AMERICAN CONSTRUCTORS INC.: WORLD OUTREACH EXPANSIONPROJECT

It was 8:00am on September 24, 2009. Tom Grott, senior project manager for American Constructors, Inc(ACI), sat down with his team to assess the progress on their current project at World Outreach Church(WOC)inMurfreesboro,Tennessee.Thatafternoon,Grottneededtomeetwiththearchitectandtheclientto report on the company's probability of completing the work by the project finish date, December 14,2009;healsoneededtodiscusstheclose-outrequirementswiththearchitect.Theimpendingdeadlinewascreating significant tension on the site. Originally scheduled for March 2010, the date was pushed up toDecemberaspertheclient'srequestinspring2009.Initiallytheyrequestedthatthepropertybecompletedfor use on the Thanksgiving holiday (November 26, 2009). Grott recognized the impossibility of theirrequest and compromised by adding a few additional weeks to that date. He knew that the church wasrelyingonhimtohavetheprojectcompletedfortheChristmasseason.

WOC was established in 1980 as an inter-denominational Christian congregation. As of late 2009, thechurch hadmore than 5,000 members and was broadcast everySunday morning on three differenttelevision channels. In addition to its television broadcasts, WOC offered a 24/7-radio show and MP3downloads of selected sermons. The church had become a major establishment in middle Tennessee, withclaim to several high-profile congregants. Grott's leadership on this project would leave an impression onthe local andchurch communities. In an effort to uphold the reputation of ACI and protectfutureopportunities,Grottneededtoensurethattheprojectwascompletedontime.

AMERICANCONSTRUCTORS,INC.

ACI was founded in 1979, and by 2009 was enjoying the benefits of being one of the leading commercialconstruction companies in middle Tennessee. Since its inception, the company contracted more than 600projects, totalling in excess of US$1 billion¹. The company became licensed in 15 states across the UnitedStates. Some of its famous contracts included major Nashville landmarks such as The Country Music HallofFame&MuseumandTheSchermerhornSymphonyCenter(seeExhibit1).Thecompanyalsosuccessfullycontractedtheconstructionofseveralmusicpublishers'headquartersintheNashvillearea,

namely the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Sony-Tree and Electrical&MusicalIndustries,commonlyknownasEMI.

Inthefirst30yearsofoperations,thecompanyworkedhardtoearnmultipleawards,whichrecognizeditsdedicatedstaffandthecalibreofitswork.Someoftheseawardsincludedmultipleawardsofexcellence in development as well as awards in safety, safety training and evaluation processes. Althougha drastic slump in the construction market in 1988 threatened the future of the firm, the ACI team workeddiligently to keep the company alive. In 2009, ACI was a strong and growing firm with several projectsacrossthe state of Tennessee.

THECHURCHCONSTRUCTIONMARKET

ACI focused its contracts in five construction markets; public and private schools, churches, health carefacilities, entertainment and office buildings/complex properties. The company's first church constructionprojectcameintheearly1990s.Itwasduringthisprojectthattheymetthefirm'spresidentasof2009,DanBrodbeck, as he was serving on the building committee for the church. Due greatly to the success of theproject and the relationships forged during this time, Brodbeck was persuaded to join the ACI team.Throughout the 1990s, area churches continued to be a strong market for the company: it completed fourmorepropertiesby1996andcontinuedacceptingmajorchurchexpansionprojectsintothenewmillennium.

Construction of religious centres had been a booming industry across the United States. In 2006, thechurch construction market was estimated at more than $7.6 billion alone. The American Institute ofArchitects (AIA) released a forecast in 2009, predicting that the religious construction sector wouldexperience higher growth than all other non-residential sectors in 2010², showing that despite a strugglingmarket, church construction could provide jobs for construction firms such as ACI, making them a highlyvaluable client. The WOC expansion was initially budgeted as a $31 million project; however, changes inthearchitect'sdesignandafewunforeseeneventsresultedinanincreaseto$34million.

WORLDOUTREACHCHURCHEXPANSIONPROJECT

With20yearsofexperienceintheconstructionindustryandabachelor'sdegreeinconstructionmanagement,GrottwasoneofthemostskilledmanagersontheACIstaff.AlthoughGrottanticipatedthatit would be challenging to please the client by meeting the December 14 deadline, he was confident in histeamofadministrativestaff,hiscrewof10labourers(carpenters,finishers,cleanersandmachineoperators)andthe25differentsubcontractors.Exhibit2showssomeoftheprogressasofSeptember2009.It was crucial that the building be usable by the congregation for the Christmas season even if there wassome minor work still ongoing. At the completion of the church expansion project, the architect wouldprovide Grott a punch list of minor tasks that the architect and WOC believed needed to be completedbefore the property would officially be considered complete. As part of running through the punch list,ACI would also do a last run-through of the property to ensure quality. Grott's goal was to start this finaltask, the architect's punch list, by the project deadline on December 14. He estimated that the architect'spunchlistwouldrequirefiveto10days,dependingontheirdemands,andhewashopingthetasksrequiredcouldbedonewhilethecongregationstartedusingthebuilding.

