Page 18 - Urban Construction Project Management

Introduction

OVERVIEW

Urban Construction Project Management is designed to help construction management
companies, general contractors, owners and their representatives, architects, engineers,
developers, large corporations, and students studying construction management in uni-
versities throughout the United States and the world better understand and manage con-
struction of complex projects built in large urban environments. The book is organized
into 23 chapters. The chapters include exhibits, checklists, and photographs to which
the user can refer when dealing with the subject matter on a real life project in an urban
environment. The chapters address such issues as project organization; problem solv-
ing and risk analysis; testing; permits and building codes; safety; logistics; contracts;
insurance and bonds; meetings and communications; budgets; schedules; requisitions;
and green (LEED) construction.

The book is designed to explain the major aspects of a construction project within an
urban environment, and includes several checklists of items to consider while planning
and constructing a project in the urban environment. Copies of these checklists are also
available online.

Most of the construction contracts in the urban environment are as a construction man-
ager (CM) providing preconstruction, construction, and project close-out professional
services, or as a general contractor (GC) with a lump sum bid. If the owner retains a
CM, then the CM has the opportunity to provide preconstruction planning services for
the project. The proper planning of a construction project is the key to its success.
Building in an urban environment presents many unique challenges, especially in cities
such as New York, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., as
well as large urban cities around the world. In these large metropolitan areas, there is a
large concentration of people, high-rise buildings, narrow sidewalks and streets, mass
transportation systems, underground utilities, local building ordinances and restrictions,
adjoining public and residential areas, and union issues, which provide for unique
opportunities and challenges. These are addressed in this book to assist CM/GCs with
building in the urban environment. Some of the large urban projects that have been
built recently and which have had to deal with these unique challenges are New York
Times Corporate Headquarters, New York; Hearst Tower, New York; AOL Time
Warner Complex, New York; Bloomberg Corporate Headquarters, New York; Bank of
America Corporate Headquarters, New York; Solaire, New York; Hilton San Diego
Convention Center Hotel, San Diego, California; Burg Dubai, Dubai; Taipei 101,
Taipei; Moscow Triumph Palace, Moscow, Russia; Palm Jumeirah, Dubai; and Merch
Serono: Ecological Antidote, Geneva, Switzerland.

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