Domestically and internationally, it is beginning to look like the paralyzing effects of the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic are subsiding. One would expect that Industrial Owner
Companies, who have had their capital and maintenance programs severely delayed or extended over the last roughly 1 ½ years, will be anxious to get their portfolios reengaged and completed as soon as possible to minimize loss time impacts. This work represents a significant backlog to be released on a rattled and shaken Construction Industry. Unfortunately, the uncertain duration of the pandemic, caused almost all industry capital and maintenance projects stakeholders to also downsize and consolidate their human resources to better weather anticipated overhead cost impacts. The combination of widespread delayed capital and maintenance projects and reduced vital owner and contractor human resources to Develop, Execute, Commission and Maintain these assets looms as a major challenge for the industry to avoid a long, drawn-out period of widespread confusion, inefficiencies, delays, and costly overruns. To help minimize these negative impacts, leaders from all segments of the Construction Industry will have to put their individual segment and collective heads together to describe and plan how best to work out this unprecedented industry-wide challenge in an efficient, timely, and integrated manner.
Owners will need to provide credible/reliable forecasts of their minimum, probable and maximum anticipated capital, and maintenance project programs by construction sector, by year, and general location in order for the contractor community and other industry sectors to gauge the potential level, type, and timing of the challenges collectively facing them. Beyond this point, the various sectors of the Construction Industry will have to take the initiative to characterize/define the challenge and how best and when the industry could efficiently handle the consolidated workload and profile.
Owners will probably also need to support such a recovery initiative with increased staffing of their own Project Management Teams to oversee the increased project activity. Additionally, they may provide sets of Owner “rapid access tutorials” for contractor reference/training and possible re-tooling and augmentation of their existing staff by calling back temporary assistance from knowledgeable and trusted retirees or other reliable sources. Today, more than ever, suitable contracting strategies will also be required, aimed at promoting highly integrated and cooperative work environments, alliances between Owners, Suppliers of Goods, and Engineering and Construction Contracting Firms. The primary common goal of all stakeholders must be to achieve the expected success of the projects/programs while respecting everyone’s role and objectives through careful/timely planning and excellent interaction and execution.
The commitment, cooperation, and trust it will take to pull off something like this is unprecedented except possibly in wartime, but the stakes are extremely high and significant. The Construction Industry Institute (CII) and other industry-leading groups have pointed to industry sector cooperation, respect, trust, and integrated planning. This provides an excellent opportunity for the industry to work together and rise to the challenge.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Louis J. Cabano
Lou is Chairman of Pathfinder, LLC. and has over 45 years of extensive hands-on experience managing major process industry projects worldwide.
l_cabano@pathfinderinc.com
856-424-7100
