Executive summary. Most traditional bond rates have two variables in their cost: the contract value and the time threshold. Do not forget to include both in time extension negotiations. What’s in a bond rate? The bond rate from your surety agent comes in two parts: (1) the cost as a […]
Letters to the Owner Need to Tell, Not Ask
Executive summary. Most contractors use letters to communicate significant events in a project. Use letters to tell. Use RFIs to ask. Letters for when and for what. Generally speaking, during a construction project, letters are used by contractors to owners at significant or milestone-type events. Common reasons for letters include: […]
Signing a Change Order: What to look for
Executive summary. Ensure that before you sign a change order, all of the necessary components of your negotiation are included. Here’s what to look for in a change order before you sign it. And don’t forget – you don’t have to sign it. What is a change order? It’s a […]
Is One RFI One Too Many?
Executive Summary. How many RFIs (requests for information) are too many on a construction project? Is it time, is it possible, to tie the number of RFIs on a job to the cost impact suffered by a contractor? What is an RFI? “RFI” is an acronym standing for Request for […]
If Cash is King, Time’s the Queen
Executive Summary. Time for any business is critical, perhaps more so in construction than many other industries. The role of time and its effect on a contractor are discussed here. Cash is king. Most construction companies have seen times when cash has been tight. If you can’t manage cash, it’s a […]
Time, an Owner’s Achille’s Heel
Executive Summary. Discussed here, by a contractor, is arguably the #1 area of recommended improvement for infrastructure owners with fiduciary responsibility. The area in need of improvement: response time to construction issues. Where does time cost an owner money? The number one place time costs an owner money is in response time. […]
Project Management Triple Constraint
Executive Summary: There’s an adage, fast/cheap/good, pick any two. This relates to the Project Management Triple Constraint. It also has other names like Iron Triangle and Project Triangle. The Triple Constraint. A common teaching in the project management world is the Triple Constraint. This is represented by the simple triangle […]