Early Completion Milestones Bonuses in CMGC Contracts

When Owners pay a preconstruction fee to their CMGC/CMAR/PD-B contractors and the preconstruction services include optimization of a construction schedule, is it appropriate to offer incentive bonuses for early milestone completion?  Continue reading to find out what your peer agencies have to say.

Arguments against including incentive bonuses on early contractor involvement projects are primarily this; if you are paying a fee to the contractor for their preconstruction services, that fee should be incentive enough for reaching an optimized construction schedule. These Owners feel that they shouldn’t have to incentivize construction completion dates or specific milestone completion dates, as long as 1) they are working collaboratively with the Contractor to develop the construction schedule and 2) they identify the necessary project milestone completion timing.  Further, these Owners agree that there are ways to capture early completion opportunities through use of the project risk register or innovations log.  Using the risk register or innovations log, the Owner and Contractor can agree on strategies to share the resulting cost savings of an accelerated construction schedule.

Some Owners believe it is absolutely appropriate to use incentive bonuses as a tool to meeting desired project milestones, as long as you can reconcile the incentive amounts offered with the benefit realized by the Owner and/or public.  In this case, the Owner works with the Contractor to establish an optimal schedule, using realistic scheduling parameters for workweeks (5-8 hour days, or 5-10 hour days), holidays, weather, MOT limitations, and so on, and then the Owner would offer incentives to accelerate that schedule, as needed.  At that point, the Contractor has a business decision to make.  They can add resources, add shifts, or work weekends to earn that bonus.  Contractors often get very innovative when incentives are achievable.

However you feel about using early milestone incentives on your early contractor involvement projects, the CMGC/PD-B best practices offer tools to achieve your project goals.

Please contact Dan Bender at (702) 523-2354 if you have questions about CMGC/PD-B best practices.

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Innovative Contracting and Engineering provided independent cost estimating services for the Scioto River Pedestrian Bridge project, the world’s longest single span, “S” shaped suspension bridge. The Scioto River Pedestrian Bridge is a cable supported structure with a 500 ft main span in Dublin, Ohio.  It connects the future Riverside Crossing Park on the east side of the river as well as nearby commercial, residential, and retail to Downtown Dublin on the west side. Dublin Public Works chose to deliver this project using the CM/GC delivery method, which was the first of its kind in Ohio. This sculptural landmark commonly referred to as the “Dublin Link,” utilizes an aesthetically pleasing 169 ft high concrete pylon with a tear drop shaped keyhole opening, which the reverse curve pedestrian bridge passes through. The 14 ft wide bridge deck consist of four 65 ft approach spans leading into a 500 ft long suspension span. The deep foundation was drilled while maintaining the highly fluctuating river flow of the Scioto River. Our team developed an independent approach to construction, construction schedule, and cost estimate, we verified quantities, lead the risk management efforts, added construction innovations, and helped the City negotiate a fair-market price for this project.

This beautiful bridge was completed September 2020 and has since been recognized with many awards. The project received recognition from the 2021 International Bridge Conference Project Awards, it was also nominated #2 for “Top 10 Bridges 2020”, and it received Project of the Year Award for Green Design from the Slag Cement Association (SCA).

Project Team:

Architect:  endrestudio

Engineer:  T.Y. Lin International

Independent Cost Estimator:  Innovative Contracting and Engineering

Contractor:  Kokosing Construction Company

Construction Manager:  Michael Baker

Check out more of our projects!

• Alternative Delivery Consulting Services (PDB, CMGC, CMAR, DB, P3)

• Independent Cost Estimating (Production-Based Cost Estimating)

• Critical Path Scheduling Using Primavera P6

• Constructability Reviews

• Risk Management/Mitigation

• Innovation in Construction Techniques

• Negotiation

• Change Order Reviews

• Training

We love what we do!  We have a passion for finding creative approaches to construction.  We are constantly looking for innovative construction techniques to add value to the projects we are working on.  Our team has found ways to reduce schedule and/or construction costs on every project we have worked on to date!

Innovative Contracting & Engineering (ICE) is a team comprised of former contractors and professional engineers who have a thorough understanding of market fluctuations, pricing trends, construction strategies, and innovations. Our experience working on alternative delivery projects across the United States has provided our team with a tool bag full of industry best practices. Construction cost estimating and scheduling is our primary focus. This focus is how we stay current on construction trends and price changes, and that helps us produce more accurate estimates than our competition. We have a passion for finding creative approaches to construction. We are constantly looking for innovative construction techniques to add value to the projects we are working on. Our team has found a way to reduce schedule and/or construction costs on every project we have worked on to date! ICE works closely with our clients to improve the quality of their most challenging projects.

How can we help you? Send us your questions, comments, and request.

Email, Call, or Text: Dan Bender, 702-523-2354, danbender@iceteams.com