DAVIS Consulting Group.....

• Helps its clients reduce project length and project costs.

• Assists the diverse members of design and construction teams in coordinating and expediting their efforts.

• Uses the project schedule as the best language for achieving the mutual understanding of project interactions.

• Helps the project team to develop a realistic initial schedule, and then to implement that schedule.

• Identifies current and potential future problems and assists the project team in eliminating the problem or minimizing its impact.

• Provides assistance in organizing the multi-firm team to maximize understanding and fulfillment of responsibilities.

• Provides cost control support as appropriate to the client’s needs and in-house capabilities.

• Designs and conducts training workshops.

• Helps the client analyze and fill his need for systems & procedures upgrades, including related computer hardware & software decisions and implementation.

• Provides analysis of construction claims regarding timing, productivity, and costs; preparation of presentation materials for claims hearings; and expert testimony.

• The Owner or Developer, when the project is to be controlled from start of design.

• The General Contractor, when the project is a bid job based on a "completed design" or a negotiated job based on a partially completed design.

• The A&E, when he assumes a strong field coordination role.

• The Owner or Developer, in a fast-track (design/build overlap) project.

• The Owner or Developer, when design or construction momentum is lagging.

• The Owner, Developer, or Contractor in a trouble-shooting role after construction start.

• Any involved party, in a delay claims situation.

DAVIS Consulting Group......

• Is on the project team solely to expedite successful project completion.

• Has a "third party" objectivity not possible for other members of the team.

• Brings time/cost improvement experience from a large number of projects.

• Helps the project management staff gain valuable perspective on project progress issues.

• Specializes in ferreting out the details of otherwise hidden problems.

• Helps the project manager leverage out his time and focus his attention efficiently.

• Can vary its level of support as needed over the life of the project.

• DAVIS Consulting Group’s fees can typically be recovered through a reduction of less than two weeks of project length.

• DAVIS Consulting Group can usually help save 10-25% of the normal project length.

• Emphasis is placed on early identification and resolution of potential problems, before they create additional costs.

• Construction loan rates vs. permanent financing rates provide significant savings potential.

• Construction overhead and site indirect costs make project length a cost factor.

• Projected income levels will generally occur earlier with reduced project length.

• Well coordinated and effectively expedited projects rarely experience delay claims.

• Designers and Contractors in on-schedule, in-budget situations are much more likely to provide the extra effort which gives the project a margin of excellence.

• Early identification of scope, constraints, goals, and alternative strategies.

• Individual data collection conferences with each organization having a significant project role - defines what, how, and how long, in terms of the activities, each organization anticipates doing.

• Joint participation of all organizations in a schedule coordination conference to agree on sequencing and timing of all activities.

• Use of its CHRONOLOGIC™ System of hands-on graphics to encourage the investigation of alternatives and to promote involvement of all participants.

• Meeting project schedule goals through a variety of time compression techniques.

• Within acceptable schedule length, improving the work flow for each organization involved.

• Through regular project coordination meetings with the active project team.

• By inspecting the project prior to the meeting to document status.

• By serving as discussion leader for the schedule-related portion of the meeting.

• By identifying technical problems best solved by a smaller group and obtaining "next step" commitments for their resolution.

• By developing a near-term (6-10 weeks) detailed schedule, within the context of the overall project schedule, but reflecting the realities of current status, the improved level of current project information, and the opportunities realized when more detail is used.

• By obtaining schedule commitments of each participant regarding progress needed before the next meeting.

• Through preparation and distribution of a follow-up report which documents the results of the coordination meeting and analyzes the implication of decisions reached and performance being experienced.

• DAVIS Consulting Group’s design role is to help Architects, Engineers, Consultants, Owners, Developers, and Contractors talk to each other with precision, understanding and effectiveness.

• The Architect has the capability and responsibility for technical coordination. However, it is difficult for him to maintain the scheduling capability and the objectivity necessary to attain a high level of managerial coordination.

• The Architect can do a better job of technical coordination when the nature and timing of coordination points are explicitly identified in advance.

• Design team members find themselves having to be specific much earlier than they are accustomed to. However, they soon find that the amount of redesign they have to do is minimized by strong coordination as the design process moves forward.

• Involvement of the Owner and the timing of his decision-making soon becomes an obvious advantage to the "third party" approach.

• Every Contractor can produce a bar chart but this is of little value in helping the project team coordinate its activities to achieve a timely completion of the project.

• The majority of Contractors can produce a computerized CPM schedule. However, such schedules are dangerously ambiguous, rarely used by those who should be most schedule conscious, and generally lacking in joint project team input and coordination.

• It is not economically feasible for most Contractors to maintain the level of expertise and the staffing flexibility which DAVIS Consulting Group brings to the project scheduling assignment.

• It is difficult for a Contractor’s scheduler to include, or to attain objectivity about, matters involving Owner, Developer, Architect, Engineers, Regulatory Agencies, or other parties. A contractor’s schedule is normally for the contractor’s activities only.

• The updating/expediting of the project is extremely difficult for an individual within the Contractor’s organization, for it requires identifying performance shortcomings if and when they occur, regardless of what level of the organization may be involved.

• DAVIS Consulting Group has proven over hundreds of projects that it can provide detailed, effective, contractor-accepted , construction support while working for the Owner or Developer, or while working directly for the Contractor.

• Value engineering work sessions, held during design, develop innovative means of reducing the cost of the emerging design.

• Construction cost estimates are performed on a project or sub-system basis at various points in the design process.

• A declining contingency strategy offsets the tendency of the estimated cost to rise throughout design.

• Deductive/additive alternatives are structured so as to give adjustment opportunity at time of construction contracting.

• Constructability review of design reduces change order potential.

• An earned value system, whereby a Contractor (or a Designer) is paid on the basis of a predetermined amount for each activity completed in the pay period, gives positive control of payment vs. progress.

• The earned value system is used as a cost control standard in a cost-plus contract.

• Change order time and cost evaluation is provided on all or selected change orders.

• Total cost trend analysis is maintained to forecast cost-at-completion and to display control effectiveness.