This comprehensive checklist and forms book will improve building contractors' on-site business management techniques and organizational skills.

A practical and accessible guide to managing a successful project Effective Project Management is based around an activities and action check list approach to project management. It provides a guide to the basic principles and the disciplines that managers need to master in order to be successful. The author’s check lists approach (based on his years of practical experience on projects) ensure that project managers are following valid processes, helping them to be innovative in their approach to developing plans and resolving problems. In addition, the author’s check list pick and mix format is designed to be flexible in order to meet the individual needs of the reader. Effective Project Management also contains some information on the theories underpinning project management. Knowledge of the theory helps in the understanding of how project management works in practice. In addition to the book’s check lists of what activities need to be performed, the author offers suggestions on how tasks could be carried out. This important resource: Covers a wide range of project management topics including the project management process, programme and portfolio management, initiating and contracting a project, personal skills and more Offers a highly accessible guide to the author’s verified check list approach Presents flexible guidelines applicable for a wide range projects Includes guidance for project managers at all levels of experience Written for project managers working on engineering or construction projects, Effective Project Management reviews all aspects of a project from initiation and execution to project completion together with the specialist topics and personal skills needed to manage projects effectively.

The New York Times bestselling author of Being Mortal and Complications reveals the surprising power of the ordinary checklist We live in a world of great and increasing complexity, where even the most expert professionals struggle to master the tasks they face. Longer training, ever more advanced technologies—neither seems to prevent grievous errors. But in a hopeful turn, acclaimed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande finds a remedy in the humblest and simplest of techniques: the checklist. First introduced decades ago by the U.S. Air Force, checklists have enabled pilots to fly aircraft of mind-boggling sophistication. Now innovative checklists are being adopted in hospitals around the world, helping doctors and nurses respond to everything from flu epidemics to avalanches. Even in the immensely complex world of surgery, a simple ninety-second variant has cut the rate of fatalities by more than a third. In riveting stories, Gawande takes us from Austria, where an emergency checklist saved a drowning victim who had spent half an hour underwater, to Michigan, where a cleanliness checklist in intensive care units virtually eliminated a type of deadly hospital infection. He explains how checklists actually work to prompt striking and immediate improvements. And he follows the checklist revolution into fields well beyond medicine, from disaster response to investment banking, skyscraper construction, and businesses of all kinds. An intellectual adventure in which lives are lost and saved and one simple idea makes a tremendous difference, The Checklist Manifesto is essential reading for anyone working to get things right.

Save 30% on home construction! Whether you want to take on all the responsibility of contracting your home or simply want to intelligently communicate with your homebuilder, The Complete Guide to Contracting Your Home can help you save 30% or more on the cost of home construction by teaching you the ins and outs of managing your construction project. Learn how to get your project off to a solid start. Get financial and legal details in language you can understand. Learn what to consider when selecting a lot and how to deal with suppliers, labor and subcontractors. Gain understanding of building codes and inspections so you can manage with authority, confidence, and efficiency. This extensive guide walks you through each phase of construction including preconstruction, foundations, framing, roofing, plumbing, electrical, masonry, siding, insulation, drywall, trim, painting, cabinetry, countertops, flooring, tile and landscaping. Completely revised and updated, this edition includes a new section on sustainable building as well as the most comprehensive building resources section ever compiled. You'll find schedules, order forms, control logs, contracts and checklists to help keep your project on track.

Learn the Tips, Become One of Those Who Know Building Construction and Architectural Practice, and Thrive! For architectural practice and building design and construction industry, there are two kinds of people: those who know, and those who don't. The tips of building design and construction and project management have been undercover-until now. Most of the existing books on building construction and architectural practice are too expensive, too complicated, and too long to be practical and helpful. This book simplifies the process to make it easier to understand and uncovers the tips of building design and construction and project management. It sets up a solid foundation and fundamental framework for this field. It covers every aspect of building construction and architectural practice in plain and concise language and introduces it to all people. Through practical case studies, it demonstrates the efficient and proper ways to handle various issues and problems in architectural practice and building design and construction industry. It is for ordinary people and aspiring young architects as well as seasoned professionals in the construction industry. For ordinary people, it uncovers the tips of building construction; for aspiring architects, it works as a construction industry survival guide and a guidebook to shorten the process in mastering architectural practice and climbing up the professional ladder; for seasoned architects, it has many checklists to refresh their memory. It is an indispensable reference book for ordinary people, architectural students, interns, drafters, designers, seasoned architects, engineers, construction administrators, superintendents, construction managers, contractors, and developers. You will learn: 1. How to develop your business and work with your client. 2. The entire process of building design and construction, including programming, entitlement, schematic design, design development, construction documents, bidding, and construction administration. 3. How to coordinate with governing agencies, including a county's health department and a city's planning, building, fire, public works departments, etc. 4. How to coordinate with your consultants, including soils, civil, structural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing engineers, landscape architects, etc. 5. How to create and use your own checklists to do quality control of your construction documents. 6. How to use various logs (i.e., RFI log, submittal log, field visit log, etc.) and lists (contact list, document control list, distribution list, etc.) to organize and simplify your work. 7. How to respond to RFI, issue CCDs, review change orders, submittals, etc. 8. How to make your architectural practice a profitable and successful business. About the author Gang Chen holds a master's degree from the School of Architecture, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, and a bachelor's degree from the School of Architecture, South China University of Technology. He has over 20 years of professional experience. Many of the projects he was in charge of or participated in have been published extensively in Architecture, Architectural Record, The Los Angeles Times, The Orange County Register, etc. He has worked on a variety of unusual projects, including well-known, large-scale healthcare and hospitality projects with over one billion dollars in construction costs, award-winning school designs, highly-acclaimed urban design and streetscape projects, multifamily housing, high-end custom homes, and regional and neighborhood shopping centers. Gang Chen is a LEED AP and a licensed architect in California. He is also the internationally acclaimed author for other fascinating books, including Planting Design Illustrated and LEED Exam Guides Series, which include one guidebook for each of the LEED exams.

As today’s building projects are becoming increasingly more complex, having an ever increasing number of requirements, it has become essential to comprehensively plan building projects upfront and determine how these can be effectively progressed and efficiently delivered. To do so, project managers must not only know and understand the different lifecycle phases and many processes involved, but must also be able to determine what the most appropriate delivery strategy for their particular project is. Establishing a project roadmap and having a comprehensive checklist of what to do has therefore, become essential, as these not only provide quick access to the necessary prompters that should be considered, but also enables the most appropriate decisions to be made. This book sets how building projects can be effectively delivered, it sets out the essential project management delivery processes through a roadmap of checklists that covers both the project and design management processes and lists their many associated activities, applicable to any building project. These not only provide a valuable insight as to how building projects should be progressed and managed, but also outlines what should be considered and actioned at any particular point on the project delivery path to ensure the successful delivery of viable built outcomes.