NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

Spring 2019

BY: Richard Granados

Cover page: Term project with an interview with David Sandoval, GC/CM for
JLV Enterprise, Inc.

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 Table of Contents

Project Instructions………………………………………………………..……Pages 3-4

Questions 9-10…….…………………………………………………………..…Page 4

Questions 14-17.………………………………………………………………..Page 5

Questions 18-22………………………………………………………………..Page 6

Questions 23-28….……………………………………………………………..Page 7

Questions 29-33….……………………………………………………………..Page 8

Questions 34.….……………………………………………………………..Page 9

Appendices ………………….………………….……………………………..Page 9-12

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NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT: EC
FMGT 4760, Section E088: Construction Planning and Management I SPRING 2019
TERM PROJECT
Project Issued: February 7, 2019

Project Due No Later Than: Thursday April 18, 2019

Professor Mewburn H. Humphrey, Ph.D., P.E., PMP, ASQ CMQ/OE, F.ASCE, F.ITE

Tel: (212) 435-3794 Cell: (646) 284-5794

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY, BEFORE PROCEEDING

This project is issued to give you the benefit of linking the theory covered in class with the actual
procedures followed by your selected company in relation to their contractual approach to
managing their construction project. The company of your selection should be in the business of
building sizeable projects with a CURRENT project in progress that EXCEEDS $1M in total
project costs, and which should, preferably, be located within one of the five boroughs of New
York City. Exceptions will be granted with a suitable request to me for approval. The project
MUST be active, and MUST NOT be in Initiation, Planning Nor Closeout.

DO NOT COPY YOUR FRIEND’S OLD PROJECT AND SUBMIT IT TO

ME FOR GRADE. IT WILL EARN A ZERO SCORE AND WILL BE
REPORTED TO THE PROVOST AS A SUBMITTED PLAGIARIZED
DOCUMENT FOR GRADE. [I READ ALL REPORTS AND KNOW
THEM].
This project is issued to give you the benefit of linking the theory covered in class with the actual
contractual activities, processes and procedures that take place in the World of Construction
management,”, and specifically, on the current project you selected.

You are required to make an appointment to visit A CONSTRUCTION SITE to interview the
owner or his/her representative, the CM (if a CM contract), the Resident Engineer and the
Contractor, in order to determine the contractual processes and procedures followed by the
client, Project Manager, Construction Manager (where applicable), the RE and the contractor,
from project inception to the date of your visit. In your interview with these officials, you
are to do the following: Determine the structure

of the organization; the methods, practices and procedures being followed by their
organization; and how do they manage their projects in order to deliver it in an
orderly, efficient, economical and quality manner; within budget and schedule.

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NO TWO STUDENTS ARE TO VISIT THE SAME SITE. If the owner or contractor wishes
me to speak to him/her to verify the authenticity of your project, inform me immediately, so that
I can do so. YOU MUST VISIT THE COMPANY WITH YOUR ID AND THESE
INSTRUCTIONS.

Your Detailed Submission Requirements for this Report are as set out below and must be
followed to the letter. Each question/heading WITH ITS HEADING NUMBER must be
written out FIRST, and then below the heading/question, you will then write in your
response in report form. THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS. Full responses must be
provided with explanations. [do not give

me identical audio tape first person transcripts of your interviewee’s

responses].

PLEASE NOTE: Your report must be written in the third person, ONLY.
THEREFORE, I should not be seeing “I”, “WE”, “OUR”, “US”, “MY” etc. included in the
text of the responses to the questions in your report.

Please discuss and comment on responses that do not follow the theory in your text and
notes, for your clarification, and report your views on any conflict in your mind Re. the
theory learnt and the practical response you heard.

Vague, One-word and One-liner responses to the questions will not be accepted. Each Page
must be numbered, except the cover page which will have an invisible Page 1.

9: Name of the owner

Anthony M. Quinn, President (of the company). City contract.

10: Name of the contractor. Was the contractor the lowest bidder? If not, HOW WAS THE
CONTRACTOR SELECTED.

