Industry Veteran Offers Advice For Job-Site Success

In view of the myriad reasons that construction projects fail bankruptcy, increasing material costs, and labor shortages among them long-time construction

In view of the myriad reasons that construction projects fail Û bankruptcy, increasing material costs, and labor shortages among them Û long-time construction manager J.F. McCarthy offers advice in his book, Choosing Project Success: A Guide for Building Professionals. The recently published volume was named a finalist in the business and education/academic categories of the 2008 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

As McCarthy explains, many problems encountered in commercial and industrial construction projects can be solved with an integrated approach to handling a job’s varied aspects. Accordingly, Choosing Project Success addresses project and construction management, along with technical issues at the job site. It is designed for novice as well as experienced architects, building owners, project and facility managers, designers, lenders, and insurers. My book forms an integrated workable managerial approach that can be used by all project team members, the author affirms.

The commercial construction manual is organized into three sections, guiding professionals from project inception to completion. The first section explores information-gathering to facilitate communication, planning and analysis. Section Two tackles definition of a project’s purpose and offers organizational tips, plus management tools. The third section provides a managerial perspective on technical construction matters, including soils, materials, concrete, masonry, and plumbing.

You don’t have to read the book cover-to-cover to get immediate benefits, says McCarthy, who worked 36 years in the U.S. as a general contractor on projects such as schools, low- and high-rise buildings, single-family homes, city halls, fire stations, offices, restaurants, and hospitals. All subjects are organized by chapter and can be learned in about an hour with no previous knowledge of the subject. More information is available at www.paretobi.com.