A critical part of any contractor's job is coordinating the close-out of a project. In preparation for hismeetingwiththearchitectthatafternoon,Grotthadpreparedamemorandumoutliningtheirclose-out

responsibilities (see Exhibit 3). The items listed needed to be completed and submitted immediately, andhad to be received back before the fire marshal's inspection of the property, which in turn would happenbefore work on the architect's punch list (see further details below). Grott would submit his request to thearchitect that afternoon and expected the documents to be mailed to his office in no later than four weeks(20 days), but no earlier than two weeks. In terms of capital projects of this size, it is not uncommon forconstruction to remain active several months after close-out documents are prepared; however, as noted inthe memo, the General Guarantee and Warranty and the Final Release of Lien (two other importantdocuments)couldnotbesigneduntilthearchitect'spunchlistwascompleted.

The General Guarantee and Warranty was a document submitted to WOC by ACI affirming that the workthey performed was in accordance with the details outlined in the original contract (see Exhibit 4). Thistypeofdocumentwasimportantforajobthislarge,asitgrantedtheclient,WOC,afullyeartoinspectandevaluate the workmanship of the property. It also relinquished any responsibilities for ACI after one year.Although preparing this document would not take much time and would not affect the constructionschedule, getting it signed after the architect's punch list was completed would be an important step thatcould take somewhere between half a day to one day, since the WOC would undoubtedly want to lookover the whole project carefully before signing. The Final Release of Lien was also a very important legaldocument (see Exhibit 5). It would be signed by each subcontractor to record that they received theirmoney and performed their duties, indicating that they no longer had any financial interest in the property(thiswouldnotaffecttheconstructionschedule).

RemainingConstruction

In discussing the current progress with his team, Grott identified three main sections of the property thatremained unfinished as of September 24, 2009. These sections included the bookstore/caf/kitchen, thelobbyandthesanctuary.

Bookstore/Caf/Kitchen

In planning the final stage of the bookstore/caf/kitchen section, Grott explained that work was already inprogress on framing, hanging and finishing the drywall. He predicted that it would take the subcontractor,CageDrywall,atleast21moredaystocompletethework(atmost23days).Onceitwasfinished,installingthe hard tile and finishing the stone columns would be started. These tasks would take 10 days and fivedays,respectively.Atthesametimethatthehardtileandstonecolumnswerestarted,BridgetBrodbeck,theprojectcoordinator,explainedthatshehadscheduledIntegrityArchitecturalMillworktobeginmillworkonthe bookstore, caf and kitchen;³ she estimated that they required 15 to 21 days to complete the work.Following the millwork, casework (installation of cabinetry) could begin. Brodbeck estimated further thatthey needed five days to complete this task. Installation of flooring would take 10 days and would beginafter the casework was finished. Upon completion of the hard tile and stone columns, installation of theglass was scheduled to begin. Expected to take no more than three days, the glass installation includedwindowsandglassslabsforthestorefront.GrottandBrodbeckarrangedforCharlieIrwinPaintingtocomeinaftertheglassworkwascompleted.Paintingthisareaofthechurchwouldtake10days.

Oncethepaintersandflooringinstallersvacatedthearea,Grott'screwofcarpenterswouldbegininstallingthedoorsandassociatedhardware.LarryHawkerwastheprojectsuperintendentwhooversawtheworkofthe crew on the site; his 38 years of experience had taught him that this task time could vary greatly.Hawker explained to the team that if the received doors were of the correct requirements and no hardwarewas missing, the carpenters would require five days to install them in the bookstore/caf/kitchen area;otherwise, reordering and matching hardware to each door could make the task take an additional twodays. At maximum, Hawker expected that the doors and hardware could take eight days, factoring in allpotential problems. While the carpenters were working on installing the doors, Brodbeck had scheduledmechanical, electrical and plumbing (M.E.P.) work to take place.⁴ On the work breakdown schedule,Brodbeckpointedoutthat10dayswereallocatedtothesubcontractorsforthesejobs.

