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Sample Subject Matter Itineraries
Below are two examples of itineraries that describe types of
subject matter about a contractor’s operations. A host
contractor may want to introduce these types of subject matter
to the intern. The first itinerary is one week, and the second
one is two weeks. Click
here for the Sample Daily Activity Schedules.
SAMPLE
SUBJECT MATTER ONE WEEK SCHEDULE
The host contractor may want to address the following three
areas of a construction company’s operations during the intern’s
itinerary/schedule: 1) Project Procurement, 2) On site Project
Management, 3) Monitoring Progress and Management Controls. The
following are merely suggestions for possible one week and two
week internships. Host contractors should feel free to tailor
the actual intern's subject matter itinerary based on the
contractor's work schedule and the intern's interest and
experience.
| 1) Project Procurement |
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• Identifying Target Markets
• Developing niche markets
• Identifying markets where competitive advantage exists |
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| Identifying Key Owners |
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• Identifying and obtaining
work from good owners
• Identifying owners who are difficult
• Determining where profit returns will justify risk |
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| Initial plan review and
prioritization of bid opportunities |
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• How does a contractor
determine which opportunities to pursue aggressively,
which to load profit on and when not to bid at all
• Initial review of plans to determine if advantage
exists
• Prioritizing/ranking of bid opportunities
• Which do we want to bid?
• Which do we have to bid?
• Coordination of bid between project management and
estimating, determination of resources (people available
and how that influence bid) |
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| Bid preparation/estimating |
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• Sub advertising
• Designing scope for each sub
• Fulfilling MBE/DBE/WBE requirements
• Sub prequalification/bonding
• Determination of when not to use lowest bidder
• Ethics-bid shopping |
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| Post bid review |
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• Formalizing commitment
form subs
• Identifying overlapping items in bids/missing items
• Analyzing how competition bid-higher, lower and Why? |
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| Consider having the
intern participate in or sit in on: |
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• Senior management
discussions about what makes the contractor different
where the following are addressed: |
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1. How does the company differentiate
itself from the competition?
2. What does the company have as strategic advantages as
a result of resources, equipment, people, etc.?
3. How does the company take advantage of its strength?
4. What is its niche? |
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• Management strategy
meetings discussing current project opportunities where
the following are addressed: |
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1. What factors go into the contractor’s
decision about what projects should be bid.
2. Solicitation of subs and MBE/DBE/WBE bids. |
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• Walk through of formal
prequalification process for subs, if there is one.
• Observation of bid day to witness how hectic putting a
bid together can be.
• Post-bid evaluation by estimating to either determine
how and why the competition won, or to verify the bid
was a good one, and that nothing was missed prior to
accepting the contract. |
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| The whole project
procurement process from developing strategy to post-bid
evaluation could be covered in a couple of days, or it
could be spread out over the course of the week so as to
fit the bidding/estimating schedules. |
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| 2) On Site Project
Management |
| Spend a couple of days in
the field for in-depth perspective, whether it be on one
project, or spread over multiple projects. Some of the
key aspects that need to be covered are: |
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• Chain of command-when to
escalate problems
• Scheduling-working with subs and suppliers to achieve
timely project completion
• Subcontractor progress meetings
• Developing cost to complete figures
• Monitoring budget vs. actual
• Change order preparation
• Documenting changes. Changed conditions, alternatives
and cost for claims
• Project close-out
• Safety program |
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| Past interns have found
it helpful to visit a project that is just starting (to
observe how the project manager gets all parties to buy
into the plan for building the job), to visit a project
that is further along, and to visit one in the closeout
stage. |
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| 3) Monitoring Progress
and Management Controls |
| Management involvement and
continued monitoring of projects and people are
essential to the long term success of any organization.
Consider addressing: |
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• How does senior management
stay on top of operations w/o being involved in
day-to-day construction operation? Is it necessary for
senior management to get their hands dirty?
• How are estimating and project management people
evaluated? How are they developed?
• What types of Incentive programs have worked best to
motivate people?
• How often does management visit projects and
independently communicate with owner reps to determine
owner satisfaction? When does management gets directly
involved in a specific project?
• What is their method of communication between
departments? How do they avoid finger pointing or blame
(it was a bad bid, project manager was no good, etc.)
How does management develop a sense of teamwork and
honest evaluation of performance?
• What financial tools does management use to monitor
performance?
• Setting goals for all areas of the organization: How
to motivate people to reach goals.
• How teams are built within the company?
• What is the culture of the organization?
• Developing business plans |
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| The process of learning
about management control and evaluation of people and
progress can be handled within the course of a single
day. |
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SAMPLE SUBJECT MATTER TWO WEEK SCHEDULE
| A. In the Office–Week One |
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1. Prospecting for
Work–Philosophy of Contractor |
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a. Bidding vs. Negotiating
Philosophy
b. Market Area or "Construction Territory"
c. Sources of construction projects availability |
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(1) Public Work |
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(a) State & Local
Government/Municipalities
(b) Federal Government Projects |
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(2) Private Work |
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2. Deciding what to bid and
what not to bid after having identified projects |
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a. Owner acceptability
b. Architect/Engineer acceptability
c. Sources of funds/payment terms
d. Fitting project into overall business plan in view of
finances, resources (human & equipment) to prosecute
work
e. How does the contractor decide whether or not to seek
a joint venture and if so, with whom |
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3. The bid process |
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a. Review of plans,
specifications, and contract terms
b. Preliminary project Investigation
c. The job take-off
d. Compiling, reviewing & analysis of sub-bids, material
prices, etc.
e. Contingencies, last minute price changes and
revisions
f. Bid escalation, last minute price changes and
revisions
g. Quality control, eliminating the risk of error
h. Final assessment of the bid & delivery to owner |
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4. After the bid is
submitted |
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a. If the lowest responsible
bidder |
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(1) Evaluation of pricing
(2) Notification of subs & suppliers
(3) Reducing proposals to contract & purchase ordersP
RAM tee
(4) Preparation for award & notice to proceed
(5) Job Scheduling
(6) Mobilization
(7) Job site/Home Office organization and coordination |
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b. In not low |
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(1) Evaluation of estimate
(2) Documentation of the evaluation for future reference
(3) Review of cost records & data-a learning process |
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| B. In the Field/Job
Site–Week Two |
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1. Who is in charge of total
project? |
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a. Supervisory chain of
command
b. Communications between construction forces on site
c. Coordination of the work |
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(1) Subs
(2) Contractor forces |
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2. Relations with
owner/architect or owner’s representative
3. From the drawings to the work product
4. Adherence to plans & specifications
5. Job progress- timeliness on time and on budget
6. Daily documentation of job progress and things
affecting schedule (super’s daily report)
7. End-of-work project progress review
8. Include intern in job site meetings with subs,
owner/architect, etc.
9. Estimating the remaining cost to complete on the job
10. Relating budgeted cost to actual cost
11. Early identification of problems or potential
problems
12. Safety program
13. Drug program |
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| C. Address the Following
Items In General |
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1. The contractor’s views on
what makes or breaks a project (what’s important and
what’s not).
2. How the contractor uses actual information from a job
in estimating future jobs of like kind.
3. The contractor’s view on project difficulties, how to
recognize, avoid or handle them.
4. Discussion of cost accounting system-Does it meet the
contractor’s needs and how the contractor relies on it. |
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