Best Practices Construction Law : Construction Lawyer & Attorney : Matthew DeVries : Smith Cashion & Orr Law Firm : Green Building & LEED Litigation

The construction industry is one of the hardest hit in this down economy.  From the top to the bottom, from executive to business development and sales to project management, you may find that you have to dust off your resume to look for new opportunities. 

An article by Joann Lubin in the Wall Street Journal yesterday highlighted a networking pro, George Landis, who had to learn some new tricks as his executive job ended last November.  Landis was described as a "deft conventional networker" who once relied on the traditional handshake.  Times are changing ... and Landis realized it.  He agreed to learn networking in the 21st century. Here are the top tips from his informal advisors, as well as a few of my comments:

• Develop a stronger online identity by revamping your resume.  For Landis, this meant changing his work summary from "a seasoned executive" to "I make sick companies significantly better for owners and employees."  From my perspective, it is also good to create an electronic version of your resume that contains hyperlinks to your work experience, notable projects, published articles and speaking gigs. (Here is an example of my electronic resume.)
• Make better use of LinkedIn, a professional networking website.  For Landis, this meant reviving his inactive LinkedIn account.  You may already have hundreds of contacts in your old, dingy address book.  Now's a good time to search those contacts for their online presence.
• Create a more visible personal brand.  For Landis, this meant finding a new way to position himself as a thought leader in business management.  For the construction player, this means finding opportunities to speak and write.  There are local associations like AGC of Middle Tennessee that enjoy new faces at their lunches. You are also bound to find a local educational institution like MTSU that has a concrete management program that always needs guest lecturers. 
• Get a bigger payoff from industry events.  For Landis, this meant joining the Turnaround Management Association and offering to assist in program development.  When you participate in the event organization, your start to become known as a good helper and volunteer.  Your name recognition and reputation builds.

At the executive and business development level, some of these tips may be easier to do than at the project management level.  But I think it comes back to identifying your passion and making that your job.  Former-construction-attorney-turned-marketing-coach Cordell Parvin shares 5 Keys to Success and Fulfillment and the second one is about finding your major definite purpose.  Perhaps your current circumstances allow you to look for new opportunities. And remember, you may be like Landis in your archaic networking ways, but even a pro can learn new tricks.

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A week does not go by without a friend, colleague, or new acquaintance asking me, "How do you do it all?"  The short answer: "It's tough ... very tough ... but I have some help.  For home and family issues, I have my lovely wife.  For unloading the dishwasher, I have my son.  For getting out letters, I have my legal assistant.  For researching legal issues, I have a number of associate attorneys who can help.  And for blogging and staying current with the construction industry, I have Google Reader." (...Okay, so my answer was not that short...)

I use Google Reader to track and scan over 100 blogs, news sources and Twitter feeds relating to the construction industry, leadership, marketing and social media.  Rather than try to explain how it works, check out the following short video:

Now, let's see how Google Reader has helped my blogging efficiency for an actual blog post.  A few months ago, I read an article in my Google Reader about two tunneling machines being used on a project in Puget Sound. Since the article highlighted what I thought was an instance of a "construction project gone wild," I blogged about the incident, as well as some construction management tips. 

How can Google Reader help you? The tool can be used:

• To track your "go to" websites that you regularly check
• To track certain terms in the mainstream media (i.e. "construction bids Tennessee" or "green incentives for developers")
• To follow certain Twitter feeds for people or terms

Since words have different meanings to people, there may be problems with some of the initial feeds you set in Google Reader.  It may take time to determine whether the inquiries you set are returning useful information.  Overall, this is a "must use" for anyone in the construction and green building industry.

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In this day of Blackberries and iPhones, one of the best communication tips I have ever heard was at the American Bar Association, Forum on the Construction Industry's fall meeting in Philadelphia a few months ago.  Since we live in world of mobile communication and technology, you have to assume that everyone else is on the same mobile playing field and are working on-the-go.  What does that mean?

