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 Construction
management and program management provided on a "for-fee"
basis has seemed to die several dramatic deaths over the past
15 years. But it's still here and even thriving, despite a
shaky economy and market turmoil. Many agency CM firms that
have seen storm clouds gathering over the market have simply
opened their umbrellas and continued on with business.
"The markets have been down
recently, but CM firms seem to be bucking the trend,"
says Bruce D'Agostino, executive director of the Construction
Management Association of America (CMAA), McLean, Va. He notes
that agency CM continues to have a strong following in the
public sector, particularly in the hot education market. "Bond
issues continue to pass and so the money is there," he
says. "People talk about the infrastructure reconstruction
needs in Iraq. They should look at the infrastructure reconstruction
needs here at home."
Agency CM/PM work continues apace.
"Ten years ago, general contractor-CM became big and
people thought it was the end of agency CM. Then design-build
came along. Then the recession. But we're still here,"
says Mansour Aliabadi, CMAA president and CEO of Vanir Construction
Management Inc.
But other sector watchers worry
about how state and local financial pressures will affect
market viability. "About 46 out of 50 states were having
budget problems," says Blake Peck, executive vice president
of McDonough Bolyard Peck.
Even so, CM practitioner certification
continues to be a major focus of CMAA. The U.S. General Services
Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers and several local
government agencies are calling for CM certification as part
of their requests for qualifications. "They are setting
the bar for certification and we are now getting some interest
in the private sector," says Peck.
Vanir is one firm that has taken
CM certification to heart. "We decided internally to
push to certify project managers," says Aliabadi. The
firm has a certification education program and gives PMs time
off to study, he says. It also gives bonuses and promotion
preferences to employees who become certified. Vanir now has
more certified PMs than any other CM firm, according to CMAA.
One interesting sector development
in 2002 was the June acquisition of Hanscomb International,
Atlanta, by Atkins, a U.K.-based engineer-constructor (ENR
7/1/02 p. 7). Atkins immediately merged Hanscomb into the
Princeton, N.J.-based operations of Faithful & Gould,
the U.S. subsidiary of the British firm.
"Hanscomb has traditionally
focused on the buildings side, while Faithful & Gould
has a strong practice on the industrial side, in oil and gas,
pharmaceuticals and food and beverage work," says Paul
Reimer, a Hanscomb executive who is now co-chief operating
officer with Chris Taylor, who comes from the F&G side.
So far, the merger has worked fairly
well. "The relationship between the two firms has been
very complementary," says Taylor. "We have found
we have the same skills, but different client lists."
In 10 years, F&G had built its U.S.-based CM practice
to where it employed about 100 staffers. The marriage was
easier after Atkins agreed to stop using Atkins HF&G as
the company name. "Atkins has a great name in Europe,"
Reimer says. "But we are using our own name here in the
U.S. because of its brand recognition."
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