PURPOSE
The purpose of this procedure is to provide guidelines for forming and organizing an effective Construction Management (CM) Team. Successful execution of any construction project depends largely on the formation of a qualified CM Team to carry out the project and foster the appropriate interaction among team members. In order to exercise control of construction activities, the individual roles and responsibilities of the CM Team should be clearly identified and defined. The CM Team is dedicated to resolving issues and making decisions in a timely manner. This is one of the core philosophies of the Bureau’s approach to construction management.
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RESPONSIBILITIES
The CM Team is comprised of the following entities:
Project Manager (PM): The PM is ultimately responsible for project delivery and is the focal point of all issues related to the assigned project. In some programs, the PM assumes primary responsibility for assembling the CM Team, defining and communicating the roles and responsibilities of the individual team members, and promoting effective team interaction. The PM is also responsible for overseeing the management approach taken with the Contractor. In some programs, the PM may function as the CM. Other programs may have dedicated CM staff under the direction of a Division Manager. In this case, the PM’s role is to work with the CM Division Manager to assure that the CM Team is properly developed. In either case, the PM should stay in touch with the project while it is in construction. The PM should monitor the project so that changes and/or unanticipated conditions do not unnecessarily impact cost, schedule, or quality of the project.
Construction Manager (CM): The CM is responsible for administering the construction contract. The CM is also responsible for coordinating the project’s day-to- day construction management activities, which include processing RFIs, shop drawings and plan clarifications, reviewing as-built drawings, processing and negotiating change orders, dispute resolution, meeting coordination, final project close-out, etc. The CM is the principal interface between the Contractor, the Lead Inspector, and the rest of the CM Team. The CM coordinates resolution of design issues with the Project Engineer or Technical Support Staff, as required. The CM is also responsible to assure that proper engineering and/or Bureau of Construction Administration Inspection staff is present to witness any performance testing that may occur at the fabrication shop or in the field.
In some programs, the CM reports to the PM. In other programs with permanent CM Divisions, the CM likely will report to the Division’s normal chain of command. If the CM is assigned to a temporary construction field office, the CM is often referred to as the Resident Engineer (RE) or Resident Construction Manager (RCM).
Project Engineer (PE): The PE is the designer of record and has the role of providing design support services during construction. However, this role can take several forms depending on the capabilities of the CM Team. The PE may be responsible for resolving design issues during construction including reviewing shop drawings and other submittals, processing plan clarifications, responding to RFIs, supervising and coordinating related technical support disciplines, and witnessing performance testing. If the CM Team has significant in-house capabilities, the PE’s role may be reduced to providing design support services on an as-needed basis.
Technical Support Staff: The Technical Support Staff includes office and field engineers, estimators, schedulers, consultants, etc. Their function is to support the PE and CM on reviewing shop drawings, issuing plan clarifications, processing change orders, resolving change order disputes, performing cost estimation, reviewing schedule updates, and responding to RFIs and other duties, as assigned. The Technical Support Staff reports either to the PE or the CM, depending on the structure of the design and CM organizations. If consultant technical support staff is involved, they should receive authorization from the PM.
Community Involvement Staff: Projects with significant impacts to the community may require the services of dedicated community involvement staff, either on a full or part-time basis. The need for Community Involvement Staff is not limited just to the very large and/or complex projects. Sometimes the smaller projects, such as sewer or storm drain, can have significant impacts on neighborhoods and businesses. The role of the Community Involvement Staff is to listen to neighborhood and business needs, work with the Council Offices, keep the community notified as to project progress and pending construction impacts, and work with the CM and PM to identify appropriate mitigation measures.
The Public Affairs Office (PAO): The POA will coordinate all community involvement activities. It is the responsibility of the PAO to oversee all community involvement activities, assign appropriate personnel to a particular project, assure consistency of approach, and monitor the overall community involvement effort for all Public Works projects. Currently, the PAO is a part of the Bureau of Sanitation.
Bureau of Contract Administration (BCA): The BCA is responsible for all inspections, sampling and testing, and for ensuring that the work, including materials and workmanship, is in compliance with the plans and specifications. On any project, BCA may elect to perform these services themselves or to delegate a portion of the responsibility. For example, material testing is usually conducted for the BCA by the Department of General Services. BCA may also use third-party inspection services, particularly for materials fabricated outside the Southern California area. BCA's additional responsibilities include primary day-to-day interface with the Contractor in the field, preparing inspection documentation, performing shop inspections, coordinating any required surveys, witnessing the shop fabrication and performance testing of all equipment, processing the Contractor’s progress payments, performing final inspections, preparing final closeout documentation, monitoring Contractor’s subcontractor outreach requirements, enforcing labor compliance regulations, and implementing jobsite safety programs in accordance with the construction contract and/or code requirements (see Chapter 17 – Inspection Procedures).
