A Case Study in Construction Cost and Schedule Challenges

NEW YORK $$ When a shorter construction schedule was implemented for the Henry J$.$ Carter Specialty Hospital and

Nursing Facility in Harlem, it forced designers and contractors to re$-$evaluate their plans to overcome any potential delays.

The original objective was to relocate Coler$-$Goldwater Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility $($later renamed to Henry J$.$

Carter Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility$)$ from Manhattan$$s Roosevelt Island to the Harlem neighborhood of New York

City. The $$285$ million project would be divided into two projects: renovating $270,000$ square feet of the former North

General Hospital in Harlem and building $185,000$ square feet of space next door to accommodate a new, $164-$bed nursing

facility.

Had the original timeline been maintained, the hospital and separate nursing

facility would still be under construction with a completion date set for March

$2015.$ These plans were overhauled, however, when New York City$$s mayor made

a special announcement.

$$We started schematic design and realized quickly that Mayor Bloomberg had

announced that Cornell University and its partner, the Techion$-$Israel Institute of

Technology, were going to be awarded an applied sciences technology school,$$

said Marsha Whitt, principal at Array Architects, based in King of Prussia, Pa$.,$

and project manager for the Henry J$.$ Carter facility.

The technology school was set to build on the same Roosevelt Island site where

the Coler$-$Goldwater hospital was located. The only problem was that the hospital needed to be demolished $$ quickly. The

expedited demolition date moved the completion and patient$-$move date for Henry J$.$ Carter up to November $2013$ and

shrank the schedule by $16$ months.

$$That$$s when we had to back up and relook at the project and look at how we were going to approach it$.$ How long was

design going take? How long was construction going to take? How were the design team and the construction managers

going to work together to meet these accelerated deadlines?$$ Whitt said.

A new time frame wiped out the design$-$development process. The solution was to regroup and implement integrated project

delivery $($IPD$)$ strategies and a collocation system. Array went straight from schematic design to construction documents.

This forced the project$$s construction manager, Gilbane McKissack $($a joint venture between Providence, R$.$I.$-$based Gilbane

and Nashville, Tenn.$-$based McKissack & McKissack$)$ to start looking at how they could quickly get resources on$-$site.

All stakeholders involved in the development process came together in full$-$team meetings. The strategy united the design

team, construction manager and hospital owner in one location, and the collaboration accelerated the decision$-$making.

Additionally, performance incentives that included shared cost and schedule metrics for both the contractor and design

team helped to maintain the team effort.

$$You$$re joined at the hip by money, but since we were collocated, we put that piece aside and started to work as a cohesive

team$$ we were all working toward the same goal,$$ Whitt said.

One critical component of adjusting to the tighter schedule involved dividing the two projects into multiple bid packages,

which helped speed up information delivery, contract award and start of construction.

$$Traditionally you may have a site package, an exterior package and a fit$-$out package. On this, we ended up with $20$

packages because we broke it out by what could be purchased and when to get it on$-$site and get it installed,$$ Whitt said.

The client, contractor and design team worked side$-$by$-$side to review and approve packages. That process helped with

getting parts of construction completed earlier $$ things such as elevators, major medical equipment and the mechanical,

electrical and plumbing $($MEP$).$

Just when the process was starting to go smoothly, the development process for the hospital and new nursing facility hit a

new obstacle $$ Hurricane Sandy. Luckily, the Harlem site was not flooded, but it prompted a review of storm and flood

elevations for the facilities. The project team included additional equipment protection and elevated electrical equipment on

higher pads.

The Henry J$.$ Carter Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility opened on time, and Array is now involved in $$Day $2$ revisions,

assessing what else is needed $$ or needs to be adjusted $$ after occupant move$-$in$.$

QUESTION $2(25$ Marks$)$

A project schedule indicates what needs to be done, which resources must be utilised, and when the project is due. It's a

timetable that outlines start and end dates and milestones that must be met for the project to be completed on time.

Examine the additional ways to measure schedule performance. Apply the theory to the case study project appropriately

and adequately.