Over the past twenty years the people who now comprise Hammerhead have been faced with the mission of controlling costs on lump sum and reimbursable construction projects on heavy industrial jobs, (both process and power) commercial office, flex, shopping centers, hotels, multifamily and residential housing projects, in difficult union and non-union environments. Our methods of quality attainment, productivity achievement, cost control, schedule achievement and safety performance are definitive and direct and have provided dramatic results

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY

One of Hammerhead’s keys to success is our use of our project-tested lump sum or reimbursable construction contract that concentrates on several key areas:

Contract elements – our construction contracts, whether lump sum, reimbursable, structured reimbursable, reimbursable-with-cost-at-risk or incentivized reimbursable, are field tested and court tested. We have an alliance with one of the most prominent construction litigation firms on the east coast, and we use this litigation knowledge to craft contracts which, while fair, are designed to provide the maximum benefit to the owner.

Labor, equipment and unit rate control for extras are a key ingredient of cost control. The starting basis for the labor rate is the union labor rates from the applicable union agreements. The built-up labor rate must be negotiated in detail to minimize hidden markups as well. Small tools, equipment rentals, both third party and contractor owned, as well as units rates are key cost control items. Our team has extensive experience in these aspects of cost control. On a recent project, our labor rates for our contractors were $15 per hour less than our competitors were able to negotiate. The next element is minimization of markups, and the minimization of indirect charges on changes. In our contracts, no extra manhours are paid for general foremen or area foremen or other indirects – these items are built into the base rate at a low combined overhead and profit rate.

Estimation of changes – we analyze the costs of changes independently of the contractor by preparing quantity take-offs thereby independently verifying reasonable pricing.

Negotiation of changes – we have as our hallmark the ability to negotiate favorable amounts for changes, often trimming a contractor very close to his cost basis, which, again, gives him less motivation for request for changes.

Scope write-up, scope planning and schedule management in the scope – Hammerhead’s scope concept and presentation to the contractor is based on detailed review of the drawings and a detailed analysis of the project schedule. Other CM firms and engineering firms either submit just the drawings and specs to the bidders, without comment, or write a deficient and overly brief and simplistic scope document. Before Hammerhead releases a solicitation to the market, our engineers review the drawings, specifications, schedule, construction sequence and constructability aspects of the design. Many times, our comments are fed back to the engineering firm for incorporation to the design. Hammerhead’s scope write-ups allow for field choreography, such as workflow, area release dates and interim milestone completion dates, in order to avoid hindrances and delays and improve schedule performance.

Safety – Hammerhead’s safety requirements are more stringent than the industry standard and is a top priority to Hammerhead’s construction philosophy.

Manhour controls – Hammerhead’s project control begins far before the contractor commences work in the field. Our bid breakdowns demand manhour submission, which aids in field planning and productivity measurement as well as a full understanding of the contractor’s approach to the job.

Project controls – Hammerhead typically performs a monthly review of all project costs for the project assigned and present the cost data in a correct and updated project cost report. In addition, Hammerhead updates and tracks the status of requests for changes (RFCOs) and contract change orders (CCOs) for the project, and presents the data in a correct and updated change status file. Hammerhead performs monthly project forecasting based on schedule tasks remaining to go, present earned value completion, quantities yet to be installed, RFCOs for work assigned, changed drawings and/or schedules and productivity of the crews being managed in the field.

Project closeout administration -- Hammerhead manages a project’s complete closeout administration, ensuring that all contracts, POs and subcontracts are fully closed out, including waivers of claims and waivers of liens, final payment and retention amounts are in order, and all backcharges are asserted and negotiated for the appropriate recovery amounts. Hammerhead keeps detailed files for the eventuality of asserting or defending potential claims.

Real time documentation – Hammerhead’s contractor control is some of the best in the industry, with daily project manager reporting and documentation and letters that protect Hammerhead and our client from claims.

Contact Us: The Hammerhead Group New Jersey · Washington, D.C. · New York New York 914-740-3888