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Commentary: Construction Procurement Is About Managing Risk, Not Savings
I have seen construction procurement fail for reasons that had nothing to do with delivery.The model was wrong from the start. Too often, construction is treated like indirect spend. Leaders want forecasts of spend, dates, and savings based on historical data, as if the work were recurring. Then when predictions miss, delivery teams are blamed…
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Industry Watch: Rethinking Contract Risk, Beyond Schedule-Based Liquidated Damages
I have reviewed many construction contracts over the years.Most of them focus on dates and delay.Very few speak to the risks that cause the greatest harm to owners. Problem and Context A recent Lexology article on data center construction risk offers a strong introduction to liquidated damages, force majeure, and indemnity. It is a useful…
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Industry Watch: Why Architects Should Embrace the Owner’s Representative Model
A friend of mine recently took on a small renovation at his home.Beautiful concept. Straightforward scope. The kind of project most architects enjoy. But within weeks he was embroiled in conflicts over schedule, cost, and contractor direction — the exact issues his architect refused to engage in. What should have been a simple renovation became…
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Industry Watch: Why Small Decisions Derail Projects — And How Owners Can Stay Ahead
A friend of mine is in the middle of a kitchen remodel, and the project has taken a familiar turn. What started as a simple upgrade has become a slow drift into frustration — unclear scope, incomplete design decisions, and a growing list of misunderstandings. Listening to him describe the situation reminded me just how…
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Commentary: Understanding the Owner’s Rep vs. Project Manager in Commercial Construction
Recently, I was brought in to evaluate a client’s capital program. On paper, everything looked fine—healthy budgets, a seasoned leadership team, and a strong pipeline of commercial projects. But the moment I stepped inside the organization, the real problem was obvious:There was no project management layer at all. Internal staff—smart, committed professionals—were being labeled as…
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Industry Watch: AI in Construction Disputes Is Only the Beginning
The construction industry rarely moves first with new technology. It waits.It watches.Then it adopts, carefully, and usually late. That’s why a recent announcement from the American Arbitration Association’s International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR) deserves attention. Not for what it solves today, but for what it signals next. AI is no longer staying on the…
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Industry Watch: Employment Compliance Is Becoming a Procurement Risk — Not Just an HR Issue
Employment compliance has quietly moved from the back office to the jobsite. Owners are starting to feel it.Contractors are starting to worry about it.And procurement teams are increasingly being asked to manage the consequences. New employment verification requirements, combined with heightened enforcement activity, are changing how commercial construction projects should assess risk before contracts are…
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Industry Watch: How CCDC 5B-2025 Signals a More Modern and Collaborative Construction Contract
I’ve spent years treating pre-construction as its own phase of work. On many projects, that simple distinction improved clarity, reduced friction, and strengthened owner–contractor relationships. So when I reviewed the 2025 update to CCDC 5B, I recognized familiar territory. Many of the contract revisions reflect practices I’ve used for a long time. They aren’t perfect,…
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Industry Watch: Why Every Owner Needs Clear Building Rules and Regulations
Earlier this year, I was engaged to review the capital program of a large technology company.What I found surprised me. There were no owner-side building rules.No construction conduct standards.No documentation of expectations—formal or informal. The team relied on a single preferred vendor who “knew how things were usually done.”All of that institutional knowledge lived inside…
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Commentary: When Owners Lose Their Delay Protections — A Cautionary Tale in Design Discipline
I’ve seen this pattern far too many times.An owner pushes hard on schedule, accelerates design, and assumes the team will “figure it out in the field.”Then the project hits a wall of changes, delays, and finger-pointing. All of this could have been prevented with a more disciplined design phase. A recent New York Appellate Division…