Scheduling and construction claims services since 1983. Certified by Oracle University to deliver Primavera training and implementation solutions. Call today for a free consultation: (916) 779-4145

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PayPal Buttons Fixed!

Categories: Uncategorized
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We were notified by a client today (December 17th) that our PayPal buttons were not functioning correctly. The problem is that a certain person at our company who shall remain nameless (ahem…) was trying to remove some of the blank spaces on the Primavera software pages and accidentally deleted part of the PayPal code. As a result, some of the buttons were not connected to the PayPal shopping cart. This problem also occurred at our training website, Primavera Scheduling.

If you tried to place an order during the past few days and had problems please accept our sincere apologies. We hope you will give us another chance to earn your business. And since money sometimes speaks louder than words, we will refund $50 on every software purchase for the rest of 2013. It doesn’t matter if you had tried to place an order or not! And we really don’t care if you have been naughty or nice. Please contact me if you have any questions. Thank you!

 

A Measurable Duration

Categories: P6 Schedulers, Primavera P6
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During our Primavera P6 training classes (www.primaverascheduling.com) we always stress that activity durations must be “measurable”. By this we mean that activity durations must be of a reasonable length so that problems can be spotted right away. Assume that you were trying to update a task that is expected to take six months. How would you measure progress after one month? You might be tempted to simply reduce the remaining duration by one month – i.e. you assume that everything is proceeding according to plan. Obviously this is a risky approach. We update schedules to validate that the plan. Otherwise, why bother updating at all?

Experienced P6 schedulers know that activity steps are a way to measure progress on complex tasks, but this approach is not a substitute for proper durations. Activity steps have no logic or durations and therefore do not provide any feedback as to what exactly is taking too long. Moreover, activity steps also require using the physical percent complete setting for updating tasks but this is not always practical or desirable.

So what exactly is a measurable duration? A good rule of thumb is that activity durations should not be any longer than the update period. If the schedule is updated once a month then the activity durations should be a month or less. When an activity starts during one update period it should finish during the next update period, or be very close to finishing. Activities cannot hide their lack of progress when durations are limited to the length of the update period. Procurement activities sometimes need longer durations as a matter of necessity but certainly for field activities there is no reason not to keep durations reasonable.

As professional schedulers we have been following this approach for 30 years with great success.

This Building is Hot!

Categories: Construction Defects
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Superman is capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound, but now a building in London has demonstrated that it can melt cars! The 38-story skyscraper at 20 Fenchurch Street in London’s financial district features highly reflective glass panels. Dubbed the “Walkie Talkie” building, the concave shape on the south elevation is currently concentrating the sun’s rays on a section of Eastcheap Street. A Jaguar parked for about an hour on Eastcheap had its mirror and plastic body panels partially melted.

The architect, Rafael Viñoly, says that the original design of the building featured horizontal sun louvers on the south elevation, but these were apparently removed due to budget concerns. The developer of the project, Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group, has blamed the current elevation of the sun for the problem. Yes, that’s right – it’s the sun’s fault! Viñoly in turn has suggested that global warming may be the real culprit: “When I first came to London years ago, it wasn’t like this. Now you have all these sunny days.”

Moreover,  Viñoly claims that no software existed during the design process to analyze the problem accurately. “When it was spotted on a second design iteration, we judged the temperature was going to be about 36 degrees,” he said. “But it’s turned out to be more like 72 degrees. They are calling it the ‘death ray’, because if you go there you might die. It is phenomenal, this thing.”

Keep in mind, these temperatures are in Celsius. 72 degrees Celsius is 162 degrees Fahrenheit. Hot enough to fry an egg, which is exactly what a café on Eastcheap managed to do using the “death ray”. Right now there does not appear to be a solution to the problem short of cloudy weather. The developer has erected a 2-story scaffolding structure covered in netting in the street, and three parking spaces have been removed.

Similar issues occurred on the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The stainless steel cladding and the distinctive curvilinear shape of the building reflected too much sunlight onto nearly structures. Eventually the cladding was scuffed up to make it less reflective. I testified in mediation on this project and my client was the cladding subcontractor, but their claim was related to scheduling and cost issues.