Christine McAnney explained that as general counsel for a large construction company, Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc., she is pulled in all directions.  On some days, she will be tied up in depositions, while other days she is traveling to meetings across the country.  Given her on-the-go career, it helps that messages sent to her mobile device actually explain what is attached to the email.  In other words, when sending an attachment, you should do the following:

• Do not use "FYI" ... This assumes that the recipient knows what the email string involves and what has transpired prior to this particular email.  You don't have to write a novel about the attachment, but include more than an "FYI."
• Explain what the attachment is ... "Attached is a copy of the draft change order language  from ABC Development Co. on the USA Zoo project."  Since many construction contracts are lengthy and legal pleadings are voluminous, it is often impossible to download the full attachment and actually read it on a mobile device. 
• State whether the matter is urgent or whether you need a response ... The owner will be out of town for a week so we do not need to respond immediately.  Again, if the attachment is a letter from the opposing party that requires an immediate response, then you should say so in the email. Don't assume that your recepient can or has read the attachment.

You may think these tips are no-brainers, but they have changed the way I communicate with my clients over the last month.  For example, I regularly sent the "Please see attached" emails to my clients without even thinking that the email was sent to a Blackberry or iPhone (...even though I carry my phone everywhere and expect the same communication from my assistant ...)  Thanks to Christine, I am taking the extra minute to explain my attachments and include a response line.

How about you?  Do you have any tips for communicating in the digital age?

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Heads up Westlaw, LEXIS, FindLaw and all you other law-related databases.  There is another giant in the field of legal research.  Last night, Google launched a new feature on Google Scholar that makes 80+ years of US federal caselaw and 50+ years of US state caselaw searchable and readable. Here's what you may find: 

• The entire opinions are indexed and available
• Every citation is hyperlinked to the full text of the opinion cited
• Every opinion includes a "How cited" tab showing how the current opinion was cited by the referring opinion
• All opinions include their official citation and include page breaks and page numbers

Let's take this scholar on a test drive. Years ago I worked on a case involving the construction of a power generation facility owned by an entity named Choctaw Generation Limited Partnership.  When I GoogleScholar-ed the name of the owner, my search immediately returned the Second Circuit decision.  That's it!  The hyperlinks to the footnotes and other citations ... check.  The page numbers ... check.  So far, so good.

What's happened to the Choctaw case over the past eight years?  All you have to do is click on the HOW CITED tab and you will find a wealth of information, including the cases that have cited the decision, as well as snippets of the quoted material:

Here are some early insights about Google Scholar as a research tool and how business should approach its use:

• This is a great offering from Google.  Ask any associate attorney in my office where I suggest that they start a research assignment and the answer will be: Google.  Is that the only legal research an attorney should do?  Absolutely not!  But it is the best place to start.  And Google Scholar just opened a wealth of additional data for these preliminary searches.
• One of the enhanced features of Google Scholar is the Advanced Scholar Search that allows you to search by name, jurisdiction, and subject area.  Again, I believe this enhances the preliminary searches that are performed.
• Before relying on Google Scholar exclusively (...which would probably be years before doing so ... ), I would want the public to fully test the scope of the database.  It will be important to watch how timely case law is collected and stored.  

Despite the benefit that Google Scholar results from provide public access to case law, the question remains: will this benefit the practice of law and resolution of disputes in general?  Some of my clients are empowered by their ability to do research and to assist in the trial preparation, while others would simply prefer to show up for the final judgment.  I think for the former group, Google Scholar opens up a pool of available research.  The later group would not bother.

If I had to limit my comments to one sentence, it would be: Great new tool for preliminary research!

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I received an email this morning with the following warning: "The following message is intended for construction audiences only. Do NOT watch this clip alone or in the dark. Please wait 30-minutes after eating before watching this clip. DO forward this video on to a friend or colleague."
 

A couple of my observations about AGC's campaign for its annual convention:

1. This is very smart.  When I usually receive mass email alerts and messages, I put them in a "review later" folder and come back to them later in the week.  Not this one.  It caught my attention and I immediately clicked through the links.
2. This is very timely.  Sending this particular message during the week of halloween was ingenious.  Although the AGC Annual Convention is not for another five months, the message was tailored for the season and I am sure we can expect similar treats over the next coming months.
3. This is very exciting.  What AGC did here was step out of the cookie cutter approach to marketing.  It's a sign of the construction industry embracing Social Media and using technology in new ways.  Kudos, AGC!

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I have my Google reader set to search various blogs, news sites, and Twitter feeds to help me keep current with the latest trends in the construction industry.  There remains one major problem: the words we use have different meanings for everyone.  

