The Bay Dimension - Edition 3

the newsletter of tbd consultants - edition 3, 3rd qtr 2006

Printable PDF version
Subscribe to our newsletter
In this Edition
The TBD Bid Index
Value Engineering
Museums
MasterFormat 2004

Construction Management Specialists
111 Pine Street, Suite 1315
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 981-9430
www.TBDconsultants.com

The TBD Bid Index

How are bid prices changing in relation to the changes in labor and material prices? There are plenty of cost indexes that show how labor and material costs change over time, and we are starting an index to show how changes in bid prices. Click the link below to find out more about the TDB Bid Index.

Value Engineering

Value engineering has become a vital part of the construction process, due to the constantly increasing cost of construction and the natural desire for owners to get the "best bang for their buck". But it would be wrong to think that value engineering is all about money - it is about value, and that encompasses mainly the scope, quality, schedule and of course the cost of the project. Normally the scope of a project is fairly well established early on, and the value to the building owner is established by finding the best balance between quality, schedule and cost, while each of those three items is pulling against the other two.

By definition, value engineering looks at the function of a project, utilizing a systematic team approach to assessing the owner's needs and the different options for meeting those needs, with the aim of maximizing the project's value to the owner.
Value Engineering is certainly not something new, having become a recognized tool during World War II, so it has a well established history. It has tended to come to the fore during hard economic times, but value is always an issue, so value engineering always has a place. Government agencies have a statutory obligation to show accountability in their use of tax payer's money, so they have been major implementers of value engineering, especially agencies such as the GSA (General Services Agency) and the Corps of Engineers. Multinational and other large corporations, along with universities and community colleges have also embraced value engineering into their standard project procedures. And since it has been estimated that the average saving in time and money on a project is around thirty times the amounts expended in value engineering, its popularity should not be unexpected. Value engineering is a management tool in the Total Quality Management (TQM) process.
The method of value engineering might be informal, with the design team itself looking into alternative ways to meet their client's goals, or a formal value engineering session, bringing in a second set of design professionals to bring a fresh set of ideas to the project. Such a value engineering session might be a one-, two- or three-day session, normally following the following pattern:

Firstly, the building owner's requirements and goals for the project are identified and prioritized. This can involve analyzing the functions that the project is to provide.
Then the design team will usually give a presentation of their present ideas, possibly including alternatives, for meeting the owner's requirements.
A brainstorming session then occurs, where all ideas, however practical or impractical they may appear, are welcomed. Even an idea that no one sees as anything but a joke might inspire someone to come up with an extremely original and practical idea, so all ideas are recorded. The whole life of the project should be considered, so ideas that add to the initial cost but lead to savings in costs throughout the life of the building, may be of great value to the building owner. For instance, if it is expected that a building's interior will need regular reconfiguration, then a raised floor and/or interstitial space could create a big saving in life cycle costs, more than offsetting the additional initial costs several times over.
Then comes the time to start evaluating the ideas, and there may be more than one method of rating. Firstly, the ideas need to be evaluated against how well they conform to the building owner's requirements, secondly they need to be evaluated for practicality, and thirdly the approximate cost of at least the most likely to be adopted ideas can be assessed (ideally looking at the life cycle cost, as well as the initial cost).
Then the results of the value engineering session are reported back to the design team and/or the building owner, and finally (or almost finally) these results, along with all the background information is compiled into a report.
The real 'final' stage of any value engineering session is the follow-up after the VE session, during the following design stage, to ensure that the ideas actually get incorporated into the project.
Since it is always easier to make changes to a project early on in the design, value engineering is more effective during the Conceptual and Schematic design stages, and by the end of the Design Development stage it is probably ineffective to employ traditional value engineering, unless there has been a substantial change in the building owner's requirements, or market conditions have changes dramatically in the construction industry. It is, of course, never too late to look for alternative solutions, and this goes on through the construction period until the building is complete. Often the construction contract will provide incentives to the contractor to come up with value engineering suggestions.

Museums
Museums come in a dewildering selection of types, so what are the issues affecting the design of them? We address these issues in this article.

CSI's MasterFormat 2004
MasterFormat has 16 Divisions, right? Well, the 1995 edition has, but what about the 2004 edition? Here we look at the changes occurring in MasterFormat.

