Continental Construction Case Study Week 5

Abstract

When you start a new job you should prepare for all the aspects inclusive of the staff, job layout, trades, and you have to make sure that you have everything clear and communicate any problems that can occur to your management team. This week 5 case study is about a major problem of trust, communication and honesty between the owner, management and the sub-contractor. Lack of communication can open the door not only for failure but also safety concerns.
Communications is the most important part of not only construction but in life. The consequences of bad communication are a failure and a red flag on any project. From the beginning of this project communication was the most important issue. Not telling Don Carver the superintendent of the expectations of the job was another issue that was also related to communication. Don does not clearly communicate the needs and issues that are arising to keep John, the Owner's CM, on the same page and aware of the overall status of the project. When the dirt company comes to the site to start working and they saw the amount of work was more than what was communicated by Don they needed to communicate with Don about the scope of work. Once again the lack of communication from the general contractor team to the subcontractor regarding the scope of work that had to be completed was an issue. Don not only has the first bump in the road when he receives the call for the concrete mix having a lower psi than expected but also the first two cylinders were under the necessary requirements. With Don’s current knowledge of these two problems he unwisely does not inform the owner. These two problems will directly result in problems to come with the overall constructions of the project. When you have a problem like this arise it is better stop and regroup your thoughts and go back and fix the issues. First step is to inform your boss of what the consequences will be if you do not fix what the problem is. You have to communicate to the project management team so they will have correct knowledge and can get an understanding of what to change in order to meet the requirements. Even though the owner had a lot of confidence that Don would make a good decision it is clear that Don didn’t want to tell the management team about the problem because Don did not trust that the management team would communicate fairly back to the owner. Don realized the owners concern was more on efficiency than quality. It was difficult to deal with all the problems that they already had occurred when it comes the next bump in the road which was an environmental issue. The environmental issue was the discovery of the drums full of a sticky petroleum based substance all jumbled up, rusted around the seals and obviously leaking into the ground. This time the subcontractor had not done the proper research. The subcontractor employee Jim remembers that there was an addendum in the original proposal that it was to be the Contractor's responsibility to include for the proper removal and disposal of the drums. He knew that his company did not go back after the pre bid to check it out and had simply plugged a number for oil product removal. The amount was never going to cover the removal of whatever was in those barrels and it would delay and push clearing operations into the fall and for sure the new bridge was not going to get started until the dead of winter.

In conclusion you must read all the complete specifications of the job and scope of work and have an outline to complete the tasks that will be to follow. Next you have to explain to the sub-contractors in order that they can see all the work that must be done and all the obstacles that will need to be completed in order to finish the product. Also, you must have great communication with the management team and a mutual trust so whatever the job brings you will work through together and have a successful outcome.