Take, for example, my search of Twitter feeds (above) for Building Information Modeling (BIM).  If you were to do the same search during a weekday morning, the majority of results would return various individuals involved in some aspect of the construction industry either praising or criticizing BIM. Now, if you were to do the same search on any given Friday or Saturday night, you might be surprised to get a varied assortment of results (and photographs) of individuals out for a night of partying.  You see, BIM is also slang for "bimbo" or ... how do I say this ... a "lady with questionable morals"? 

What's the lesson here?  Did you click on this article because you thought it related to LEED or Green Buildings?  It kinda does.  It kinda doesn't.  The lesson is that we live and work in a world where information spreads quickly.  In addition, we have become informal in our communications through the use of email, texting and Twitter.  (And in our personal lives, there may not be anything wrong with informality in our communications.)

However, the construction project is built on expectations and performance.  Where those expectations are accurately and correctly reduced to a writing, the parties have a written contract.  Where the parties use words that have different meanings (and both interpretations are reasonable), we now have an ambiguity.  A judge or arbitrator will then be asked to interpret that ambiguity based upon any number of legal tools (i.e., parties' words and conduct, other writings outside the four cornings of the contract, industry norms, etc.).  As the construction industry begins to employ new technologies, such as BIM, or new performance based goals, such as energy performance from a LEED certified building, then it becomes even more important that we use words that do not lead to miscommunication.

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Budgets are being cut left and right.  Our family "eating out" budget ... gone!  Our community organization "summer party" budget ... gone!  I see non-profit organizations struggling to keep pace with last year's donations, while attendance at professional industry conferences are shrinking.

You can imagine my surprise when I read a press release from CADD Microsystems suggesting that the construction industry is showing signs of rebounding.  CADD Microsystems, an Autodesk solutions provider, sponsored a conference called Tech Tour in Washington, D.C. last week.  CADD Microsystems reports that it had more than 200 attendees at the conference:

"This Tech Tour was one of the largest events our company has ever hosted," said Jeff Gravatte, CEO of CADD Microsystems, "and we are pleased with what that says about the state of the design and building industry. To have more than 200 people spend a day learning the latest trends in BIM and design technology speaks volumes about the strength of the building industry and its promise for a speedy recovery."

Perhaps this is simply a case where the title of the press release ("Indications of Building Industry Rebounding as More Than 200 Design and Construction Professionals Attend Building Design Software Event") promises more than is being served.  I have seen the monthly reports from Southeast Construction about drying up construction markets and the AGC about the continuing decline in construction jobs.  Don't get me wrong ... I would love to see a turn-around in this economy. 

The more noteworthy report from CADD Microsystems is the briefing offered to Congress, organized by the High-Performance Buildings Congressional Caucus Coalition and the National Institute of Building Sciences. The briefing on BIM and high performance buildings took place earlier this week on Capitol Hill and focused on the importance of technology in the building industry:

Building Information Modeling is focused on eliminating significant amounts of redundant and wasted effort currently embedded in the design, construction, and operations of facilities due to the lack of software interoperability. The beneficiaries of this information range from the designers and construction contractors to facility operations and sustainment all the way through the building life cycle.

Lessons Learned? Perhaps the large reported attendance at the Tech Tour is something other than an economic rebound−perhaps it is an indication that industry professionals have more "marketing and development" time on their hands to attend conferences.  It provides them with an opportunity to learn about the strengths of new technologies (i.e., Building Information Modeling), as well as, a venue to develop new business relationships.

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In July 2009, Wisconsin (through its Division of State Facilities) became the first state to require BIM on large public projects.  The details were highlighted in a previous post.

Yesterday, the Texas Facilities Commission (TFC) announced its adoption of BIM for state design and construction projects.  The state has diligently worked to standardize the use of BIM for its future projects.  According to TFC Executive Director Edward L. Johnson, Texas wants to be a leader in BIM: 

“Modernization of our business practices, modernization of our real estate strategy, modernizing building design and construction . . . a part of everything we do is making use of the most innovative, state-of-the-art developments in both the public and private sector. Three years ago we embarked on making the Texas Facilities Commission the most sophisticated and professional real estate management and building design and construction organization that exists in the public sector. Becoming a leader in Building Information Modeling is an important step in that direction.”

