Project Management for Designers and Facilities Managers, Fourth Edition

Retail Price: $59.95

Direct Price: $49.95

By Howard G. Birnberg
Hardcover, 6×9, 296 pages
ISBN: 978-1-60427-120-1
June 2015

LEARN & EARN: Get 6.6 PDUs in the PMI skill areas of Leadership or Strategic and Business Management Skills

Description

Since publication of the first edition in 1992, Project Management for Designers and Facilities Managers has remained the leading choice for professionals and students seeking to learn and master the skills needed to successfully lead a project from conception to occupancy and beyond. Few engineering, architectural or facilities management courses offer training in this important activity and therefore most project managers learn their skills on-the-job.

With this practical, indispensable working tool you will gain all the essential skills needed for effective project management, presented in the clear, easy-to-follow style that is a hallmark of this book. Particular emphasis is devoted to effective communications essential to the optimal performance of every member of the project team. This Fourth edition is revised with additional case studies and includes everything you need to manage a successful project.

Key Features

  • Discusses building information modeling (BIM) including what it is and the problems the industry is encountering with BIM use
  • Describes the pitfalls of weak or ineffective project management systems and the working relationship between the owner/client and the rest of the project team
  • Offers specific examples based on real life construction industry experience by a long-time industry consultant, trained as an architect
  • Presents some theory while focusing on the actual “nuts and bolts” of managing design and facilities projects
  • Covers effective writing and public speaking skills, delegation techniques, and planning issues neglected by other texts on project management
  • WAVTM includes a downloadable overview of ISO 9000 quality standards and commissioning—available from the Web Added ValueTM Resource Center

About the author(s)

Howard G. Birnberg is president of Birnberg & Associates, a management consulting and association management firm, and is executive director of the Association for Project Managers. He is presently serving as an instructor in project management at the University of California-Berkeley Extension and at Embry-Riddle (Worldwide) University. For six years, he served as an instructor on project management in the Office of Executive Education at the Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, and also as an adjunct assistant professor at Michigan State University, College of Human Ecology. Mr. Birnberg formerly served as a lecturer on project management for the University of Wisconsin, Department of Engineering Professional Development, for nearly twenty years.  He has also lectured at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Texas-El Paso, University of Kansas and Andrews University.

Mr. Birnberg is the author of Project Management for Designers and Facilities Managers, 3rd ed. (J. Ross Publishing, 2008), Project Management for Building Designers and Owners (CRC Press, 1998), Project Management for Small Design Firms (McGraw-Hill, 1992) and served as general editor of New Directions in Architectural and Engineering Practice (McGraw-Hill, 1992). His research and articles regularly appear in professional journals, and he is currently serving as a columnist for Civil & Structural Engineer magazine. Mr. Birnberg holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree from The Ohio State University and a Masters in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS

  • Introduction
  • Project Delivery Systems
  • Strategic Project Management Plan
  • Project Delivery Methods
  • Case Study: “A Showpiece-Turned-Sour Triggers Change for Future Jobs”

 

CHAPTER 2: PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS FOR PROJECT MANAGERS

  • Introduction
  • Management Concepts
  • Summary

 

CHAPTER 3: THE PROJECT MANAGER

  • Who Is a Project Manager?
  • Case Study: Ohio Operating Power System
  • The Project Manager
  • Project Manager Responsibilities
  • Caring For and Training Your Project Managers
  • Case Study: AB&C Telecommunications
  • Mentoring Project Managers

 

CHAPTER 4: PERSONNEL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

  • Personnel Planning
  • Staff Management

 

CHAPTER 5: SOFT SKILLS FOR PROJECT MANAGERS

  • Introduction
  • Time Management
  • Preparing and Editing Written Materials
  • Public Speaking Techniques for Project Managers
  • Successful Negotiating Skills for Project Managers

 

CHAPTER 6: DESIGN FIRM OPERATIONS

  • Introduction
  • Profit Planning for Design Firms
  • Scope Determination by Design Firms
  • Selecting External (To the Prime) Consultants
  • Budgeting Project Design Costs
  • Case Study: Federal Design Work
  • Other Issues

 

CHAPTER 7: MANAGING THE DESIGN PROCESS

  • Case Study: Selecting the Right Team
  • Design Theory in Brief
  • Evaluating and Selecting Designers
  • The Design Process in Brief
  • Summary

 

CHAPTER 8: PROJECT PHASES AND PERSONNEL RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Project Phases
  • Design Firm Staff and Responsibilities
  • Designer/Client Relationships
  • What Owners Should Ask Designers before Selecting Them
  • Owner Program Management Options

 

CHAPTER 9: CONTRACT MANAGEMENT/PROJECT ADMINISTRATION

  • Before Signing the Design Services Contract
  • Contract Types
  • Billing and Collection
  • Prompt Payment of Consultants
  • Case Study: Loop Architects
  • Scope Management
  • Controlling Project Design Costs and Schedules
  • Why Projects Run Over Their Design Budget
  • Project Administrative Activities
  • Project Notebooks and Project Management Manuals
  • Case Study: International Potato Corporation
  • Partnering

 

CHAPTER 10: MANAGING PROJECT QUALITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT

  • Quality and Risk Management Concepts
  • Quality Management
  • Developing a Quality Assurance Program
  • Peer Review

 

CHAPTER 11: PROJECT COST CONTROL/SPECIFICATIONS/VALUE ENGINEERING

  • Project Cost Control
  • Specifications
  • Value Engineering

 

CHAPTER 12: SCHEDULING

  • Project Scheduling
  • Issues in Planning and Scheduling for Project Managers

 

CHAPTER 13: COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

  • Introduction
  • What Do CADD Systems Do?
  • Web Collaboration Tools: Will They Fit on the A/E/C Industry Tool Belt?
  • Building Information Modeling: Promise Unmet?
  • Case Study: Building Information Modeling A Cautionary Digital Tale

APPENDIX 1: PROJECT CLOSEOUT

APPENDIX 2: PROJECT ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS

  • Introduction
  • The Green Building Revolution

 

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Reviews

“Howard Birnberg has devoted most of his long career to improving the quality of project management for design and facilities professionals. He cares deeply and passionately about the subject—is a lifelong student of it—and has assembled the best of his thinking in this well-organized, easy-to-read book.”
Mark C. Zweig, Founder & CEO, Zweig Group

Project Management for Designers and Facilities Managers fills an important need for the AEC industry. It provides highly useful insights in meeting the industry’s requirements for project management.”
Bradford Sims, Ph.D., Chancellor, Worldwide, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University