Although Covid-19 has affected various parts of the country with different levels of severity, it's now critically important to have a Covid-19 action plan at many construction sites—at least until the pandemic subsides or a vaccine is developed. In addition to protecting on-site personnel, helping to stem the spread of the virus, and complying with local, state, and federal directives, it's necessary to have an appropriate Covid-19 policy and action plan for financial and liability reasons. Preventing an outbreak on the job site not only helps to keep workers safe, but can help prevent a construction project from being shutdown by local authorities. Beacon's team can help developers, contractors, Surety companies and other stakeholders by reviewing (and/or helping to develop) Covid-19 action / response plans. At a high level, a good Covid-19 policy and action plan consists of all of the following...
Like many industries, the construction industry has been significantly affected by the current pandemic. In some areas, construction projects were shutdown for weeks or months, leading to significant delays and the push-back of project milestones and completion dates. In addition, slowdowns in material deliveries, new job site procedures, and personnel exposure to the virus have further impacted schedules. All of these factors can put financial strains on developers, GCs, and subcontractors and can potentially lead to disputes with project owners who may seek liquidated damages or other contract-specified penalties for late completion of a construction project...
We are happy to announce that Beacon's new website has been launched. Some of the enhancements to the site include its mobile-friendly format, new content, more project profiles, event photo galleries, more information about Beacon's services and other resources...
Beacon's team can help clients to determine if a project plan is sound or if there are any "early warning signs" that a project may be headed for trouble because of an insufficient budget, lack of a clear plan, or a wide variety of other factors. This article focuses on some of the ways we do this...
During the course of helping to analyze, re-let, manage and monitor troubled construction projects, Beacon's team often requests and reviews a large number of construction project documents, images and a variety of other files from General Contractors, Construction Management companies, developers and other entities involved in the project. On well-managed projects, getting access to construction project information is made much easier through the use of Project Management / Document Management software. This article provides a quick overview of some of the main software solutions...
If you have visited the campus of virtually any U.S. university in the past few years, you were likely to encounter an active construction site on campus with at least one major project under development. In addition to the inevitable need to replace aging buildings and infrastructure, building cutting-edge facilities has become essential for any university seeking to stay competitive. Thus, the multi-year "Master Plans" for many leading universities in the U.S. reference the construction of updated campus buildings and facilities...
Beacon Consulting Group has consulted on many large roof construction, replacement and inspection projects in recent years, both as the Construction Consultant for leading Sureties and for insurance claims / construction defects investigations. Infrared roof (IR) inspections and IR roof survey reports are valuable tools for investigating roofing issues. Thermal imaging inspections (using IR thermography cameras) can be a reliable and efficient way to find (and map) water leaks and hidden moisture areas in roofing systems...
Beacon's NYC team is providing construction consulting services for a number of high-profile construction projects in New York City. For more than a decade, Beacon has been providing pre-construction consulting, construction-loan-monitoring and related services for banks and other entities involved in the financing of new construction projects throughout the U.S. With the construction boom in New York City in recent years, Beacon has been actively involved in loan monitoring for a number of high-rise residential, commercial and hotel building projects. Two hotel projects which Beacon has been providing loan monitoring services for in recent months are located in midtown Manhattan.
Beacon Consulting Group has been selected to provide construction monitoring services for a new construction project underway in Manhattan. The 22-story tower is being built in the NoMad section of NYC. Groundbreaking took place in January of 2019. The new building is being developed by GDSNY (based in NYC) in partnership with Klövern, a Sweden-based real estate development and management company.
Since mid-2016, Beacon Consulting Group has taken a lead role in providing construction project auditing services related to more than 110 change orders on NYCEDC-funded construction projects having a total value in excess of $32.6 million. As of early March, the recovery / savings value associated with Beacon's services was estimated to be in excess of $325K (and growing). These savings are related to the reduced / avoided costs which result from construction project audit change order corrections and modifications...