Design consultant: Katie Levine of Vallance, Inc.



the newsletter of tbd consultants - edition 3, 3rd qtr 2006


		Printable PDF version Subscribe to our newsletter In this Edition The TBD Bid Index Value Engineering Museums MasterFormat 2004
	Construction Management Specialists 111 Pine Street, Suite 1315 San Francisco, CA 94111 (415) 981-9430 www.TBDconsultants.com


	The TBD Bid Index How are bid prices changing in relation to the changes in labor and material prices? There are plenty of cost indexes that show how labor and material costs change over time, and we are starting an index to show how changes in bid prices. Click the link below to find out more about the TDB Bid Index.


	Value Engineering Value engineering has become a vital part of the construction process, due to the constantly increasing cost of construction and the natural desire for owners to get the "best bang for their buck". But it would be wrong to think that value engineering is all about money - it is about value, and that encompasses mainly the scope, quality, schedule and of course the cost of the project. Normally the scope of a project is fairly well established early on, and the value to the building owner is established by finding the best balance between quality, schedule and cost, while each of those three items is pulling against the other two. By definition, value engineering looks at the function of a project, utilizing a systematic team approach to assessing the owner's needs and the different options for meeting those needs, with the aim of maximizing the project's value to the owner. Value Engineering is certainly not something new, having become a recognized tool during World War II, so it has a well established history. It has tended to come to the fore during hard economic times, but value is always an issue, so value engineering always has a place. Government agencies have a statutory obligation to show accountability in their use of tax payer's money, so they have been major implementers of value engineering, especially agencies such as the GSA (General Services Agency) and the Corps of Engineers. Multinational and other large corporations, along with universities and community colleges have also embraced value engineering into their standard project procedures. And since it has been estimated that the average saving in time and money on a project is around thirty times the amounts expended in value engineering, its popularity should not be unexpected. Value engineering is a management tool in the Total Quality Management (TQM) process. The method of value engineering might be informal, with the design team itself looking into alternative ways to meet their client's goals, or a formal value engineering session, bringing in a second set of design professionals to bring a fresh set of ideas to the project. Such a value engineering session might be a one-, two- or three-day session, normally following the following pattern: Firstly, the building owner's requirements and goals for the project are identified and prioritized. This can involve analyzing the functions that the project is to provide. Then the design team will usually give a presentation of their present ideas, possibly including alternatives, for meeting the owner's requirements. A brainstorming session then occurs, where all ideas, however practical or impractical they may appear, are welcomed. Even an idea that no one sees as anything but a joke might inspire someone to come up with an extremely original and practical idea, so all ideas are recorded. The whole life of the project should be considered, so ideas that add to the initial cost but lead to savings in costs throughout the life of the building, may be of great value to the building owner. For instance, if it is expected that a building's interior will need regular reconfiguration, then a raised floor and/or interstitial space could create a big saving in life cycle costs, more than offsetting the additional initial costs several times over. Then comes the time to start evaluating the ideas, and there may be more than one method of rating. Firstly, the ideas need to be evaluated against how well they conform to the building owner's requirements, secondly they need to be evaluated for practicality, and thirdly the approximate cost of at least the most likely to be adopted ideas can be assessed (ideally looking at the life cycle cost, as well as the initial cost). Then the results of the value engineering session are reported back to the design team and/or the building owner, and finally (or almost finally) these results, along with all the background information is compiled into a report. The real 'final' stage of any value engineering session is the follow-up after the VE session, during the following design stage, to ensure that the ideas actually get incorporated into the project. Since it is always easier to make changes to a project early on in the design, value engineering is more effective during the Conceptual and Schematic design stages, and by the end of the Design Development stage it is probably ineffective to employ traditional value engineering, unless there has been a substantial change in the building owner's requirements, or market conditions have changes dramatically in the construction industry. It is, of course, never too late to look for alternative solutions, and this goes on through the construction period until the building is complete. Often the construction contract will provide incentives to the contractor to come up with value engineering suggestions.

	Museums Museums come in a dewildering selection of types, so what are the issues affecting the design of them? We address these issues in this article.


	CSI's MasterFormat 2004 MasterFormat has 16 Divisions, right? Well, the 1995 edition has, but what about the 2004 edition? Here we look at the changes occurring in MasterFormat.


	Design consultant: Katie Levine of Vallance, Inc.