By Steve Rizer
A contractor should not prepare a bid without also having prepared a schedule, Christopher Carson, Alpha Corp.’s corporate director of project controls, told a group of construction professionals attending a webinar that WPL Publishing held last week. “So, [there should be] some type of a bid schedule” to qualify for an award.
Additionally, Carson urged owners to “force a little bit of planning time” before issuing a notice to proceed (NTP). “You can award a contract, but you should leave yourself a month or more for planning before you release the [NTP], the document that allows the contractor to actually start on the job.”
Carson further suggested that scheduler requirements be specified. "[W]e have found that someone who has engaged and gotten into the industry and read enough and has the experience to pass the PSP means that they generally have a decent level of knowledge about scheduling and technical scheduling. And we’re in construction; this is technical scheduling." He said he "really likes" the certification of planning and scheduling professionals through the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International.
Using a two-stage schedule submission also is important, Carson said during the webinar, entitled “Dealing with Contractor-submitted Construction Schedules that Cannot be Approved.” “The two-stage schedule is a big deal because if you’re given a month to put together a schedule on a $2-million project, you might find it difficult, if it’s complicated, to be able to get the team together, figure it out, make sure you have the right stakeholders, and all that.”
Carson also suggested requirements addressing level of detail, written narratives, crew resource loading, and retainage costs.
Also during the webinar, Carson and Alpha Senior Project Controls Consultant Pat Kelly additionally discussed the importance of collaboration meetings, risk workshops, prospective actions, discrepancy lists, documentation requirements, forensic schedule development, “daily specific as-built” schedule development, cumulative delays, and other topics.
A recording of the webinar can be purchased via the following link: http://constructionpronet.com/Products/1020.aspx.