JLJ V Enterprises, INC. Competitive seal bid. There were 66 bids in total. CM said a few years
ago a NYC law was passed which considers best value in local government construction bidding,
making it more consistent for them to win contract awards. They had prior relevant experience in

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street reconstruction and have a good reputation when given awards having reconstructed public
plazas in 2017 and 2016.

11. Name of the A/E Firm. Beyond their design function, what services do they provide to
the owner, with respect to the project's administration?

JLJ V specializes in both private and public contracts. JLV has in-house designers but have had
outsourced firms and worked with designs given by the owner on other projects.

12: Where is the Project located? Give address.

It is a reconstruction project of Vestry St from Hudson St. to Varick St. Manhattan .

13. Type of project: Design-Build or Design-Bid-Build? What prompted the approach

taken?

Design-bid-build. This was the case for prior examples when awarded contracts of this caliber
and is the case when dealing with historic streets.

14: Describe the Project. Are any drawings available to assist you in your project
description for this report?

A reconstruction project, mostly in regards with the state of the old cobblestones. They’re have
been multiple complaints from bicyclists, drivers, and pedestrians about the decaying state of the
cobblestones. (See appendix). CM commented that Citi bike and the mayor’s policies on road
sharing have pushed historic cobblestone streets to be redone or rid of altogether. Drawings
were used. For this contract, they made their own surveying measurements.

15: What type of contract was used for the main contract and the reasons for using this
type of contract? Was there a combination of contracts used that formed the basis of the
main contract? Explain.

JLV entered a bid within the deadline and was awarded it earlier this year.

16: What is the Total Project Cost of the project you are reporting on? (Must be >$1M).

2,590,250.70

17: Is this a conventional project with a designer and GC or is this a CM project? Explain
how the construction is managed and the reporting line of authority.

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 The project executive supervises all current projects, in particular the schedules but obviously
cannot be present for concurrent contracts. The president is involved in the day-to-day operations
to a lesser degree. GC said his title is often understood as a CM in other circumstances but, in
this case, there is no building be made.

18: Is phased construction used? If used, what were the observed benefits from the owner's
point of view and the project manager or CM's point of view? Are contractors troubled in
any way about the phased approach to construction? Do they find it rigid in terms of
project delivery dates?

GC said that project is phased in the sense that 3 blocks have to redone and the city is
segmenting the project by each street block.

19: Does the contract include cash allowances, and if so for which type(s) of
activity/activities?

Yes. Although, the project itself being relatively straightforward and changes largely not
expected. Regardless, various contingencies are written into contract that consider unforeseen
circumstances (this is paraphrased from GM’s explanation).

20: Project duration. Give start date and scheduled end date. Is the project on schedule?
Are there penalties such as liquidated damages in the contract for late delivery of the
project? Are there incentives for early completion?

A permit was given from April 15 to May 3. GC said there were liquidated damages and advised
to read the city’s file over the matter. Quote “the commissioner shall make a certificate stating
the expense incurred in such completion, which shall include the cost re-letting and also the total
amount of liquidated damages…the expense of such completion, including any and all related
and incidental costs, as so certified by the commissioner, and any liquidated damages assessed
against the contractor, shall be charged against and deducted out of monies which are earned by
the contractor…”.

21: How are changes handled contractually? Are there guidelines and procedures in place
to ensure a properly documented process for the handling of contract changes?

According to the scope of the work, more discretion is given to change orders. Construction
procedures of this scope are usually sent to an outsourced accountant.

22. How does the contractor maintain control of the project? What tracking procedures are
used and is he/she alerted on a daily basis or weekly basis to tardiness in the scheduled
deliveries, or cost overruns, and what procedures does he/she have in place to enable

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recovery of a troubled project? Is there a situation that the Manager could cite and give an
example of the procedure followed to enable a successful recovery?

Again, the GC repeated the authority wielded by the project executive Michael Racanelli,
especially over scheduling. Software relied upon on this project: Geniebelt and Coconstruct.

23. What is the designer's role or duties on your chosen project? Be detailed in your

answer.

