As you examined in this week’s readings, the end of construction does not signal the end of the project for a construction firm or a project’s owners. Post construction and during project turnover, construction firms are responsible for completing the formal process of closing out the project. This process can involve performing tests on the completed project, compiling and exchanging project documentation, finalizing and paying sub-contracts, and completing a formal closeout review report. The importance of this phase cannot be emphasized enough, as mismanagement and poor organization of these activities during this phase can seriously damage a firm’s reputation.
Imagine that you are the construction manager for the construction of an office building in a neighboring city. The office building has several roof-top units (RTUs) that control conditioned air in the building. In order to maintain your project schedule and keep the construction moving, your team will need to operate the RTUs through the remainder of the construction. The warranty on the units will start as soon as the units become operational, and the project is not scheduled to be completed for another six months. You know that your firm will be responsible for providing the owner with a 1-year warranty on all RTUs at the project’s turnover.
How will you manage this issue now to prepare for closing out the project? What actions will you take during project closeout to ensure that this issue is successfully resolved? Provide justification for your responses.