The TFC does not  jump on the BIM band wagon and simply issue a press release touting its use of BIM ... their actions speak louder than words.  For example, TFC is committed to developing clear standards and guidelines for the private participants, as well as an interoperable BIM template.  TFC produced a video that highlights its adoption of new techologies and commitment to BIM:

For more information about TFC's new BIM program, check the TFC website or contact Mike Blackwell, TFC Marketing and Communications Specialist, at Michael.blackwell@tfc.state.tx.us

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I know that title sounds odd. Before you start flooding my email box with comments about the practicality of Building Information Modeling (BIM) or the utility of social networking like Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn in the construction industry, consider the life of the personal computer:

Were you around in the 1980s during the microcomputer wars between Commodore, Apple, Atari and Tandy? Can you believe that some of the first personal computers once plugged into a standard television that acted as the monitor?  It's so hard for me to even imagine that the little IBM ThinkPad that I pound my fat fingers on every day once looked like this? 

Even when I view the practice of law over the past 20 years, I see the dramatic changes that technology has brought. The legal brief is no longer typed on an IBM Selectric with carbon copy sheets and sent to court via courier—it is drafted on a laptop, converted to an Adobe .pdf document, and electronically filed with the court.  The letter to opposing counsel is no longer dictated to a secretary who takes down every word in shorthand—the words are spoken into a digital handheld device, which is connected to a laptop computer that transcribes the entire letter using voice recognition software.  

Given the transformation of how these simple tasks have been performed over the past two decades, it does not seem that far fetched to believe that technology can help sustain or revive a construction company in the years that follow this recession.  Just read what Geoff Smith, Chief Executive for EllisDon told to Reed Construction Data about the livelihood of the construction industry in the post-recession recovery period:

Turning his focus to new technologies, Smith said that Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the way of the future, adding that those contractors who don’t adopt it will be left behind.

“If you don’t (embrace BIM), you’re not going to make it down the road,” he said. “It’ll take a little while to take hold, because it requires some upfront investment on the part of the clients and the builders. But it’s coming everybody has got to embrace it as soon as they can find a way to.”

The same applies to social networking, which Smith has embraced — he’s on Twitter, Facebook and he blogs.  Social media is a key element of the company’s forward-looking strategy, he said.

“The construction industry over past generations has always been about people — we sell people; we put people on a project.

“Now there is the opportunity and the means to sell knowledge, intellectual capital and to create a competitive advantage doing that — and we see the social media facilitating that and creating that opportunity.”

I have written about the future of BIM being "in the pipeline." I have said that mainstream acceptance of BIM is a question of when ... not if.  When I take a step back and look at an industry's acceptance of a particular technology (i.e., the law firm's use of laptops, electronic filing, digital dictation devices, Blackberries, etc.), it is not difficult to understand and agree with Smith's comments about BIM and social media.

The more difficult exercise is to crystal-ball the issue of defining when a particular technology becomes universally accepted ... of trying to pinpoint when everyone (...or almost everyone...) will use the laptop, cell phone, DVR, iPhone, or even BIM.  But as an advocate of technology, perhaps our job is not to predict ... it is to advance, build up, campaign, encourage and support.

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Last month, I wrote about how Building Information Modeling (BIM) helped a project meet its time and money goals when local legislation requiring LEED certification was enacted in Wasington, D.C.  The original article that appeared in McGraw Hill Construction provided an excellent overview of BIM uses and strategies for all construction projects, including green ones.  The question that keeps running through my mind is: When ... not if ... will BIM become mainstream?  

Already, industry contract documents contain BIM provisions.  In June 2008, ConsensusDOCS issued its new BIM-baby called the 301 BIM Addendum.  In October 2008, American Institute of Architects (AIA) issued the the 3.5 Release, a collective group of documents that included a BIM exhibit, as well as two new Integrated Project Delivery agreements, two new Design-Build agreements and a Scope of Services document.  The BIM protocol exhibit called the E202–2008 BIM Protocol is available online for free!

Not only is the private industry demanding ways to integrate BIM into projects, so too is the public industry.  Earlier this month, Wisconsin (through its Division of State Facilities) became the first state to require BIM on the following types of projects:

• all projects (new or additions/alterations) with a total budget of $5 million or more
• all new construction with a budget of $2.5 million or more
• all addition/alteration construction with total project funding of $2.5 million or greater that includes new addition costs of 50% or more of total

In addition, BIM is "encouraged but not required" on all other projects. Public comments are now being taken on the new BIM standards and guidelines at the DFS website.

