Masonry Magazine September 1970 Page. 22

Masonry Magazine September 1970 Page. 22

Masonry Magazine September 1970 Page. 22
FAST TRACK CLOSEOUT: BEST

WAY TO END THE AFFAIR

Concentrated & cooperative efforts at the finish

THE CONCEPT

LEAVE ALL PARTIES CONTENTED

"FAST TRACK Project Closeout," a new concept developed by construction manager Donald C. Donaldson of Pearce and Pearce, St. Louis architects, may well be the model for other construction projects in the future.

The system calls for the concentrated cooperative efforts of the contractor, subcontractor and the owner, all under the aegis of the architects.

Fast Track was first introduced on a $725,000 Washington, Missouri, high school gymnasium project. Closing time was exactly seven days in late February.

At Washington, "substantial completion" of the new high school gymnasium was declared on Feb. 16. Seven days later, on Feb. 23, the board of education and administrative staff members of the Washington School District met with the general contractor and architect to receive the keys to the building, in exchange for a check covering final payment on the construction contract. Construction had begun in December of 1968. Washington School District Superintendent Dr. Donald L. Northington pointed out that it is not unusual for an owner to retain construction funds for six months to a year pending completion of a few "punch list" construction contract items.

"The speed of this closeout," Dr. Northington said, "benefits everybody. There will not be a constant parade of construction workers through the building while it is in use. And, the school district gets good publicity by paying off the contractors so promptly. Third, the contractors and subcontractors should be happy for receiving such prompt payment. Indeed the use of the money months ahead of the usual schedule is itself of great value to them. Fourth, we have confidence that prompt responses during the warranty and guaranty periods can be obtained, now that we have seen such speedy response during the accelerated closeout period."

Key to the project's success, according to Donaldson, was to assemble principal members or senior representatives of all of the engineering, contracting, and subcontracting firms, for face-to-face meetings at the job site.

Prior to the substantial completion, a general meeting was called by Donaldson to explain the process and gain agreement by all participants to cooperate with 100 per cent effort. All members of the building team responded with enthusiasm.

On Monday, February 1, with all systems operable and the construction substantially complete, a normal "punch list" inspection was conducted by the architects, their consultants for mechanical and electrical work, and the architects' field representative. On hand for the inspection were representatives of the general contractor and the owner.

To assist in speeding the correction process, bright red and yellow tape patches were applied to the building at points where punch list items were noted. Workmen's comments were noted repeatedly to the effect that such visual coding materially aided them in spotting the correction items immediately, without having to seek the job superintendent or field representative to find out what the problems were.

On Tuesday, the "punch list" was broken down by construction superintendent Monte Wilson and the office staff of Hercules Construction Company.

Wednesday began a concentrated clean-up of the items on the "punch list." By prearrangement, all subcontractors involved staffed the job for this purpose. The architects' representative remained at the job during the clean-up process, checking off each item on the "punch list" as it was completed. The outstanding advantage of the face to face meetings, Donaldson pointed out, was the maximizing of "instant corrections" and minimizing of misunderstandings or lack of understanding of what needed to be done.

22
masonry
September, 1970