As with the other sections of the project, the bookstore/caf/kitchen would be completed with a thoroughcleanup and run-through of the company's own punch list created by Grott and Hawker. Cleanup andcompleting the tasks on the ACI punch list for the entire project would each take approximately four days,and could be done simultaneously, but only after all three major sections of the project were completed.Thesetaskswouldbefollowedbyafiremarshalinspection,whichcouldtakeuptofivedaysforapropertyof this size. Only after the inspection could the architect's punch list begin. As internal inspections wereconductedatvariousstagesthroughouttheproject,theinspectionofACIpropertiesbythefiremarshalhadhistoricallyalwayspassed.

Lobby

The lobby of the expanded church was two floors high. ACI was currently working on the reception areaand the ceilings. Grott predicted that it would take 10 days to complete the reception area. Millwork wasthe major task that remained unfinished: the millwork task included work on the reception walls, counter,columns and rails. While the full 10 days could be spent on the walls and rails, the work on the receptioncounterwouldonlytakethreedaysandwasslottedtobedoneinparallelwiththeothermillwork.Workonthe hard ceiling was almost complete and would also take the next 15 days. At the same time as these twotasks,CageDrywallwas scheduled to install the drywall in the lobby. (CageDrywallhad enoughemployeesandsubcontractorsthattheycouldworkonmultiplesectionsofthechurchsimultaneously.Thiswas also true for all the other subcontractors.) Within the following 15 days, the subcontractor wasexpectedtohangandfinishthedrywall.Astheteamcontinuedtoreviewtheschedule,Brodbeckdiscussedtheplansforpaintingthelobby.Followingtheabovethreetasks,thepainterswerescheduledtopaintboththefirstandsecondfloorofthelobbyandwerecontractedtotakefivedays.

Flooring, another major task required to complete the lobby, was scheduled to begin once the millwork atthe counter was completed. A thin concrete layer had to be laid in areas where carpeting was going to beput in so that the carpet was the same height as the flooring. Hawker described the process to the team,indicating that the task times could vary from as little as five days to as much as eight days, consideringthatthecrew'sabilitytolaytheconcretedependedontheweatherconditions,sincemuchofthepreparationwasdoneoutside.Thehardtileinthelobbywouldbelaidfollowingthecompletionofdrywallinstallation:theyexpectedthistasktotakefivedays.Theworkwouldbecompletedbyasubcontractor.

Once the crew had finished their work with the concrete insert at the carpeted areas, a treatment would beapplied to the wood flooring materials to acclimatize the wood, and the flooring would be installed. Thistaskwouldtake35days,including10daysallocatedforthewoodtreatment.The25-dayinstallationcouldtakeuptothreeadditionaldaysifthematerialwasnotlaidwithprecision.Hawkernotedthatthistime

could also be shortened if needed by employing the crew to work overtime and help the subcontractor.Withincentive,thesubcontractorscouldusuallybepersuadedtogetthejobdonesooner.Hawkerestimatedthattheinstallationcouldbecrashedto30days.Carpetingofthefirstfloor,thestairwellandthesecond floor of the lobby were scheduled to begin following installation of the wood flooring and the hardtile,andwouldtakeapproximatelyninedays.

Grott continued the meeting by discussing the finishing tasks involved in the lobby construction. Once thedrywall and hard ceilings were completed, the crews would switch to work on and finish the publicrestrooms: this was expected to take nine days. At the same time, installation of glass and hanging thechandeliers would be done and was expected to take three days. The glass panels would span the height ofthe first floor and create a bright space by serving as the front wall of the building. The ceiling tiles alsoneeded to be installed, and Grott and Brodbeck explained to the team that Acoustical Ceiling Tile wasscheduled to work for five days following the completion of painting. After the ceiling tiles, washrooms,flooring and carpeting were done, the last two steps in finishing the lobby would begin. Done in parallelwith each other, the doors and hardware needed to be installed and the M.E.P. work completed. Each ofthese two tasks were expected to take approximately 10 days for the lobby area, but they could be done intandemwitheachotherandwithsimilarworkinothersectionsofthebuilding.Afterthis,thecleaningandACIpunchlistcouldbestarted,asexplainedabove.

Sanctuary

The sanctuary was a large auditorium with tiered seating and a balcony with additional seating: it wasdesigned to be the largest section of the expansion and therefore required a great deal of work and detail.Upon completion, the sanctuary, with its auditorium seating and large stage, would be an impressive roomwith state-of-the-art multimedia capabilities and intricate millwork. On September 24, Cage Drywall wasin the process of hanging and finishing the drywall in the sanctuary. At the time of the last report, thecompany estimated that it would take 16 additional days. For planning purposes, Grott divided thesanctuaryintothreemainareas;theauditoriumseating,thebowlandtheterrace.

