Some of these projects include the Campus Wide
ADA Upgrades, Student Health Center Exam Room
Renovations, Parking Lot Renovations, Brotman Hall
Renovations, and Central Plant Chiller Replacement.
SS: I have been working for the last two years on a
$26 million MSX Underground Utilities Infrastructure
Upgrade project involving various upgrades to the
existing storm drain, reclaimed water, heating hot
water and chillers at the campus library. Through
this project, we upgraded a total of 16,400 LF of
heating hot water hydronic piping (supply and
return) with an additional 5,000 LF of piping for
reclaimed water, and 1,200 LF of storm drain piping.
The project began in July 2017 and will be complete
in July 2019.
Were there any significant issues that you dealt
with for this project?
SS: Trenching through an old campus littered with
undocumented utilities, anywhere from 4 feet for
reclaimed water piping to 14 feet for hydronic
piping, is a disruptive task that affects the entire
campus. The disruption became prominent when
the conflicting utilities could not be relocated
easily and prolonged construction. For instance,
over 70% of the designed heating hot water (HHW)
trench path had to be revised due to conflicts with
existing piping and structures underground that
were not identified in the construction drawings
or record documents. This problem was amplified
because the pre-insulated hydronic piping takes
six to eight weeks to re-fabricate for any changes
to the pipe routing with each conflict. The redesign
of the HHW path during the construction phase
presented a challenging task for the team to not
only navigate through existing utilities in a timely
fashion, but also to manage the expectations of the
campus of mitigating the impacts—accessibility,
noise concerns, pre-planned campus events in
the work areas—resulting from such changes. To
mitigate these impacts, the team relied on a unified
campus communication system to provide timely
construction updates to all the stakeholders.
CP: CSULB also has events like new student
orientations and Forty-Niner Camp during the
summer, with children running around. So, the
CM and construction team must constantly
communicate with the appropriate personnel to
work around these kinds of events. At every new
location, we have to coordinate the proper signage
to notify the campus personnel of alternate
routes. We also put in place every available safety
precaution to keep workers, staff, students and
campus visitors safe.
What is the most challenging aspect of being a
construction manager?
SS: Scope management and change management
are the most challenging in my opinion. Scope
management is tricky because CMs are typically
brought into the project at a relatively late stage in
the project cycle, with little to no input on scope and
budget related decisions. As a result, the CMs end
up dealing with scope creeps and constructability
issues, which invariably lead to change management
for the rest of their time on the project. Interpreting
the design intent, assessing constructability of work
reflected, and defining what an unforeseen condition
is and what it is not, become a daily task for CM in
the change management arena. In achieving a cost-
effective solution to scope changes, the CM needs to
balance his role to protect the interests of the client,
while being reasonable to the contractor performing
the work. This can get very challenging at times.
CP: Since I’ve been here, I’d say the most
challenging part is dealing with unforeseen
conditions. Everyday we uncover something new and
work together to address it.
What has been the biggest success in your
construction management career?
SS: In one of my prior projects at the Port of Long
Beach involving two new ground-up buildings, the
contractor declared bankruptcy at about 90%
completion. The ensuing journey to complete the
project exposed me to an entirely different process—
engaging a replacement contractor to complete
the work, resolving outstanding change orders with
insurance company representatives, sorting out
numerous stop notices through the city legal team
and insurance company, and the final settlement of
claims and liquidated damages through arbitration.
It all took about a year and half to conclude. The
whole process, additional paperwork, writing new
contracts, getting the new guys up to speed, was
like starting the project all over again. We had
been very successful in managing a very complex
situation.
CP: After graduating from Cal State Long Beach,
I worked on several active hospital construction
projects in the OSHPD industry. The experience I
gained working for a general contractor allowed me
to be successful starting my first CM project at P2S,
which was two years ago. I’ve been at Cal State
Long Beach since then and my time here has allowed
me to grow and gain further experience in the
CM field.
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