What do I think?  I imagine most of the players in the large Wisconsin projects know, understand and fully appreciate the utility of BIM as an enhancement to the construction process.  More important, however, is the affect that that, if these projects are successful, Wisconsin and its mandated use of BIM will have on the use of BIM by other states and localities.  If unsuccessful (by standards of cost, delay, or litigation), then it may simply stall ... and not derail ... the timing of the mainstream acceptance of BIM.

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Yes, he actually said that ... Marketing Awesomeness!  "Nametag Scott" is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, blogger and consultant.  Here is a short video about how Scott Epstein got into the nametag-writing-speaking-marketing business.

What does Best Practices for Marketing Awesomeness have to do with Best Practices Construction Law?  Not much ... yet everything!  Take a minute and watch what Scott has to say about marketing awesomeness: 

Did you hear anything helpful?  While we are traditionally in the business of constructing buildings, homes, infrastructure (... and not client lists or fans or followers ...), Scott had some inspiring words:

• Don't sell a product ... start a movement!
• Don't make money ... make history!
• Find your fans (customer), deliver a value, thank them often, sell occasionally!

Whether a construction lawyer, developer, architect, engineer, contractor, supplier, or random Google visitor to this site, we cannot forget the importance of customer service.  Remember the "customer" ... the person or company we promised to do something for or provide something to ... as we focus on the day's activities.  Integrity is sure to follow. 

Thanks to Cordell Parvin, a successful-construction-lawyer-turned-lawyer-coach in Dallas, Texas, who recently wrote a post entitled, Thinking Creatively About Your Future.  I first heard about Scott through Cordell!

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[Update: Got a nice note from Scott "Ginsberg, not Epstein" ... If he had only put that on his nametag I would have gotten it right! Sorry Scott.]

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I know it's a gamble to think that my wife or kids would be reading Best Practices ... but in case you do ... my birthday is right around the corner ... and I want one of these:

Gadgets like the Canadian-based ecobee Smart Thermostat are coming to America!  ecobee has partnered with Brady & Associates, as well as opened a new office in Florida, to roll out this digital, energy-saving thermostat.  The ecobee has an integrated programmable smart thermostat with a WiFi-enabled touchscreen that automatically sets your household to conserve energy with a touch of a button. 

The ecobee can now also be purchased online ... but that's not the only thing happening via the Internet.  You can actually monitor and control your home temperate remotely from a personalized web portal.  That means I won't have to get out of bed at night to turn on the air conditioner ... I can use my Blackberry (... or iPhone ... another birthday wish ...)

This post, however, is not entirely about my wants and desires.  Let's talk about this little gadget's effect on the green building industry.  For example, the ecobee Smart Thermostat was installed in the Minto's Inspiration line of echo-homes, which has been touted as "one of Canada's greenest homes."  It has been reported that the ecobee company built its product platform around the LEED rating system.  The company's Smart Thermostat was even selected for use in the "Smart Home: Green + Wired 2009" exhibit in March of this year, presented by Wired Magazine in partnership with Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.  The promotional material indicates that the device can recoup its $385 price tag within the first 12-18 months of use.

Has anyone out there installed and used an ecobee?  Let me know before July 12 ... that special date right around the corner!

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“Intellectual property is an extremely important and valuable asset that is often overlooked or ignored in the construction industry.” So said Brian Hickey and Edward Benes at the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry’s annual meeting in April in New Orleans.

In their joint presentation entitled When the Colors Run Together: Recent Development in the Intellectual Property Aspects of Construction, Brian and Ed highlighted the risks and liabilities associated with the four basic types of intellectual property: (1) copyrights; (2) trademarks, service marks, and trade dress; (3) patents; and (4) trade secrets. Here is why intellectual property finds its way onto our radar screen at Best Practices:

“Economic realities and environmental initiatives will drive a search for streamlined designs, new systems, and innovative materials. Industry leaders will develop standard components and process that can achieve savings in time and money. To the extent that some of these new products, methods, and designs may be protected through copyrighted drawings, trademarks, patents, trade secrets or other means, the inventors and creators will endeavor to do so.”