 

The One Year Commitment

Categories: Oracle Gold Partner, Oracle Support, Primavera P6
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Oracle requires everyone who purchases Primavera P6 to purchase one year of Oracle Support. Not everyone feels they need this support, but all Oracle representatives (Construction Science is an Oracle Gold Partner) are required to bundle support with every perpetual license. Note that I said “perpetual”. Once you purchase the software you own it forever. The support runs out after one year unless you renew. And once it expires you cannot purchase support again without buying another software license.

Oracle Support is 24/7 and covers both technical issues (installation, database issues, etc.) and application issues – i.e. how to use the software. Of course, if you take training from us you should never need help with the application side! Please visit our dedicated Primavera P6 training site (www.primaverascheduling.com) for details. But database issues can be notoriously difficult to resolve without professional assistance.

Two things to consider: (1) the cost of support drops each year, and (2) the support agreement entitles you to free upgrades to the latest version. This might make Oracle Support a worthwhile investment, especially for small firms that lack in-house IT or Primavera P6 expertise. I have seen firms spend thousands of dollars resolving issues that could have been handled by Oracle for a few hundred dollars per year.

There is another strategy you might consider. If you are planning to buy more Primavera P6 licenses in the future simply let the support agreements on existing licenses expire. You will have to purchase Oracle Support with any new licenses, after all, so if any technical or application issues arise in the future the new agreements will provide coverage. Carrying support agreements on every license becomes very expensive.

If you have any questions about Oracle Support please contact me.

 

“The mother of all construction claims”

Categories: Bay Bridge, Caltrans, Construction Claims, Construction Defects
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The beleaguered new east span of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge is becoming, in the words of one member of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, “the mother of all construction claims.” Dave Cortese, commission vice chairman and a Santa Clara County supervisor explains:

“How do we as (commissioners) ensure that people feel they’re getting what they bargained for and not paying for the mistakes of others?”

The new east span, already years behind schedule, was supposed to open this Labor Day weekend. That date has been pushed back by problems recently discovered with broken bolts. An expert retained by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) believes that shimming the bridge’s massive seismic bearings with steel plates is a simple fix that could be accomplished in less than a month.

State Senator Anthony Cannella (R) scoffed at this idea. “I’m a little concerned about a $6 billion bridge being shimmed.” Others expressed similar concerns. State Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D) stated:

“It’s a symptom of the management of this project and it’s not a good symptom. This is part of the reason why the bridge is billions over budget and years late. The governing structure of the bridge has been a problem from the beginning.”

The bolts in question broke during final tensioning and are an integral part of the seismic performance of the new bridge. Experts have said that Caltrans specified bolts that were inappropriate for a marine environment. UC Berkeley metallurgist Thomas Devine has said that three major problems with the bridge – the bolts, skyway tendons and faulty welds at the base of the tower – “collectively indicate the lack of metallurgical input into the selection and deployment of steel at key locations in the bridge.”

The genesis of this project was the earthquake that occurred during the 1989 World Series. It is incredible to think how long it has taken to get to this point. The lawsuits could take even longer to resolve. One of the highest-profile projects in California since the Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937 has become a public-relations nightmare for all involved.

Consulting Firm Faces Possible Fraud Charges

Categories: California High Speed Rail, Consulting, Fraud, Navigant Consulting
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The New York Times reported on June 22nd that Navigant Consulting may face criminal charges for “highly questionable” billing practices and “exorbitant” expenses on services provided to the Long Island Power Authority. A panel appointed by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo (known as the Moreland Commission) plans to issue its findings to federal prosecutors in Brooklyn to determine if criminal charges are warranted against officials of LIPA or Navigant. A link to the New York Times articles appears below:

www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/nyregion/possible-fraud-is-seen-at-long-island-power-authority.html

Among the abuses found by the Moreland Commission:

  • The chief executive of the LIPA, who approved Navigant’s contracts and billings, now works for Navigant
  • A “disturbing revolving door” between LIPA and Navigant existed, with employees leaving one firm to work at the other
  • More than 50 Navigant employees charged time to the LIPA at rates between $300 and $500 per hour
  • One Navigant employee billed more than 3,500 hours in one year, or roughly 70 hours per week
  • Another Navigant employee was reimbursed by LIPA for a seaplane ride from San Juan to a resort island

Cozy relationships between consulting firms and clients is certainly nothing new. I was aware of this practice by some firms in the early 1990s. But it is rather hard to believe that a public agency would allow this to happen. The chief executive of the LIPA surely could not act unilaterally without some oversight by the Board of Trustees. Many individuals who were spending the taxpayers’ money turned a blind eye to questionable practices.

