Cause and EffectCause and EffectJim Patrick, the foreman and partial owner of DHIP Construction and Remodeling, is an ideal subject in a case study on cause and effect relationships. In November of 2004, Jim was contracted to construct a two-level roof-top deck and convert a window to a door at Zhanna and Andrew’s house in Baltimore. At the onset of the project, Jim estimated that the job would be complete within approximately three weeks. After the first week, Andrew began referring Jim to friends who needed the services of a contractor because of the apparent workmanship of the job and the fact that his project was moving at an excellent pace. Nearly immediately thereafter, Jim was hardly ever present at the jobsite, and by the beginning of April, the project was still not complete. Jim had an endless onslaught of excuses for the delays, but because Zhanna and Andrew knew that Jim was mostly working on the houses of Andrew’s friends, they knew that he was not being truthful. When Zhanna and Andrew eventually managed to motivate Jim to work on their project, his work was no longer of the same caliber they had come to expect. Many of the project details went overlooked or were rushed to completion. This lack of workmanship and professionalism infuriated both Zhanna and Andrew, and soon Andrew found himself telling his friends to not, under any circumstances, contract with Jim. To exacerbate the problem, Jim came to collect on the last of the money owed by Zhanna and Andrew while they were entertaining friends, and before the project had been completed. When Andrew refused to pay Jim before the completion of the project, Jim became enraged and began making a scene and acting as if Andrew was being unfair and unreasonable. As Jim left Zhanna and Andrew’s house without his check, Andrew returned to the company of Zhanna and their friends where he told the entire story and informed each person that they should never hire Jim. As Zhanna and Andrew live in a very close neighborhood where news travels quickly, Jim was effectively barred from working in the neighborhood. Because Jim failed to keep his promises, failed to maintain high standards of workmanship, and failed to remain professional as the job came to a close, he succeeded in eliminating the possibility of procuring new contracts in Zhanna and Andrew’s neighborhood.
Among the three principal causes for Jim Patrick being effectively barred from doing business in Zhanna and Andrew’s neighborhood, his failure to keep promises is chief. Over the course of the project at Zhanna and Andrew’s house, Jim promised that he would complete the job within three weeks. He then amended that promise to mean that he would have the project complete before Christmas. When Christmas passed, he promised completion before New Year’s Eve. Eventually, Jim gave up on making time-related promises and began promising that the quality of the project’s workmanship would be unlike that of any other in the neighborhood. Andrew and Zhanna soon noted that this was yet another broken promise when, upon inspecting the deck, they noted that nails were missing in a number of places, and that some of the stairs used to access the upper-level deck were positioned at dangerous intervals. When Jim promised to rectify the issues that Andrew and Zhanna brought to light, even this he only partially accomplished. In so doing, Jim was not only breaking promises, but also compromising his workmanship.
Another cause for the ultimate effect of Jim losing potential work in Zhanna and Andrew’s neighborhood is that, toward the end of construction, he began taking shortcut’s and compromising the quality of his work. Specifically, Jim often claimed that Zhanna and Andrew should have faith in his abilities because, given sufficient time, he could solve any problem and make anything look good while also being functional. One example had to do with the small vertical posts that span from the railing to the outer sides of the deck which are referred to as pickets. Mostly, these pickets were cut to size, plumbed (made vertical), then attached to the deck using woodscrews. However, Both Zhanna and Andrew quickly noted that some of the small posts were not securely fastened, and in some cases not fastened at all. Upon noticing these workmanship shortcomings, Zhanna and Andrew began to suspect
he was having difficulty in making large scale and efficient work.
The end result was that many developers had abandoned their initial faith in Jim.
The following three examples were taken from a review I conducted of a proposed new architecture for a large apartment complex in Seattle.
First example of a construction project that failed to work to its full potential.
Next example of a project that failed even in its initial design, but then failed to materialize in a significant number of buildings, resulting in the collapse of an entire building that still had enough structural integrity to withstand a devastating fire.
A few of the issues with construction projects as I described above in previous posts can be explained by how they fail to incorporate design principles and/or features. As a result, many of us have been so disappointed and dissatisfied that we’ve been unable to invest a significant amount of effort in the project itself. As a result, the project has been repeatedly neglected both in terms of quality and in its eventual completion, which is a factor we all face when we’re on the road to building a large complex in Seattle.
First and foremost, design is no different in a construction project.
Many have stated that construction is so much more than just aesthetics or specifications.
Many of them are talking about the sheer numbers of hours and hours of work involved.
Why do you need to spend more $10,000 to build a new apartment tower in a city surrounded by skyscrapers? To give you an example of where we might have the most cost savings.
A great question to ask with regard to the cost of $10,000 to build an apartment tower in a city surrounded by skyscrapers will often be, “Why are you doing so much more?” (as opposed to “where are you doing it.”)
That was an interesting point for me to point out while discussing the $5,600 project and the fact that I spent more than half the $1,000 I invested in it a year ago.
This isn’t going to be easy for anyone making $100 thousand a year.
So, we all have to learn at the end of every day what the hell we are spending that much time.
It is important to remember that the above examples have been taken from more conventional or new approaches to building and are not necessarily consistent with the current construction process.
We are so underwhelmed with the scope of our projects, we are unable to fully realize the possibilities and are willing to sacrifice other options only to see our project completed. Â
While it might seem hard to believe that we spend one million dollars when we have more capital to spend than we can spend today, that is clearly not true. Rather, we spend less than we would have if we had invested in a project and then invested only in today in order to make today’s investment work.
That is because we want to get the next step in life fast (the development stage of the system).
While most cities are so well prepared for rapid changes in infrastructure investments (and there is no shortage of them), that is not the case in all of them (a fact which is clearly illustrated by the way that many companies are currently operating within the Seattle Department of Ecology and Recreation’s Sustainable Urban Renewal Agenda, and are currently being prepared for a new energy resource called new energy storage).