Department of General Services: The Department of General Services is responsible for supporting the BCA in providing the project’s required materials sampling and testing, the purchase of owner-provided supplies and equipment, and the assignment and maintenance of City vehicles for the purpose of project-related travels. On some projects, particularly those involving building renovations, they also act as the general contractor, providing trade contracting (see Procedure 2.4 - Construction by City Forces). The Department of General Services is comprised of several Divisions through which these services are performed.
City Attorney’s Office: The City Attorney’s Office is responsible for providing legal counsel to the CM Team on significant issues and decisions that could affect the City contract with the Contractor. At the request of the CM or PM, its staff provides legal opinions and direction regarding significant change orders, Contractor protests or claims involving legal interpretation of the contract documents, the determination to suspend or terminate the Contractor, and other similar issues.
Should the Contractor file a legal action against the City, the City Attorney’s Office immediately assumes jurisdiction over the matter. At that point, the CM Team must take directions from the City Attorney’s Office and must suspend any further communication with the Contractor over the matter, except as directed by the City Attorney’s Office.
Owner/Client: The Owner/Client usually assigns an Owner’s Representative to the project. The primary role of the Owner’s Representative is to review and approve major changes that may be necessary to complete the work and facilitate interface/coordination with the Owner/Client staff. The Owner’s Representative may attend the pre-construction meetings, other meetings as required, and may review and respond to project issues, as the Representative desires or as requested by the CM or PM.
It is customary for the Owner/Client to attend partnering meetings with the Contractor, particularly if the Owner/Client is responsible for facility operations during construction. For process-related projects that tie into existing facilities, the Owner's Representative is responsible for coordinating with the Owner's operations staff. The Owner's Representative is also responsible for coordinating project start-up, beneficial occupancy and operations and maintenance (O&M) training with the Owner's personnel.
PROCEDURE
The Bureau of Engineering is committed to a team approach to delivering its projects and the CM Team is part of the overall project delivery team. There are many workable configurations of the CM Team, and the selected configuration depends on the size and complexity of the particular project and program’s overall organizational structure. Large complex projects may have large numbers of people permanently assigned to a field construction office. Smaller, more routine projects may have a CM assigned in a part-time role to manage any construction related issues. In such cases, the CM often works out of the BOE home office. In either case, the PM or the CM has the responsibility to ensure that the correct team is assembled in order to deliver the project within the budget, schedule, and quality expectations.
BOE has learned many valuable lessons about CM Team organization and location in the past decades. In the 1970s, BOE managed the delivery of the nation’s first “egg-shaped” anaerobic sludge digesters at the Terminal Island Treatment Plant. The contracting community was not familiar with the type of construction involved and many issues arose. Unfortunately, the CM Team was loosely organized. The CM may have been located in the field, but all technical staff and the key decision-makers were located in the Bureau’s downtown office. The project was eventually completed but a large monetary settlement was necessary, in part due to slow decision making on the City’s part.
Following that experience, the City was faced with a massive program to remove Hyperion’s sewage sludge from Santa Monica Bay in the 1980s. Having learned its lesson at Terminal Island, the BOE adopted a business plan to locate all key CM staff, including design support and key decision-makers, at the field construction office. The field office housed all personnel essential to the CM effort and almost all decisions could be made by the resident staff. This same plan was followed for delivery of the Hyperion Full Secondary Program in the 1990s. At the peak of activity, about two hundred City and consultant staff were located in the field offices. This plan was used for the successful delivery of the East Central Interceptor Sewer (ECIS) and Northeast Interceptor Sewer (NEIS) tunnel projects, the City Hall Seismic Retrofit, and the Griffith Park Observatory.
Of course, not all projects demand such a focus of resources, nor can they financially afford it. Smaller, more routine projects should be managed in a different manner. The CM may have multiple such projects to manage simultaneously and is usually housed in the BOE home office. If there is no resident engineer, the field inspector assumes more responsibility for managing day-to-day activities in the field.
RELATED PROCEDURES
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