(1/19/2009)
CONSTRUCTION MANAGER???
Doug Sitton seems to be pretty good. 618-406-0993
My only suggestion (for what it's worth) is to try to hire someone local who knows about construction...not affiliated with the General Contractor or someone way outside your area. A local, maybe even retired construction guy, will have a more vested interest in your building and look for things someone on the outside might now. IF you have that kind of person available. That has proven beneficial in two other districts I have been in.
We are about 99% finished with our other elementary, middle, and high school remodels and 70% complete with our new elementary school. We are using a Construction Manager (CM) to assist with approx $14 million in construction. Using a construction manager was a great decision for us, as they have been outstanding. Aside from being the GC on project, they manage the budget, do value engineering in the design phase, handle all the contracts, schedules, timelines, and most importantly, they are Johnny on the Spot with all the details when things are exactly the way that teachers and staff want them after a remodel occurs. The CM provides a nice “balance of power” so to speak with the engineers and architects. Although they help with everything mentioned above, you are still ultimately responsible for steering the project and will need to stay on top of the architects, engineers, and construction managers, but without having a CM to assist with everything, I do not know how I would have been able to survive the last two years. My Superintendent has a Business Manager to oversee all of this, but since you are flying solo there, I would try to do everything you can to get a good CM. I talk to my CM everyday, and usually multiple times a day.
We use a local firm, Benchmark Construction Management (309.963.4688) out of Tremont, Illinois and I would highly recommend them. They are a smaller firm, so they might not come down to Martinsville, but that would be speculation on my part.
Before I came to Steger, the district used Turner Construction as the project manager for the construction of a middle school. They are a big name, but we got a lot of personal attention. We had one issue in the project which was water infiltration on the roof and Turner held our hand in diagnosing the problem (design or craftsmanship) and helped us get it remedied and to recover associated costs. They are still helping us regularly with minor things four years later with smiles on their faces. I would use them again.
Our business manager could give you a lot more detail. He was here a year before I was. His name is Armie (708) 755-0022
Richard Ach (pronounced Ahk) is the contact person at Turner that we worked with and he is top notch. His number is (312) 925-9465 and his email is
Even though they may be too far away, I highly recommend PCM (Professional Management Consultants as project managers. They are reliable, honest and will save you money. Also, I would still have a designated school district representative to look out for the "special" interests of the school district. I have been the owner's (school district) representative on 9 new buildings and worked with four different project managers and a bunch of designated general contractors. PCM (small firm)with Michael Rankin is top drawer - 847-382-3680.
If you’re talking about a construction manager, I’ve used one twice and did not like the results.
The bidding phase went well, but the construction manager and the architect were constantly at odds during and after construction. I would probably not use a construction manager again.
I have done projects both ways. To me if you trust your architect there is no need to use a project manager on a project the size of yours. To me all it did here at St. Joe is add another layer of management, and I don't know about your area, but the contractors in this area really didn't like the concept. Did it save us money? Your guess is as good as mine
Willow Springs District 108 used Fredrick Quinn Corporation
The project was completed prior to my assuming the superintendency, but the relationship was a good one. The District definitely got a better bang for its buck using them.
I would highly recommend Felmley-Dickerson—they did an outstanding job for us on our recently completed $11 million construction/renovation project. Call Bob Aldridge (exec vp) at 309-828-4317.
I have been part of multiple construction projects using the following approaches to project management:
1. Project managers,
2. Architect’s extended service/construction management,
3. General contractor, and
4. Performance contractor.
The bottom line in all such approaches is the on-site manager. If that person is good, all of the above approaches will work fine. If that person is bad, none of the above work well. If you decide to use project management, check references closely. Also, don’t limit your reference checks to the references they provide.
We used Skillman out of Champaign as project managers for our two new elementary schools. We had problems throughout the project and afterward. Of course they don’t use us a reference; however, I have since had several superintendents call me about their services. I did mix words in my assessment of their performance.
In our first middle school renovation ($5.8 million) we used an extended service agreement with our architectural firm to oversee the construction on a daily basis. We started out with a great site man. However, he moved to another job in the first month. We went through a series of site men afterward and settled for a rookie. He of course made rookie mistakes.
