High Performance Outcomes

Bid Poker High bid, low bid, right bid: every "Established Solution" has just one cost... Once a "solution" is established within a set of plans & specs, its resulting "cost" is likewise established. Other than human error during the "take off" or applying "proprietary management techniques", the bid-price from all players in a given market-place will be about the same. This is why we dis-trust bids too far outside the median bid-price: "something must be wrong" Contractors buy material, labor, and management for about the same cost in any given market, and as a result of market competition, all have about the same mark-up. Sure, some may have a slight advantage due to expertise, volume, or exclusivity on materials or labor. But those are fleeting in a competitive free market: the law of competition allows everyone to catch everyone .

If you're a Project Owner, and you have a "design-build acquisition methodology" that excites the market place and meets all of your "Project Outcome" needs, don't waste your time reading this post. Otherwise, here is the answer to the question, "How much in stipends should I pay the design-build competitors?" The context for this discussion is a  Fixed Price / Variable Solution  competition process using a performance-based design-build RFP Convention that includes a Problem-Based Contract . The question becomes, "What  opinions  do I need to see, and what are those opinions  worth ?" Design worth considering is design worth paying for. A proposed design solution that informs the owner during the Evaluation & Selection stage of an acquisition process can be the difference between excellence and disappointment. So, getting "valuable" proposed strategies and/or solutions (an opinionated answer) that satisfy your "...

Question for an owner beginning a new construction project, "Are you purchasing a Service or a Product?" I think this is an interesting question for owners to ponder as they begin another "Project Acquisition Process"; Service or Product? The former is, to a degree, well mapped and established. There are variations to the Delivery Model (Design-Bid-Build vs. IPD or Design-Build) used by owners. But within those various models, there is a somewhat established process to what and how one purchases services in pursuit of delivering a project; or at least we all accept that there is. How Would Steve Jobs Have Done Green Buildings? Purchasing-processes and management-approaches used by owners when buying 'services' provided by designers and builders is the subject of books, coursework, training, and convention throughout our industry. In simple terms it begins by establishing the 'needs' statement, then it's hire programming services, hire de...

Defining Contractual Scope for Design-Build   One of my favorite quotes comes from Maya Angelou: “ We do what we know ”. This definitely holds true for our industry at the outset of a project. 3PQ Film Link; "Satisfying Scope" For most owners, a project’s first step is establishing a budget based on a value-analysis. I use value because it speaks to an owners base business model. If an owner manufactures widgets, the cost of production contributes to the cost of the widget. Once one ascertains the total cost of delivery for each widget (including the acquisition cost of the widget-making-facility), they can in-turn establish a free-market price for said widget. Using this example, what applies to the design & construction industry is the acquisition cost of the manufacturing facility. Since the widget price is set in a free market, the manufacturing facility’s acquisition cost is like wise set (or at least capped). Let’s change the s...

It’s color and goal are lockset at start  But process and flow, tradition in part Panic pros and bank, compared to the “cart” Though known by us all, we tear it apart The answer to this riddle can be found in this: YouTube Documentary: "Achieving Best Value" Over the past few years, I’ve read a number of articles, white papers, and case-studies concerning Net Zero Energy and High Performance Green Buildings. Just about all of them offer design process & construction technology advice, and step-by-step directives to achieve a “Net Zero Energy High Performance Green Building”…wow, that term is a mouth-full. By example, the white paper put out by BD+C ( www.bdcnetwork.com ) entitled “Zero and Net-Zero Energy Buildings + Homes: Eighth in a series of white papers on Green Building Movement” has a sidebar: Step-by-step Design Map to Net-Zero Energy William Maclay, AIA, a principal with Maclay Architects, Waitsfield, Vt., offers this step-by-step ...