The designer’s duty was to meet the demands of local resident’s desire for a more
facilitating mode of transport and the city’s wish to retain historical features and
“character” of local New York streets. Essentially, maintaining a balance between
preserving the city’s aesthetics and its functionality/comfort in the new century.

24. How effective has been the use of computers to the construction management

process for this project? What software types are used by the construction project teams
to control and maintain an orderly, efficient and economic project, with respect to
schedule, resources and costs?

GC repeated the role that Geniebelt and Coconstruct, and AutoCAD. Geniebelt being
popular due to its easier interface with workers.

25. If your project is a CM project, which contract boilerplate did the owner use, the
AIA's or the GSA/PBS CM contract format and contents as applicable?

GC did not elaborate much to this question, stating that the chief estimator usually fought
over the clauses to the largely boilerplate contract.

26. Did the owner engage in a CM contract or did the owner manage the project
himself/herself utilizing several prime contractors via a lump sum, unit price, cost
plus contract or by other form(s) of contract?

For this project, a unit-price contract was used given that relaying brick (and etc.) lends
itself to such contracts, which are fairly uncommon. An example file shall be in the
appendix

27. If you visited a project with a CM contract, what is the relationship between the

CM and the designer from design through to present construction?

Communication is open yet, during the execution phase, person-to-person daily contact is
rare. Email is the primary means of communication, along with the phone calls. Texting,
while increasingly accepted, is slightly discouraged as they can be used against their
favor if the need arises.

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28. Is your chosen project one where the designer functions as the CM? Contractually,

what are the services the designers provide to the project to enable achievement of

the owner's objectives?

This project does not use the designer as a CM in this project. JLV has sufficient
experience and knowledge to use their own CM, with the GC saying that he was
fundamentally performing as one.

29. If the designer is the CM, did the entity use in-house staff to manage the

construction of the project, or did it hire specialists to manage the construction

project?

N/A.

30. How does the GC rate themself (this is better than he/she, despite it being third-
person plural nominative case) as a small size, medium size or large size

contractor?

GC rated himself as a small size contractor in this project as the project, while big and
over a million, was not a building or one that changed major (with a capital M)
infrastructure.

31. How many subcontractors were hired for your selected project?

Subcontracting is normal with highly specialized fields, and is more common with
finishing phases or critical waypoints where safety is at its highest priority. The crane is
in-house as is other essential machinery such as the backhoe and wheel loader. Waste
management is subcontracted, as are workers for shift premium hours.

32. What is the structure of the owner's and contractor's organizations on site?
Compare for a one-to-one relationship between the two parties of the contract.

An owner’s agent, an apprentice designer, is periodically present throughout the project.

Again, communication and transparency is encouraged primarily through emails and
occasional meetings, most conspicuously during the kick-off.

33. Do the contract provisions include a requirement for the contractor to warranty the
project, and for how long? Does the contractor provide all warranties or are there
suppliers required to provide warranties as well? How do suppliers provide their
warranty? Does the contract require for any contract activity that the supplier
guarantee the life of the product? In this case does the supplier insist that his/her

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 staff must install the product to guarantee its life, or do they allow the contractor to
do the work under their supervision?

The supplier does not play an active role in the construction phase. The stones are
specially cut with sophisticated lasers and other machinery. Warranties are provided by
the supplier. Generally, the project requires a strong rapport with the suppliers. As
contractors, the nature of the project (a street meant to be trod upon) does not lend itself
to a wide focus on warranty. A defect in the production chain is more of a concern.

34. What is the contractor's policy on retaining key staff, whether the company has
work or not?

GC stated it was the company’s policy to encourage the hiring and participation of
minority and women-owned employees and leaders. Key workers are fundamental to the
vitality of the company, as the inner circle plays a large role on operations and company
goals. Apprenticeship programs are also met to qualify for certain bonuses and for
fostering an atmosphere of goodwill and enterprise.

APPENDICES

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Examples above and below of state of disarray, by
Holland tunnel.

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Example of the brick removal to be relaid.

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Another of the reconstruction project.

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