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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: 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: 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…