Monthly Archives: August 2012

The Road Ahead – and then some

The Path of Construction

The project has come a long way, but there is plenty of road ahead to navigate. FSB has guided the project from its inception to the current location in the project timeline. We have traveled together from project definition (programming), schematic design (preliminary design) and design development (final design) through construction documents (construction drawings and specifications). FSB, the Chickasaw Nation (owner) and Flintco (contractor) are currently working together to assemble and test the price of construction.

The road ahead is filled with construction activity, but not all of it involves physical activities at the job site like moving dirt, pouring concrete and setting steel. The early months of construction are busy with organizing the project so that all of the physical activities can move forward as smoothly as possible.

The contractor has responsibility for a number of these early management and organizational activities. These include:

Preparing a list of all subcontractors and suppliers; this list is submitted to the Architect and Owner for their review and approval. The Owner may request the replacement of a subcontractor and there is a process for evaluating the impact if any to the project schedule and cost.

Preparing a construction schedule; this is a breakdown of activities by trades and cost categories from the beginning of the project to project close out at the end of the road. These schedules are typically created in software that is designed to track manpower and costs and is a powerful tool for the contractor in performing their job as well as effectively communicating the schedule to the Architect and Owner.

Preparing a Schedule of Values; this document breaks down the entire cost of the project by trades, labor and materials. This document once approved by the architect becomes the basis for monthly applications for payment and tracks the percentage of completeness of each item in the schedule.

Preparing a Schedule of Submission of Shop Drawings, Product Data and Samples; this document outlines a chronology for when each required shop drawing, product and sample will be submitted to the Architect for review and approval. The timeline of these submissions typically parallels the construction schedule so that the early construction activities are also the initial submissions.

FSB as architect and engineer of the project has the responsibility to review and approve the above submissions and advise the owner of any concerns. The entire process continues to be a team affair with the architect, owner and contractor working closely together to achieve the common goal of the completion of a great project.

Upcoming Events

More Local Beta

There are more interesting places to visit in the vicinity of the Visitor Center.

Getting to Know More Players

Here are some more of the Design Team that I plan to corral for an interview in the near future.

I’ll keep you posted…

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Filed under Construction, Guests

The Newest Team Member – selecting a contractor

There is a point in the life of a project as it moves towards the fruition of being an addition to the built environment that it is ready for construction. This means that another member needs to be added to the overall team whose services include constructing the project. The new team member we are talking about is the contractor. Up to this time it has primarily been the owner and architect working together to define and design the project. Continue reading

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Collateral Forces

The building structure is the supporting frame of the building. It is designed to withstand the vertical forces imposed on the building which include the weight of the building materials, the weight of the things in the building (people, furniture, files, etc.) and weight imposed externally, like snow on the roof, equipment, etc. The building must also resist lateral forces. These are horizontal imposed forces on the building structure and are primarily wind loads. The other forces that the building structure must resist are seismic forces which are the result of ground movement. The vertical forces are relatively static loads, however, when lateral forces are applied to the structure, they try to push it over and in the process try to twist and rack the structural frame. Continue reading

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The Things That Go Bump In The Night

A popular title for the fearful things that can take place during the nighttime. But do you ever worry about your building falling over during the night. I think structural engineers do; it may be their worst nightmare.

So, what holds a building up? What gives the building a sound and solid footing on mother earth? Continue reading

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Filed under Construction, Design, Materials