Masonry Magazine December 2000 Page. 18
PARTNERING
TO SUCCESS
By Steve S. Saucerman
Partnering that magical, mystical expression racing around the construction world these days seems to be picking up speed. For years, the only time you heard the word was in relation to government and military work. Now, it seems everyone is fiddling around with this mercurial construction management philosophy.
WHAT IS PARTNERING?
Well, that seems to be part of the problem you see, it can mean different things to different people. So let's start with a general definition. Simply stated, partnering means "working with each other instead of against each other." More precisely (and when applied to construction) partnering is a management philosophy that attempts to improve construction project development and deployment through teamwork among all parties involved.
Persons and companies involved in the project (owner, general contractor, subcontractor, suppliers, architect, etc.) enter into a formal agreement, or covenant, vowing an atmosphere of trust, comraderie, and good faith. Working together, they develop a stated, written declaration of commitment, communication, and fellowship with the ultimate goal being the eradication of disputes, misinterpretations, and misunderstandings that can permeate, plague and eventually spoil a construction project possibly leading to costly claims and litigation.
In addition to this covenant, details of the project construction costs, value engineering, contractor fees, scheduling, even dispute resolution are discussed in an open forum. The implementation of those items discussed is mutually ordained, noted as part of the agreement, and becomes law. Who and what is included in these discussions is entirely up to the group.
The theory behind partnering is laudable and likely grew from negative past experiences of both owner, architect, and contractor. The problem with the theory is that, well, it's a theory and we're working with people. Given the myriad of personalities and temperaments out there, the odds of eliminating all misunderstandings are pretty high. Perhaps the best we can hope is that we improve a good percentage but that's still better than the old (competitive bid) way!
WHY PARTNER?
Just for fun, sit down sometime with an experienced commercial general contractor (CGC), owners' construction representative, or architect and ask them about any jobs in the past that didn't go quite like they'd planned oh, and be ready to stay awhile. You'll be regaled with tales of loathsome contractors, bumbling architects, and lunatic owners (depending on whose regaling). With some minor differences, the storyteller will always be the "good guy" (you'll be able to tell by his white hat) and everyone else the "bad guy". The tale will likely be chocked full of change-orders, poor documents, bad communication and "the other guys just not understanding our side". And if you dig a little deeper, you'll very often find out the job was a competitive bid job.
Competitive-bid, of course, is where a number of general contractors are invited to quote on a project and the low-bidder (the winner ?) gets the work. There may or may not be an established relationship with the owner. The project is bid and let. What happens next is one of the true oddities of the construction process. All of a sudden, it becomes an "on-your-mark... get-set... grab the money" free-for-all ultimately pitting the GC against the architect against the owner (and back again). You don't have to be Einstein to see this isn't the best working atmosphere in the world. Partnering attempts to correct this ill-fated relationship.
WHAT TYPES OF JOBS ARE PARTNERED?
On paper, virtually any job can be partnered. In reality, a little common sense needs to be
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18 MASONRY NOVEMBER/DECEM