BUSINESS
When your name is on the documents, what do
you want your/your firm’s reputation to be?
they don’t look to the attorney to other than clean
up the mess he’s likely created. They blame the
architect, the CMa, the contractor. When your name
is on the documents, what do you want your/your
firm’s reputation to be? What do you want bidders
to think when bidding a project? What do you
want contractors to think when approaching the
management of the project – whether the particular
project in question or other work where the
documents may not have followed you but history
of what you were forced to do on that project does?
You may have noticed over the last few columns
that there is a bit of a theme relative to fairness. The
egregious documents related to the first story were
rare back then but I have seen a trend where the
design and construction professionals have ceded
the ground to those who sit in the background and
often don’t know what it really takes to complete
a project. This is particularly true relative to the
contract documents. Maybe it’s, in part, my age, but
it has made me increasingly irascible. It’s high time
to reclaim the turf.
Reputation matters. Feel free to share this column with
an architect.
It’s Buck again. Another reason I asked to have this article
reprinted other than the obvious was that PDCA is now – and has
always tried its darndest – to live up to the very high expectation
of its members, and to set a good example for them.
Reputation is one of the driving forces in my continued
memberships in both PDCA and AGCNYS. I want to associate
with others who share the same beliefs I do. Not only that,
but to have a voice, through participation, in effecting the
working environment every day for the better. Please ask
yourself regarding your daily life and your memberships in any
contractors’ organization whether you can make construction a
better place to work than what is evident in Joe Hogan’s everyday
world, and in yours and mine. I’ll get off my soapbox now. Thanks
for reading. t
Joe Hogan, CDT is the vice president of building services for the
Associated General Contractors of New York State (AGCNYS), a
chapter of the AGC of America. For over 30 years, he has worked
as liaison for the members of AGC before public and private
construction users, architects/engineers and subcontractors. He
regularly reviews and offers commentary on contract documents
in the pre-bid phase, as well as project delivery and procurement
issues afterwards. Hogan also serves as director of construction
services for AGC Safety & Construction Services, a subsidiary of
AGCNYS, where he has pioneered the use of partnering in New York
State. Over the past 25 years, he has facilitated partnering/team
building on over $8 billion worth of construction projects in New
York State for such clients as the MTA Bridges and Tunnels, the NYS
Thruway Authority, NYS DOT, the NYCSCA, SUCF and NYS OGS.
Born, raised, and living in Buffalo, N.Y. (through no fault of his
own), Buck Darling attended Clarkson College (now University)
in Potsdam, N.Y. Not smart enough to get the B.S.C.E. degree he
wanted, he settled for a Bachelor of Professional Sciences degree in
engineering and business. He actually graduated (to the amazement
of his parents), although it took six years with one semester off for
bad behavior. He rapidly learned that no one would hire him with
a resume showing a 2.1 cum. GPA and his only working experience
was at a company whose name matched his. The old man took pity,
gave him a job and told him to get out of the house. He started at
the bottom, worked his way up and to this day has not managed to
crash and burn the 80-year-old family business, for which he has his
partner and his co-workers to thank.
“Reputation Matters” was originally published in the Fall 2020
edition of Cornerstone magazine by the AGCNYS chapter and is
reprinted here in full with permission of the AGCNYS and the author.
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