Education
The following are continuing professional education courses and their topical content that are currently available for delivery: Courses shown with an asterisk (*) are offered under the auspices of the American Society of Civil Engineers Continuing Education:
Alternative Project Delivery Seminars :
Project Delivery Methods
Owners have found that increasing the level of integration and collaboration in their capital improvement projects yields tangible benefits in terms of increasing cost and schedule certainty and decreasing claims and contractor-initiated change orders. In this context, the term “integration” means a project delivery method where the construction contractor is required to make substantive input to the project’s design to enhance the level of constructability, control cost and time growth, and provide a realism check as the design progresses to completion. Projects delivered using design-build (DB), construction manager-at-risk (CMR), construction manager/general contractor (CMGC), and public-private partnerships (P3) fit this definition. This seminar will provide facts about alternative project delivery methods to replace the myths that have emerged in the industry based on ill-informed perceptions. Its purpose is to furnish a fundamental level of understanding about integrated delivery methods in four major areas: procurement models/contract structure; project pricing provision models; developing responsive submittals to requests for qualifications (RFQ) and/or requests for proposals (RFP); and post-award contract administration.
Construction Manager-at-Risk (CMR/CMGC) Project Delivery
This course will cover the fundamentals of alternative project delivery using a Construction Manager-based delivery method, including CMGC, CM-at-Risk, and CM-Agent. The seminar covers the life cycle of a CM project from project concept through construction completion. Participants will learn how to develop the solicitation, evaluate proposals, develop a GMP pricing structure, and maximize the benefit of early contractor involvement in the design process.
Design-Build (DB) Contracting Pre-Award
* This seminar is a series of learning modules that have been developed to break down the DB decision-making process into its component steps and reassemble it into a straightforward, logical methodology for the development of DB projects from the owner’s standpoint emphasizing the role of the Engineer as either the owner’s representative or as the designer-of-record on a Design-build project team. It will also furnish insight into the process of preparing successful DB proposals in response to owner’s RFP’s. The seminar will illustrate how to apply DB to public projects both in light of the Federal Acquisition Regulation and recently approved state-level legislation. The seminar will alternate between lecture/discussion periods and short, high-impact team exercises that are designed to reinforce the preceding lecture’s learning objectives. Additionally, case studies of actual DB building and transportation projects will be used to illustrate many of the seminar’s teaching points.
Design-Build Contracting Post-Award
* This seminar is a series of learning modules that have been developed to break down the DB post-award contract administration process into its component steps, focusing on the specific aspects that make DB unique from traditional project administration. The seminar begins with the initial conferences typically used to commence work and then proceeds to cover all aspects of design administration including design quality control and quality assurance. The second half of the seminar covers DB construction administration including scheduling, construction quality management, progress payments, change orders, and DB contract close-out. Additionally, case studies of actual DB building and transportation projects will be used to illustrate many of the seminar’s teaching points.
Design-Build Contracting in Transportation
* This seminar is a variation on the above described pre-award DB contracting seminar that focuses especially on heavy civil transportation projects, such as airports, highways, and rail transit. It includes a module on Project Delivery Method selection that is tailored to public agency constraints.
Construction Cost Estimating and Cost Engineering Seminars :
Construction Cost Engineering
* This seminar is a series of learning modules that have been developed to break down the construction cost engineering process into its component steps and reassemble it into a straightforward, logical methodology for the development of valid cost analyses of construction projects from the owner’s standpoint. The seminar will alternate between lecture/discussion periods and short, high-impact team exercises that are designed to reinforce the preceding lecture’s learning objectives. The process starts with analyzing a project’s critical cost components based on the delivery method. The process moves on to the analysis of the project’s scope and the development of a conceptual cost estimate for use in the preparation of an Invitation for Bids (IFB) or a Request for Proposals (RFP). The next step is the development of a detailed Work Breakdown Structure that provides the basis for organizing a construction cost estimate. Next, the development of a detailed cost estimate is made to use as a tool to evaluate industry bids and price proposals (i.e. the Independent Engineer’s Estimate). This estimate can also be used with change orders. Finally, the seminar concludes with a block on the development of special estimates that emphasizes the integration of design activities and construction activities for fast-track Design-Build projects. The result is a comprehensive view of the cost engineering process as a fully integrated system rather than the conventional approach of separate but related activities.
Parametric Estimating for Transportation Projects
* This is a seminar that introduces the student to the theory and application of parametric estimating as applied to transportation design and construction projects. Parametric estimating goes beyond the traditional unit price form of estimating common to the construction industry and uses statistical techniques to allow the cost engineer to develop a range of probable estimates rather than using the current deterministic method. Parametric estimating also allows the cost engineer to conduct estimates before the design is complete. The course will cover the development of parametric estimating databases, the application of statistical measures of central tendency in developing parametric quantity and cost estimating factors, and methods to associate a level of confidence with each estimate to better communicate the estimate’s current level of accuracy to those not closely associated with the project. The course demonstrates the application of these theoretical measures on actual highway project examples.
