More on Price/Change Order Debate

The recent CNR website article "All Low Price Buys is Changes Orders" has served as a catalyst for lively discussion both online and in person. The article was an interview outlining the viewpoint of author Bill Black, who came to St. Louis to share his perspective on the current price-focused bid market with commercial real estate and design industry representatives. Last week we reported on the dialogue that ensued following our original article. This week, the organization that sponsored Black's appearance weighed in.

Publisher Tom Finan received the following letter from Nancy Rodney of Roseman Design, president of , the St. Louis Chapter of the Commerical Real Estate Women (CREW)

Tom:
As 2010 President of CREW St Louis, who co-sponsored the event bringing Bill Black to town to talk about his theories of Integrated Project Delivery, I am a bit bemused by the rush to judgment by some of your readers.

The focus of your magazine is the Construction Industry rather than the design industry. From following your coverage for years, it seems to me that your publication does an excellent job of covering issues and trends that affect your readers on both sides of the industry in a fair and positive manner. Bill's comments about low price leading to change orders is a widely held sentiment in the Design-Public Bid-Build world. Many owners over the years have tried Construction Management, Design/Build, limited bidder's lists and other methods to upgrade the quality of the bidders on their projects while also addressing the relationship gap established by the adversarial nature of public low-bid and construction.

Bill Black's new book — The Commercial Real Estate Revolution — was co-authored by a diverse cross-industry team of people who all agree that the current system isn't working as well as it could be to deliver quality buildings to owners who are happy with the process, the price and the building. Low-price selection of contractors, or any of the design team, is only one issue addressed in his book and at the CREW event on September 14th.

Bill's main point is that until the adversarial relationship among all members of the design team is changed, the system won't get better. His "Nine Keys" include Trust Based Team Formation as well as shared risk and rewards. He also talks about Sustainability and BIM as important tools in providing good buildings that save money and serve their occupants. Following his advice for "Mindshift" could have a revolutionary affect on the way we deliver Commercial Real Estate in the US and make the jobs of architects, engineers, consultants, contractors and subcontractors and especially owner's more rewarding, profitable and satisfying.

CREW was proud to co-sponsor with IIDA to bring this message to the St Louis Real Estate Community and believes that teamwork with publications like CNR will assist and educate our St Louis region to get back on its feet while moving forward as national leaders in commercial real estate.

Nancy Rodney, AIA, LEED AP
Roseman & Associates PC

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