Work on the auditorium seating was in its final stages. The core drill for the rails would take an additionaltwo days before it was complete. Once this was finished, the rails would be installed along with carpetingattheseats.Grottestimatedthatthesetaskscouldtakefiveand15days,respectively.Carpetingattherailswould take five days but could only be started once the rails were installed and the wood panelling, trimandstageworkwascompleted,whichwouldtake25daysandcouldbestartedfollowingtheinstallationofcarpet in the seating area. Painting could occur once the concrete floor in the bowl area was stained, thestage steps were carpeted and the carpet at the seats was completed, and was estimated to be finishedwithin20days.Thefinalstepincompletingtheriserswasinstallingtheseats:thisrequiredapproximately20days,andwouldbestarteduponcompletionofthewoodpanelling,trimandstageflooringworkandtheseatinstallationinthebowlarea.

Grottandhisteamusedtheterm'bowl'torefertothesanctuaryareathatwasflat;inotherwords,theareadirectlyinfrontofthestagethatdidnotincludetheslopedportion.Installationoftheseatsinthisareawasscheduledtobeginimmediatelyfollowingcompletionofthedrywall:itwasexpectedtotake20days.Someoftheconcretefloorinthisareaneededtobestainedandwouldtakefivedaystofinish,butthiscouldbeginonly after the wood stage steps were completed. The steps would be started after the core drill for the railswascompletedandwouldalsotakefivedays.Inparalleltostainingtheconcretefloor,carpetinstallationintheothersectionsofthebowlareacouldbegin.Grottexpectedthesubcontractortotakeapproximatelyfivedaystoinstallcarpetatthestagesteps,flatsandaisles.Inthesanctuary,thecrewwouldinstallthedoorsand

hardware when the painting, wood panelling, trim and stage flooring work were finished. Again, this taskcouldtakefromfivetoeightdays,asHawkerpreviouslyexplainedforthebookstorearea.

The architect designed a terrace just outside of the sanctuary. The window surrounds of the terrace werealready under construction on September 24, and would take approximately eight days to be completed.The next task, which would take seven days, was waterproofing the terrace. As Grott continued reviewingthe tasks with his team, he indicated that insulation would take three days, and could be started afterwaterproofing the terrace. Hawker explained the work on the concrete deck and stairs on the terrace;followinginsulation,thecrewwouldpourconcreteforthedeck.Therewaslargevariabilityinthistask,asprogress in laying concrete is affected by the weather conditions. He expected the crew to take anywherefrom 5-10 days to complete the deck. The stairs could be poured after the deck was finished. Because theytake more time and attention, the stairs were scheduled to take 10 days; however, Hawker's crew wasknownfortheirdedicationandhardwork,andcouldgreatlyreducethistimewithovertimeonweeknightsand weekends. At the same time that the stairs were being poured, aluminum rails would be installed. Therails would take five days to complete. The final task for the terrace was completing the masonry on thestairs. Southern States Masonry Inc. was contracted to do all bricklaying work for the project, and asBrodbeck explained, they were scheduled to come in at completion of the concrete stairs and railings andwere expected to take 10 days. Construction of the sanctuary would be officially finished at this time andwouldbefollowed,aswiththeothertwosections,bycleaningandpreparationoftheACIpunchlist.

DEVELOPINGTHEPLAN

Grottandtheteamwerebeginningtonoticethatwithoutovertimeworkandincentivesforthesubcontractorstoworkfaster,theprojectmay notbecompletedontime.Inaddition,therewasnoroominthetimelineforerrorsormistakes,whichwouldinevitablyoccur.Grottstillhadafewhoursbeforehewasplanning to meet with the architects and the client; since he wanted to be confident in this meeting that thejobwouldbedoneontime,heneededtoworkdiligently toarriveatasolution.GrottexcusedeveryoneontheteamexceptforBrodbeckandHawker.

The team knew how important it was to have the expansion completed by December 14 if they were tomaintain the reputation of ACI and preserve future opportunities for the company. They began to work onthecurrentlyproposedschedule,hopingtobeabletobringgoodnewstothatafternoon'smeeting.

Answer following questions:

Q1:- Discuss the Plan briefly that Mr. Grott anticipated would work for the World outreach church expansion project by December 14.

Q2:-Explain the Resources scheduling and Work allotment (in terms of Human resources and Timelines) for the construction of the following:

A-LOBBY

B-SANCTUARY

C-KITCHEN/Bookstore/Caf

Q3:-According to you what should be the key factors that should be focused upon when planning and controlling a construction project like the church? Give at least 5 factors and why they are important?