The most successful project we had was our $12 million high school renovation. We used a general contractor for that project. The site superintendent was outstanding. In that case, we didn’t have to pay an outside manager because he was so good.
In our final middle school renovation, we upgraded the HVAC, lighting, and ceilings ($3.5 million) and used a performance contractor. This project went fairly well.
I strongly recommend the use of a CM for a variety of reasons.
I have been very pleased with Benchmark Construction Management Company located in Tremont Illinois for a 14 million remodeling and new construction project which is currently being built in my district. Learn more at:
President Mike Pflederer can be reach at: (309) 712-9998 or
We used Doug Cochrane from Cochrane Design here in Paris on our 2 building projects. I would highly recommend him. His business number is 217-463-1390. Hope this helps. Would only be 30 minutes away
As you know we built three new schools and I used S.M. Wilson out of St. Louis. Classy, professional and excellent! They saved my backside on several occasions with recommendations that maintained quality but at the same time saved us a lot of $. I highly recommend you take a look at them. I can't even begin to tell you the compliments we have received on our buildings and we received a lot of "bang for our buck!
Just stay away from letting your architectdo it. Conflict of interest for sure.
We have had projects with and without a Construction Management (CM) firm. Personally, I do not feel the benefits outweigh the costs, and I think you can end up with lots of finger-pointing at the end of a project when you use a CM. In most cases, a CM will split the project into multiple contracts with the subs, which means you could lose a lot of accountability. In a traditional approach the GC is responsible and accountable for subs. Furthermore, the architects also avoid accountability when there is a CM to blame for problems, and vice versa. Finally, remember the CM is there to get the project done so they can move onto the next one, so corners can get cut, and when you have warranty issues later you may have problems.
With all of that said, a CM can be useful when you are faced with a very tight project timeline (which we were in one case).
For our last two projects the district employed a Project Site Observer who is an employee of the district. They work for you and are accountable to you so they have a vested interest in making you happy! :) This arrangement has worked well, particularly if they develop a good relationship with the subs. We have had situations in which a sub has "tipped off" our Site Observer to some potential problems.
We recently completed a smaller addition of a new gymnasium and classrooms. We hired an individual to check on site several times per month, though not technically a "project manager". In addition, we felt that our Architect did a great job of "appearing" many times during the construction process. It was money well spent and takes the burden off of you when something goes wrong or is incorrect at the end of the building project punchlist. Good luck. By the way, our architect was FGM out of O'Fallen and Mt. Vernon Illinois.
I would recommend a project manager.
We constructed a new elementary building in 2003-04. We did have a general and 2 subs(electric and plumbing)we oversaw. The architect indicated that they would be overseeing the project. They did visit on a regular weekly to bi-weekly. A board member (retired shop teacher with advanced degree in construction/architect related field) volunteered to help supervise. Thevarious thingsour board member improved/corrected - from design flaws, through final construction - was amazing.Everything from insufficientnumber of screwsunder themetal roof to the wrong type of carpet (for posters/displays)on the back wall of the elementary classroom.I would recommend finding someone you can trust who is NOT tied to the industry. Remember that the architects depend on the contractors to bid on their projects!! I would be skeptical of a project manager recommended by the architectOR contractors. There have been many more problems with the new buildings in neighboring districts.
My experience building a school in another district with a project manager was very positive. It helped to get the project done on time and our project manager reported directly to me as our employee in overseeing the entire project. We were able to save money by doing cost saving modifications that did not diminish the end result and he was able to assure quality control by being on the job and reviewing everything during the construction process. We used Henry Bros who are located in the south suburbs of Chicago. It’s important to get someone that has good references from other superintendents or business managers.
We have used Fredrick Quinn Corporation from Addison IL. I would strongly recommend using a CM for any project. If you would like to discuss this please call me at 815 926 1711.
I am in the middle of a $5.4 millionrenovation at our high school. Our board thought about this, but since the project was rather small, we thought it would be best not to pay an additional $500,000 when we were already paying an architect/engineering firm to oversee the project. Additionally, if you think that you won't be involved (many think that hiring construction managers reduces the stress on the superintendent), I assure you that you will be! Don Beard, Tremont 702 (925-2051) used a construction manager, you may want to talk with him directly.