Project Management Seminars
Construction Project Management
* This seminar is a series of learning modules that have been developed to cover the construction management process for a typical project necessary for the development of effective construction management strategies. The process starts with analyzing the construction contract, specifications, and drawings and developing a work breakdown structure upon which the owner’s project controls system will be based. It then proceeds through the construction administration processes for scheduling, submittal, progress payments, quality management, and safety. The course includes a focus on change orders and claims with an emphasis on how to analyze them and develop a strategy for negotiating them with the contractor. It concludes with the construction manager’s roles and responsibilities for contract close-out. The result is a comprehensive view of the construction management process and a set of proven tools to control cost, time and quality during the execution of the actual construction
Construction Contract Administration
This two-day seminar is aimed at not only resident project representatives on construction projects, but also project managers, contract administrators, architects, engineers, owners, and supervisory and field management personnel. The focus is on the resident project representative and his interaction with all these parties and the problems they encounter and must resolve. The seminar analyzes the construction process to include project delivery systems, documentation, responsibilities, authorities, specifications, preconstruction operations, scheduling, construction operations, risk allocation, and information technology. Attendees will learn procedures and contract specification language that help minimize disputes and avoid claims.
Complex Project Management
This seminar is a series of learning modules that have been developed to manage complex projects. The seminar starts by explaining the difference between routine projects and complex projects. It provides an overview of the traditional theory of project management which relies on a three-dimensional project management framework where the project manager is charged with optimizing the cost-schedule-technical (also termed quality or design) dimensions. It proceeds to introduce a five-dimensional project management framework referred as 5DPM, where the social/political context in which the project must be delivered and the financial arrangements that are necessary to pay for the project are elevated to the same level as the cost, schedule, and technical dimensions. The 5DPM framework allows project managers to better conceptualize and manage complex projects by balancing the interrelationships between all five dimensions rather than viewing context and/or financing as merely the output values of the design and its estimated cost. The course includes a focus on applying the principles of 5DPM to real complex projects. It also focuses on facilitating discussions with participants to apply the principles of 5DPM to complex projects that they are familiar with (rephrase). The result is a comprehensive framework to identify complex project and a set of tools to manage cost, time, quality, social/political context, and finance during the life cycle of a project.
Principles of Contract Negotiations
Tactics, Techniques, and Skills: This seminar is a series of learning modules that have been developed to break down the contract negotiation process into its component steps and reassemble it into a straightforward, logical methodology for the development of effective negotiation strategies from the owner’s perspective. The process starts with analyzing a contract change’s critical cost and scope components and developing a cost scope of work and a negotiating plan that provides the basis for organizing the owner’s strategy to achieve a fair and equitable settlement of the contract change. Next, the components of the cost scope of work are prioritized by the owner’s negotiator in their order of importance to achieving the owner’s objectives in the negotiation. The seminar then proceeds to develop potential concessions for the low priority points that can be used to achieve the high priority points with the product being a script that forms the negotiating strategy to be used by the owner’s negotiator to control the progress of the negotiation. The seminar also includes information on how to negotiate from positions of strength and weakness, dirty tricks that are used by contractors in negotiations, and dealing with multi-party negotiations. The result is a comprehensive view of the contract change negotiation process and a set of proven negotiation tools to achieve mutual agreement to contract changes.
Design Project Management Seminars
Developing and Writing Performance Requirements and Specifications
This course generally consists of a combination of lecture, discussion, and high impact small team exercises. The exercises are designed to synthesize the information covered in each topic. The performance criteria for writing practical exercises will be developed around your upcoming project. The case study is drawn from my archive and highlights the specific issue of developing criteria that promote multiple solutions that all comply with project technical constraints. The seminar will encourage open discussion of local “hot button” issues to afford an opportunity to air those concerns during the course and discussion them in an objective, dispassionate fashion in an effort to reach a collective resolution to each specific issue that arises.
Federal Architect-Engineer (A/E) Contracting for Architects and Engineers*
This is an eight-hour course that introduces the student to the theory and application of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to design services contracts from the A/E’s perspective. The course will cover the development of the A/E contract scope of work, the application of FAR restrictions to the negotiations, a thorough discussion of the standard forms that are used in these procurements and methods to strengthen the design consultant’s input to the process to make it more competitive. The course demonstrates the application of these theoretical measures on case studies. It was originally developed for and presented to a major military engineering agency. However, the course’s content is general enough to be applied to a wide range of building, infrastructure, and transportation projects.