Saving Money on Construction

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Reducing Change Orders

The Causes of Change Orders: Change orders fall into three primary classifications. Owner Requested change orders are generated by changed needs of the Owner during construction. A/E Errors and Omissions in the plans and specifications result in change orders to correct the design. And Unforeseen Conditions found in the field and different from those on which the design is based, cause changes to accommodate actual conditions.

Responsibility for Payment: A contingency and/or allowances should be included in the budget for potential Owner Requested or Unforeseen Conditions changes. For A/E Errors and Omissions, payment responsibility should be spelled out in the design contract. Although it may seem that the classification of change orders would be straight forward, miscommunication often plays a role in the cause of a change. A shared responsibility may be appropriate in cases where miscommunication occurred.

Minimizing Change Orders: The best approach is for all parties to work together to minimize changes. Some of the ways you can minimize change orders include:

• Placing contractual responsibility for change orders with the party with the most control over avoiding the changes
• Investigating existing conditions thoroughly
• Clearly documenting all design related decisions in a single document that can be reviewed regularly
• Conducting independent quality and constructability reviews at key stages in the development of plans and specs

Bottom Line: A process to reduce change orders, established at the beginning of the project and managed throughout by an independent professional, will save you money, reduce your risk and increase the value you receive.

To learn more about saving money on construction, visit www.constructionsavings.com

ConstructionSavings.com 

ConstructionSavings.com is a website dedicated to saving you money on construction, as well as reducing your risk and increasing your value.

Independent Construction Advisors

Independent construction advisors, such as Sitton Construction Group, are available to assist you in making objective assessments and decisions. When done correctly, an outside consultant’s value should far exceed the cost of the services. 

Headed by a 27-year veteran of the design and construction industry, Sitton Construction Group, LLC, provides hands-on services to manage construction projects more effectively. The firm’s focus on saving money, reducing risk, and increasing value, is based on experience on hundreds of construction projects with a total value in excess of one billion dollars.

To request help on a specific issue or an entire project, go to: www.sittoncg.com/request help or call Doug Sitton at 314.412.5677.

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