs and on-time
delivery, is a well-executed precon-
struction and/or planning phase. As
the competitive labor marketplace
continues to be an overwhelming
concern, and given the considerable
number of variables that can affect
the cost and schedule of a project,
Catamount focuses efforts on provid-
ing a complete and well thought out
plan. Engaging all participants essen-
tial to project success early allows
for better understanding of probable
implications of upfront decisions and
results in safer, faster, lower-cost and
higher-quality projects.
During
the pre-
construc-
tion and/
or planning
phase, the
project
team and
owner have
the ability
to review,
validate
and revise
all project
assump-
tions, plans
and bud-
gets in a
strategically thoughtful way that can
greatly impact success and, more spe-
cifically, create schedule opportunity.
For example, with the entire team
on the project early, targeted design
milestones can be identified that
enhance the schedule, which could
“buy” schedule insurance for future
labor concerns.
In today’s market, the workforce
will gravitate to well-organized
projects that provide a platform for
quality production and subsequently
re-occurring and consistent timely
payment. Catamount concentrates on
creating a preconstruction plan that
focuses on coordinated documents
and the ability to minimize impacts
from RFI’s and change orders. By
creating a coordinated and clear con-
Brad T. Schmahl,
LEED AP
Vice President, JHL
Constructors Inc.
Erik Petersen
Vice President – Division
Director, JE Dunn Construction
Tom Seaman
Principal, Catamount
Constructors Inc., Denver
Construction
costs and delays
are such a prob-
lem right now,
so thanks to
these contribu-
tors for their
thoughts.
eborden@
thehighland
groupinc.com
Elisabeth
Borden
Principal, The
Highland Group
MODERATOR:
The old theory
of hard bidding a
project to keep your
costs down actually
can drive project costs
up in this market,
because by the time
you have a permit
ready project out
to bid, the right
subcontractor’s backlog
is already filled.
