Avoiding Change Orders: How to Keep Costs Down and Your Project on Schedule
by Evan Parganos

Change orders can be a major obstacle to the completion of a successful construction project.

Change orders in the construction industry are by no means unusual, but they typically increase the cost of and time to complete the project. Because they were not allocated for from the beginning, these unwelcome surprises can cause tension between the design team and the contractors/subcontractors on site, as well as frustration on the part of the owner.

At EP Engineering, we know that one of the keys to a successful project and a satisfied client is to minimize scope changes during both design and construction. To do this, we keep an eye on certain factors that are known to lead to change orders. We try our best to maintain constant communication with the client and to avoid potentially costly design changes. Below are the four most common situations in which change orders can occur.

Miscommunication between the Members of the Design Team.

Miscommunications between the architect, engineer, and other members of the design team make up the most common type of change order. This typically occurs when the design teams spends too little time together coordinating their separate trades.

To avoid situations like this, EP Engineering takes extra precautions at the start of every project. We work very closely with architects-- scheduling and attending extra design meetings, constantly updating progress plans, and keeping every member of the team updated and informed on the latest developments.

Unexpected Field Conditions.

These are most often due to complications when existing conditions are not accounted for in the design. Such problems occur more often in older buildings, which can be difficult to survey.

On a project where conditions were not accurately surveyed, you'll typically see a notation on the engineering plans that reads “Connect to nearest”. During construction it is often discovered that “nearest” is actually far away or difficult to access. On each project, EP Engineering conducts extensive surveying and creates "as-built" plans for the existing MEP systems pertaining to the renovated space. This allows us to fully integrate our design with the existing conditions without making assumptions. The process we use helps us steer clear of complicated issues that can develop down the road due to unanticipated field conditions.

Plans and/or Specifications Require Modification.

This refers to a project that cannot physically be constructed as indicated in the Contract Documents. The problem is often realized during shop drawing preparation, when plans don't "make sense on paper," or during coordination between various trades where one team relies on the other before they can move onto their portion of the work. Typically, this is a mistake made by the engineer. In extreme cases, you will see MEP plans where the HVAC & Electrical plans look that they came from separate offices.

EP Engineering avoids creating inoperable plans by taking the following actions at the start of every project:

• We draw double line ductwork to ensure it fits prior to construction. Final plans are brought to the job site to conduct a feasibility check before they are issued.
• We review our designs with either members of the construction management team or with CM colleagues in our field. All plans coming out of our office are previewed by construction professionals to ensure that they're workable in the real world.
• Engineering firms typically allot 75% of their fee to design and 25% to construction. We allocate 90% of our fee to the design portion of each project because we know that if a design is good, we will spend much less time making modifications during construction. We view this as being "proactive up front" so that we can get things right on the first try and not have to retrace steps and redraw plans.
• We release project designs from our office ONLY after they are checked thoroughly by a PRINCIPAL for inter-trade coordination.

Scope Change by Owner.

Scope Change refers to when the owner of the property decides to add, remove, or relocate systems or equipment. This is likely to happen in cases where the client (owner) decides to expedite the project to be completed faster than the original contract indicates and reasonable time allows.

EP Engineering avoids running into the above situation by working closely with the client from day one of the project. Things like project scope, existing field conditions, and surveys are addressed in advance. We work hard to get a full understanding of all the site conditions and systems that will be included in the project before we start our design. Working with the owner, we inform them of our objectives and the process involved so that they have a clear picture of what to expect when the job starts. Once the above is finalized, we can then meet the client's budgetary and scheduling requirements as well as accommodate any special requests that may have been made.

At EP Engineering, we pride ourselves on our ability to reduce and/or eliminate the number of change orders that happen during our construction projects. To do this, we take precautionary steps at the start of the design phase that will ensure proper planning and development. It is our goal to maintain a smooth construction process and keep projects costs at or below budget - and to achieve this, there must be clear communication and precise coordination between the client, design team, and contractors.

Copyright © 2008 EP Engineering. All rights reserved.

< Back to Articles