Meeting the Milestone

Your company is a subcontractor on a major project. The GC's project manager accepted some change-orders without allowing for the schedule impact these would have. You're the site superintendent for the three electrical crews.

Your project manager and project engineer worked out the projected timelines in your company's project management software. Even with hiring a few extra people and moving a few schedule nodes around, you're going to miss the final milestone date by two days. Your project manager suggested to the GC that the milestone could be met if the client agreed to a modification that would move the less important changes to the other side of the milestone date.

The GC's project manager replied he had already agreed to the work and there wasn't going to be any extra time allowed. He said your crews wasted plenty of time each day. When you asked how, he ticked off a list:

• 10-minute safety meeting each morning, that's an hour per week for 21 people each. That works out to nearly three days right there. Cut this, and we're good.
• Job briefings for each cable pull. “If your people have to be retrained every time, why are they on this job?”
• All the “needless” inspecting of portable cords. “If a cord doesn't work, throw it away and get another one.”
• Electricians are inspecting their safety harnesses before every use. “This silly ritual wastes a lot of time. It should be inspected at the tool crib, and then they are good to go.”

While you can sort of see his logic here, all of those practices are essential to keeping people safe. Skipping them is not on the table. But there's also the prospect of being blamed for not meeting this next milestone. That would cost the GC money, and it would cost your company money. Further, that could mean no more work from this GC.

In this situation, ask yourself, “Would the client really agree to this if he knew the risk the GC intends to incur?” The answer is almost certainly no. And what about the GC's executive management? You have a project manager who is apparently blinded by the need to make a name for himself, even if that means reducing safety. One fatal accident on this job, and the GC's reputation is tarnished. Other consequences will follow.

What you and your two amigos need to do is provide the information to your firm's executive management. Show the data, explain the problem, and explain the solution you came up with. Then your executives can bring the problem to the executives of the GC.

This situation actually came up on a pipeline project, with the result that the GC fired their project manager only three weeks before a milestone date and promoted another person on site to take his place.

What about going to the client first, instead? That would be inappropriate, as your firm works for the GC. The client wants to deal with one firm, and not get in the middle of squabbles.

There is an extremely thin chance the GC's executives won't make the correct response. Going to the client even at this point is poor form, unless your firm has an existing relationship with the client. Your firm always has the option of walking off the job. The underlying illegality of demanding you violate OSHA regulations and ignore NFPA 70E makes any contract void. The only downside with that move is that GC won't hire your firm again — but then again, why would you want them to?