A few days later, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced that it would audit Navigant’s billings for possible fraud. Navigant has been paid $5M in fees for several consulting assignments, including an audit of the Port Authority, which seems rather ironic. In addition, New York City’s Comptroller announced that it would investigate Navigant’s practices during the time it was investigating fraud in the city’s CityTime payroll project. These investigations were also reported by the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/nyregion/port-authority-orders-audit-of-consulting-firm.html

Frankly, a consulting firm that can charge $300 to $500 an hour to a public agency has a fool for a client. Here in California the High Speed Rail Authority has been criticized for relying heavily on consultants rather than hiring more staff. The argument that specialized knowledge is difficult to obtain for “temporary” positions is rather ludicrous on a rail system expected to take 10 years or more to build. NFL coaches enjoy far less job security. Consultants are the perfect solution for targeted short-time assignments that demand a certain expertise; using them as essentially fulltime employees becomes very expensive.

In too many instances privatizing public services becomes an excuse to gouge the taxpayers. Having been in the consulting industry for 30 years I can say without hesitation that high hourly rates have little correlation to skills and qualifications. Rather, it comes down to marketing. High hourly rates stoke the egos of the people who hire them. The irony of the LIPA debacle is that 90% of its customers lost power when Hurricane Sandy hit. LIPA spends millions of dollars on consulting fees and never asks for an emergency preparedness plan?

My wife and I belong to a wine club that holds “blind” tastings several times a year. Everyone brings the same varietal and we taste the wines without any knowledge of price or the winery’s reputation. And very rarely does the most expensive wine manage to land among the top three selections. Imagine if owners selected their consultants based solely on qualifications?

 

 

 

 

 

California’s High Speed Rail on trial

Categories: California High Speed Rail
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California taxpayers approved Proposition 1A in 2008 to kickstart a high-speed rail system. On June 1, 2013, a trial began to decide the legality of the project as currently planned. The plaintiffs argue that taxpayers are not receiving what they voted for back in 2008. Construction was supposed to start next month. Basically, the arguments come down to four issues:

  1. Does Prop. 1A require that all funding for the project be identified before any construction can start? Currently there is a $55B shortfall in funding. For that matter, there is not enough funding yet for the first operable segment in the Central Valley.
  2. Have all the necessary permits been obtained? The California High Speed Rail Authority is dealing with multiple layers of reviews, and now faces a review by the federal Surface Transportation Board – a requirement the CHSRA did not seem to realize might exist until March of 2013.
  3. Can a trip between San Francisco and Los Angeles be completed in under 2 hours 40 minutes? Prop. 1A clearly imposes this requirement but the “blended” approach now chosen by the CHSRA means that trains will operate at slower speeds on some segments.
  4. Will taxpayers subsidies be necessary to operate the system? Prop. 1A specifically prohibits taxpayer subsidies for operating the system. If a trip takes longer that the mandated 2 hours 40 minutes more train sets will be required to meet the projected ridership projections. Slower trips will also make train travel less competitive with the airlines.

The first segment of the high-speed rail system must be completed by September 2017 or California risks losing $3B in federal funding. This would be a devastating impact to a project expected to take tens of billions of dollars more to build than originally envisioned back in 2008.

 

 

 

Welcome to our new website!

Categories: Uncategorized
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Welcome! We launched our new website on May 29, 2013. Besides adding many new features we wanted our Construction Science website to have a similar theme as our Primavera P6 training website, www.primaverascheduling.com

While the new site has been beta tested several times, please let us know if any links are not working. And look for regular postings regarding the construction industry and tips for solving problems. After all, we have been assisting bulding owners and construction companies for 29 years.