Brian and Ed did a great job explaining in their presentation how intellectual property relates to construction, architecture and engineering. In simple terms: Construction begins with ideas. Ideas take the form of an expression. Expressions are copied, stored, distributed. Those expressions are edited and improved.  You see where this is going … the expressions become subject to protection. These authors packaged this broad issue—intellectual property in the construction industry—in such as way as to understand the risks and walk away with some good pointers, including the following:

• Allocate ownership of copyrights through contractual provisions
• Understand the “thorny” collaborative design issues that naturally arise with multiple parties
• Appreciate the risks of “copying” information
• Evaluate the need for registration of your own information

I truly appreciate Bryan and Ed’s hard work to bring to light intellectual property for all those hardhat construction lawyers, owners, developers, architects, engineers, contractors and suppliers. 

[Note: Unfortunately, I was unable to attend their presentation because I was speaking on The Green Explosion: The Legislative Impact of Alternative Energy, Climate Change and Sustainability on the Construction Industry. However, their written paper was thorough and easy-to-read.]

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That's not exactly how the headline reads ... but close enough.  The actual title is BIM Promotes Sustainability: Practitioners are Finding Paths to Green through Interoperable Software.  As reported by McGraw Hill Construction, this article demonstrates the practical utility of Building Information Modeling (BIM) on a construction project ... a green one!  MH reports about the restoration of the historic Grant School in Washington, D.C.: "The contractor had nearly finished the time-consuming coordination of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing trades. Then work ground to a halt. Local legislation had just passed requiring all public buildings to achieve LEED certification."

Although the project was exempt from the change in the law, the School wanted to demonstrate their commitment to green by seeking LEED certification.  Using BIM, modifications to the design (including the mechanical systems and the acoustics) were relatively straightforward.   Without BIM, the work would would have been prohibitive given the increased costs and delays associated with the re-design.

Two cool things ...

First, the Grant School project featured by MH typifies the benefits of technology in the industry.  According to Dwayne Sellars, BIM manager for Turner Construction, his company is using BIM even in situations where the architect does not because the model reveals conflicts between systems that are often discovered only in the field. 

Second, not only does the Grant School project illustrate the effective use of BIM technology, the format of article itself is exciting.  The article is presented in a case-study format as part of McGraw Hill's Continuing Education Center.  You can review the information and take a test for 1.00 credit for HSW/SD.  According to CEC, after reading the full article you will be able to: 

• Describe building-information modeling (BIM).
• Explain strategies for applying BIM to promote sustainability.
• Discuss uses of BIM at different phases of a building's life cycle.
• Understand how BIM relates to green "best practices" within your own discipline.

The real import of the article--and particularly the convergence of BIM and LEED--is realized upon reading the concluding paragraph:

Architects are receiving better, earlier energy-related analysis; engineers are providing more focused expertise during design; builders are reducing waste in construction; and facility managers are increasing the efficiency of their operations. And many of those experiencing the benefits of technology and teamwork have visions of still more capabilities and benefits in the future.

No time for the test, McGraw Hill ... but thanks for the good information.

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Earlier this week, I read an article in the Daily Commercial News about the future of building information modeling: 

The advent of building information modeling will have a major impact on project-delivery methods, says Ottawa contractor Doug Burnside, president of Dolyn Developments Inc.

“I think we are going to see more design-build projects as opposed to traditional design-bid-build,” he told a seminar at the Ontario General Contractors Association’s 6th annual construction symposium.

“I don’t see it happening tomorrow, but it’s certainly in the pipeline.”

After reading the article, I picked up the phone to chat with my colleague from up North.  I introduced myself. (... I am sure my accent sounded as foreign to him as this Ottawa gent's accent sounded to me ... except I liked his accent! ...)

Doug's comments above were made as part of the President's Panel for Ottawa's General Contractors' Association.  Doug and his fellow construction presidents (Matt Ainley, of Vanbots, a division of Carillion Construction, Frank DeCaria, of Eastern Construction; Tom Kemp, of James Kemp Construction Ltd.) gave brief introductions and answered questions from the conference members. 

"Building information modeling will be mainstream one day," Doug told me on the phone. "It will be like AutoCAD ... If you don't speak BIM, you can't play."  

