Archaic policies won't work in modern times

By Gary Grunau

The construction industry in Wisconsin lags other states with regard to procurement policies. The archaic way of public procurement through multiple primes is unique to our state. Unfor-tunately, a divided industry of large contractors, subcontractors and trade unions has fostered this dinosaur of a practice.

These procedures have resulted in cost-inefficient projects and unnecessary public bureaucracy to monitor the system. For a state in which our taxes are among the highest in the nation per capita, it is time to look at alternative delivery systems.

To do this, we must first address the concerns of those affected. The first concern is that of subcontractors, who feel they lose the integrity of their bids when they bid to a lump-sum general contractor. The second concern is that of the owner, who is afraid of losing control of the project. The third concern is that of the trade unions, which are concerned about protecting jobs.

I recommend that a method to overcome all of these concerns and also save construction and public supervision money is to use a construction-manager-at-risk approach. Under this method, a qualified construction manager is hired at the same time as the architect. The CMAR works with the architect and owner to collectively establish a scope, budget and schedule for the project. The CMAR would furnish a guaranteed-maximum price mutually agreed upon with the owner.

The owner would be guaranteed a cost before the project is bid or drawings are complete.

The CMAR and project team agree on the bid packages and put the trades out to bid. The bids could follow the traditional trade breakdown and protect the integrity of the subcontractor. Addition-ally, if the CMAR is nonself-performing, the owner receives the benefit of competitive bids on all trades, and the subcontractors are assured of fair treatment.

The trade unions' concerns could be addressed through a project agreement with the understanding that such an agreement has to improve the productivity on the jobs and eliminate job duplication and inefficiencies. Through such an agreement, the expansion of minority hires can also be facilitated.

We must remember that, particularly in Milwaukee, there will be a tremendous need to replace our retirees over the next five years. Fine progress has been made by all concerned to bring minorities into the trades, and a project agreement can help this process.

The project would then proceed to construction, and the CMAR would supervise construction, thus saving the client money and staff needs.

As CMAR is the manner in which my business is run, it must be pointed out that the procurement process of most federal and state agencies, state universities and major corporations is being managed using the CMAR approach. CMAR is also adaptable to design/build by adding the architect and engineer as a member of the CMAR team.

So therefore, I ask our clients, fellow contractors and trade unions to keep an open mind about CMAR. Break down the barriers we have built within our industry and take a look at what the rest of the construction industry is doing throughout the nation.