CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT 6.1

3. You are the flooring subcontractor and are confused: It’s unclear what floor covering goes in the front hall. What is the most important step that you will take in this situation?

If the plans are unclear as to which floor covering goes in the front hall, the most important step is to contact the AE for clarification. If the flooring contractor guesses incorrectly of the type of flooring goes in the front hall, it will lead to all kinds of disputes. The AE will demand the flooring contractor redo the work with no additional cost and the contractor will demand payment because the plans were not clear. Simply asking the AE for clarification in terms of an email or RFI will be a lot less painful in the end.

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1. Many Construction workers resist the use of safety helmets, goggles, and protective mittens and clothing despite the fact that they are designed to protect them. Give reasons with examples why this practice persists.

This is a great question. I have seen in my day to day operations the resistance to safety gear. Above all else, safety gear is put into place to protect the life of the construction worker. Safety gear is also put into place to help the company. Throughout the years, there have been many instances where safety lawsuits have come in to hurt companies. These lawsuits arise from workers or workers families who have been wrongfully hurt in the field. I have seen jobsite injuries in my career. One instance, a young man who was 18 year old was trying to clean out dirt that was caked up in a excavator pin hole. He stuck his finger in the pin hole to try and change the accessory and the operator moved the hydraulic and tore hinge finger from it. The worker was wearing gloves, however if he wasn’t, then he would have actually lost his finger.

2. Discuss ways to reduce change orders:

There are several ways to reduce change orders. The first is to have a defined scope of work and a full set of drawings. In my career, I have seen change orders arise because of scope that was not clearly defined on specs or drawings. Often times, general contractors will use the phrase "industry standard" to clean up any potential change orders. However, "Industry standard" isn’t well defined. I believe that if the owners paid for more quality architects and engineers to produce more accurate drawings and specs, the issue of change orders would be dramatically reduced. 

3. You are the flooring subcontractor and are confused: It’s unclear what floor covering goes in the front hall. What is the most important step that you will take in this situation?

The most important step is to first identify all my specifications. I need to determine if it is written out anywhere in the specs. Additionally a good general contractor and a good flooring subcontractor should have submitted submittals detailing exactly what type of flooring should be installed. If the scope of work is still not defined, I would write a RFI to the general contractor for more information. It is crucial to follow the correct chain of commands. 

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1. Many construction workers resist the use of safety helmets, goggles, and protective mittens and clothing despite the fact that they are designed to protect them. Give reasons with examples why this practice persists.

One of the main reasons is because of discomfort, many times workers think more about work comfortably than their own safety, even though it is a requirement on the job site, when the supervisor is not around, some workers take off their equipment. Another very common reason is due to lack of information. There are workers who have been doing the same activity for many years without adequate protection, for which they believe that they do not need any protection. Other times due to the lack of availability of protective equipment.

2. Discuss ways to reduce changes orders.

I believe that the best way to reduce the number of change orders is to do design coordination between all disciplines before starting construction. During the pre-construction process, meetings should be held to clarify any doubts about the scope of work and to explain to the whole team what the goals are. In addition to this, the designs must be complete and with sufficient details. Good coordination and collaboration between all disciplines is very important, this greatly reduces the number of changes in a project.

3. You are the flooring subcontractor and are confused: Its unclear what floor covering goes in the front hall. What is the most important step that you will take in this situation?

Before starting to do the installation, the contractor must verify the construction documents to ensure the specified material, if there is no clarity or there are inconsistencies in the plans and specifications, the contractor must contact the designer to clarify any questions or submit an RFI. After receiving the necessary information, the contractor can proceed with the installation.

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E R

1. Many construction workers resist the use of safety helmets, goggles, and protective mittens and clothing despite the fact that they are designed to protect them. Give reasons with examples why this practice persists.

These practices are extremely important to follow and encourage others to do the same.  By not using a hard hat if the building is a two story and you have workers working above you with materials being transferred from the ground level to the second floor you can have a item fall and land on the workers head. The hard hat can protect your head from any object that has been dropped.  

Another example is that using gloves can help from scrapes, cuts, burns.  A worker can be hammering nails by using gloves the work protects his hands from hitting his hand or fingers with the hammer.  

Safety glasses protect the eyes, a worker can be drilling, or hammering an object, a loose practical or something can come loose and pop out straight to the workers eyes, and the glasses will protect the workers eyes from any damage.  

PPE is a used for the protection of an employee, it’s not until the employee take of their PPE is when an accident happens.  

2. Discuss ways to reduce changes orders. A way to reduce change orders is to make sure that the material being requested is available during construction phase.  Making sure plans and specifications are as correct as they can be not missing vital information.  If the contract is awarded then the sub-contractors will usually submit any change orders for missing or additional work.  The less changes in design or scope after contract time then there will be less change orders.  The more changes the more change orders there will be.  

3. You are the flooring subcontractor and are confused: It’s unclear what floor covering goes in the front hall. What is the most important step that you will take in this situation?  A RFI must be submitted to the general contracting requesting the clarification of the situation. Once the clarification comes back there might be a cost add on to complete the work. There will have to be a cost proposal and change order process.

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