Not so long ago, general contractors were the leaders in the construction industry when it came to estimating labor, materials, equipment and scheduling. Today’s reality is that general contractors are more involved in managing the instruments of communication than managing actual construction issues.

The most obvious indicator is the amount of money most general contractors spend on software to help create estimates, schedules and shop drawings and to manage RFIs, submittals and transmittals. While the management of these instruments is necessary, the negative affect is that general contractors are fulfilling the role of a broker rather than managing the construction process. Although universities are providing the industry with managers, the field is losing clever, qualified superintendents, and the office is losing management competency.

When is the last time you saw a project that was under budget, within the owner’s “original” schedule and had no major quality issues?

It is even more perplexing that, with all the technological advances in the industry, the time and investment it takes to deliver a construction project is actually worse than it was in the past. The “modular construction unit” is the industry's response to these shortcomings.

The modular construction unit is the use of prefabricated components that are manufactured and assembled remotely from the project site. Its introduction into the construction planning creates opportunities for the project management team to consolidate the traditional construction sequences into smaller more easily managed components.

Several pressures have propelled the industry down this path.

One of the biggest pressures is that academia offers little focus on the management of people. The competency of a manager is measured best by his or her ability to manage people amid pressure and conflict.

(Bear with me here, as I am going somewhere with this.)

Technology offers an opportunity to avoid conflict resolution. Most managers will take confidence that if they send edicts in writing via e-mail, then they have satisfied their obligation. In contrast, psychologists likely will tell you that real-time conflict is healthy when managed correctly. The inability of managers and field superintendents to understand the art of dispute resolution and accountability is probably the foremost cause of loss of efficiencies.

The best teacher for dispute resolution is experience. However, most college graduates have little training and experience in dispute resolution, and thanks to technology, they have less fortitude to learn it on their own. This results not only in inefficiencies in the execution of projects, but lends to adverse relationships throughout. Technology, while beneficial, should be used as a management tool to supplement a manager, not as a replacement to real management skills. Indeed, over-reliance on technology is detrimental to the construction industry. Technology not only offers a diversion for avoiding conflict, it also offers an opportunity for the manager to remove himself from involvement at the operational level.

Superintendents and project managers did not have such diverse roles in the past. However, with the onslaught of the ever-increasing number of documents that need attention, the office and field have separated, much in the same way the architect and the contractor have separated. The evolution of the industry, propelled by technology, will continue to increase those with specialized skills and reduce the number of people who see the “whole picture.” Good managers are able to keep involved at the operational level, which helps them identify problems and add to their edification for future projects. Good superintendents have a grasp on managing manpower and workflow, and know how to protect their critical path by staying involved with material delivery.

Another factor that has pushed general contractors into the broker mode is the aversion to the risks of self-performing. While some general contractors will self-perform relative to some of the scope, most general contractors will not risk the liabilities of managing manpower. This puts most of the knowledge of human management into the hands of the subcontractors.

The ability to identify the proper tools and equipment of the trade are also in the hands of the subcontractors. The construction managers do not have to manage these risks, and thus, they lose touch with the investment and skills necessary to execute work. The result is often that the work sequencing often lacks a positive flow. The other negative result is that general contractors, who commit to aggressive schedules, rarely have the ability to understand the consequences of untimely answers to engineering questions and, therefore, cannot accurately communicate its effect to architects and engineers.

Enter the module. The modular construction unit is a direct result of the pressures described above. The
introduction of modular construction units can provide some comfort to owners, developers and general contractors.

Panelization of the exterior building envelope is one of the responses from the industry that appears to meet the demands of cost, quality and schedule. A panelized wall system is something that can be built in a factory and reviewed prior to its installation. It reduces the amount of on-site labor risks, staging area, scaffolding and time. The climate is controlled while quality is measured easily. The nature of the module offers expeditious installation.

For instance, instead of a crew of 30 carpenters and 20 masons with scaffolding and material staging, where they are at the mercy of the weather and other trades, a panelized wall system can reduce the exterior wall installation to four to eight installers including the crane operator. This is very desirable: to the architect, who can review mock-ups and approve quality in the shop; to the developers, who save time (which means money and quick return on investment); and to the general contractor, who can reduce his or her cost in clean-up, waste removal and the overhead and risks in managing materials and people.

With a panelized exterior wall system, the knowledge required of a general contractor is less, and he or she can employ less-qualified personnel to manage the construction of buildings. It is preferable, of course, that the general contractors and construction managers are competent in understanding construction sequencing. Panelization still requires an ability to sequence the construction flow positively. However, it does take several trades that a general contractor would typically have to coordinate and combines them into one manageable module.

As general contractors become further removed from the operations of building construction, and become more consumed in the art of brokering construction, the demand for qualified construction management skills may have its last hopes in the hands of the subcontractors. In fact, engineering and design via shop drawings is becoming the norm in the construction industry. As the movement toward modular construction units yields this trend, the industry risks losing value at the architect and general contractor level; it is leaning more heavily on the subcontractor to deliver buildings economically, under aggressive schedules and with high levels of quality. While seemingly undesirable, it may be the natural evolution of the industry, and as we are all aware, those who operate under continuous improvement cycles and embrace change will gain the most from the future.

Would it be challenging to the industry if the subcontractors were licensed architects and engineers who offered design/build services for the different scopes while the general contractor managed them all?

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Michael Turner began his career in architecture prior to opting for a career in construction management. His general contracting experience includes telecom, data centers, condominiums, and retail environments. His development experience includes project management for a thematic entertainment and retail development. He currently performs construction management and R&D for manufacturer and contracting company Grau Contracting/Gateway Panel.