To you, Doug's comments may be a "no brainer."  But to me, they represent the real dilemma that many contractors and industry players will face in the next few years.  As Doug explained, "The real question  for us is: At what point do we buy in?" 

If the construction industry is heading in a particular direction--whether it involves a particular project delivery system, a particular document management software, or a particular process like BIM--the key inquiries are: (1) When does your company join the industry trend?; and (2) How much do you invest in getting involved?  I think the "no brainer" to the first question is NOW.  The second question will depend entirely on your resources available and your ingenuity in finding support from within the industry (such as a seminar given by AGC or ABC).

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My roomie from law school, Rick Klau, sent me a note this past weekend.  Actually, he tweeted it!  (You, too, can follow me at www.twitter.com/matthewdevries).  I was excited to hear where Rick was visiting.

"Best Practices..." you ask, "Why are you posting about your old law school roommate? This is a construction-related blog!"

The best answer I can give you is that this former roomie of mine was asked to be the commencement speaker for the graduating class of 2009 of the University of Richmond School of Law and he had some great stories to share. After all, he went from law student, to founder of the first exclusively online law journal (JOLT), to author, to political volunteer, to owner of a start-up technology company that was purchased by Google ($$$), to technology guru at Blogger. 

Also, after reading the text of his speech, I am more convinced that his words hit the mark of Best Practices for any industry ... whether you are involved in the law, technology, finance or construction:

Google didn't get to where we are by following those before us. Nor will change come to the legal profession incrementally. To be an agent of change, a steward for the profession, you must think big. The forces at work are too large, too numerous, and evolving too quickly. You must have the audacity to, to borrow a tagline from another Silicon Valley company, think different.

To be a steward for the construction profession, you really have to think big ... you have to think different.  If we were to take a look at the Top 10 contractors, design-builders, architects, or engineers in the industry, no doubt you would find these attributes that set a company apart from the rest ... that is, the desire to think big ... to think differently ... to excel in their services.  Does your firm have a mission statement like Bob Moore Construction, Inc. in Arlington, Texas?  If not, it should. 

Rick, thanks for the great words of wisdom.  Whenever you are ready to write a guest post for BPCLaw, let us know.

Photo: tarotastic

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That's a pretty old looking contract ... hanging in the historic courthouse in downtown Arthur, Nebraska.  Good thing our standard form construction contracts are not that old!

Last week, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) held its national convention in San Francisco, California. Although “construction manager” (CM) contract documents had been released in 2007 and 2008, AIA released its replacement CM documents and an updated version of its AIA Contract Documents at last week’s meeting.  Some of the more noteworthy revisions of the CM documents include:

• the famous "dispute resolution" checkbox that now appears in the A-101
• the famous “initial decision maker” (IDM) for disputes
• various provisions regarding digital data

According to AIA, the new release of software includes enhanced document management tools, as well as an easier-to-use platform:

• Data Dialogue box that makes it easy to fill out documents quickly;
• Customizing function that lets you save your favorite drafts as your own document templates for repeat use;
• Microsoft Excel helps you calculate with speed and accuracy

Has anyone used the new software?  You better try it out!  You should also begin looking at the 2007 revised documents because I also hear that the 1997 standard documents will no longer be supported as of May 31, 2009.

Photo: JimmyWayne

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It is official.  The Construction Blawg  is retired.  For a number of years, I maintained a construction-related blog called The Construction Blawg … which was highlighted by the ABA Journal Law News Now.  While all of the posts are archived, we may have a difficult time resurrecting the content given the internal hyperlinks and coding and expiration of our domain.  (… for you non-techies, that means that there are a lot of codes within each post that will have to be manually changed … )

Although The Construction Blawg has been retired, I am returning to the cyberworld with Best Practices Construction Law.  You will see some of the old regulars like Rip Rap (...focusing on those random construction stories...), but you will also see some new commentary … with a great emphasis on issues like Green-Building, Technology, Building Information Modeling, Great Tips on Project Management and Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Another significant change in The Construction Blawg family is that I now have five … yes, that’s right … FIVE children … and four of them are under five years old!  So I will have some great stories to tell you, which hopefully will shed light on some best practices in the construction industry.  No, really.  Trust me.

So, out with the old … in with the new!  Make sure you check back regularly.

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