CMAA News

The CMAA Southern California Chapter is excited to embark on another year of promoting and enhancing professional Construction / Program Management worldwide. As the economic recovery continues and our state attempts to re-start programs impacted by last year’s budget impasse, never before has the importance of our collective voice been so crystallized. The simple fact that the leadership of CM professionals like you results in a higher quality, more cost effective product for the taxpayer is testimony to the critical nature of our service. We exist to eliminate waste, promote safety and provide transparency through documentation. As other industries attempt to reacquaint themselves with these principles, we practice them on a daily basis.

Call for National Board Members
CMAA has helped shape the role of Construction and Program Management in the A/E/C industry since its inception more than 26 years ago. Now we face a time of evolution for the Association, our profession, and the organizations for which we work. Our main purposes – to educate, advocate, and connect our members -- remain unchanged.

CMAA has embarked on an ambitious plan to become more valuable and relevant than ever before. New leaders are needed to set direction and represent the membership.

The Importance of Providing a Safe Worksite
An active construction site can be compared to a mine field, with many unforeseen potential tragedies laced throughout the terrain. All too often these potential tragedies are turned into full blown emergencies where one or more persons have inadvertently encountered disasters.

Multiple-Prime Top 10 Concerns Especially when…
There have been many articles written about the benefits of multiple-prime contracting as a successful delivery method alternative for Public Owners especially in the K-12 market and specifically right here in Southern California. I for one have seen the benefits first hand when the project is run by a competent team with a savvy Owner. I guess one could say that any delivery method can succeed with the “A” Team. But how many “A” Teams are out there and is the client more at risk following the CM Multiple-Prime Contracting delivery method vs. the Design Bid Build approach with the “B” Team or less?

Make a Case for Sustainability:
Apply Total Cost of Ownership
Today there is a lot of buzz in the design and construction community about building green. Daily we hear about the importance of integrated and sustainable design, LEED certification, and reducing our carbon footprint. The intent of this dialogue is to build high performance projects that use our natural resources most efficiently. While we all want to reduce our environmental impact on the planet, we still struggle to meet our social responsibilities while meeting the financial parameters of our projects. The design and construction industry is accustomed to decade’s old methods and has not fully grasped that sustainable practices can drive economic development. Total Cost of Ownership is a comprehensive approach toward planning and building high performance projects that are sustainable and provide for an increased return on investment.

SMetropolitan Water District’s Arrowhead Tunnels
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s (Metropolitan) Inland Feeder is a 44-mile-long water conveyance system that connects the east branch of the State Water Project at Devil Canyon (San Bernardino, CA) to Diamond Valley Lake. The Feeder, under construction since 1997, consists of 26 miles of buried pipeline and three tunnels spanning 18 miles. Once completed in 2010, this series of pipelines and tunnels will allow Metropolitan to transport up to 1,000 cubic ft per second of water (650 million gallons per day) from the Devil Canyon After bay to Diamond Valley Lake (Hemet, CA). This pipeline will be crucial to Metropolitan’s plans to move large quantities of water from Northern California when water is available over relatively short periods of time.

AB 2738: Will The Intended Reforms Result in Increased Litigation Costs and Possibly Create New Inequities?
California Assembly Bill 2738 ("AB 2738"), signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on September 29, 2008, is being lauded by many as much needed construction industry reform, legislatively leading the industry away from a "top down" risk allocation model toward a "shared risk" model for residential construction defect claims. While few industry professionals would disagree that something should be done to decrease the cost and burden of construction defect litigation in California, AB 2738's inherent ambiguities may create new problems and actually serve to increase, rather than decrease, the overall cost and scope of construction defect litigation. This article will discuss the way AB 2738 changes existing law and the potential ramifications of those changes.

Southern California CCM in the Spotlight
The question for those of us featured in the newsletter is “what has CCM certification meant to our careers?” I believe that my professional engineering registration shows technical competence as a civil engineer, but CCM certification demonstrates the professional competence to deliver construction projects to my clients. The combination of the PE and the CCM is a powerful statement, and provides additional marketing advantage when pursuing work. The CCM certification process also provides a way to give back to the construction management profession, and associate with great folks in the industry.

Membership Report
The CMAA So. Cal. Chapter hopes you had a wonderful New Year beginnings. Our membership group volunteers are made up of the following individuals. Natasha DeBenon, of Hill International is the Membership Committee Chair. Claudia Hill of Seville Construction Services, Randy Nadalo and Ashley McInerney of Aerotek, and Rick Meade of HNTB are the committee’s four volunteers who help out with membership follow-up and many other items.

Show Them the Money – They Will Come!
Want to meet the future of our profession?

Then don’t miss the 17th Annual Awards Ceremony on April 2nd at the Pasadena
Convention Center!!!

The Student Outreach and scholarship committee recently completed this year’s scholarship application and evaluation process. 35 Students from 5 schools
submitted very competitive applications that were evaluated by a panel of CMAA Southern California Board Members. Over $39,000 will be awarded to 12 very
deserving students at the April 2nd Awards Banquet.

Upcoming Events

Member's Only - Dinner Program Sponsorships Available
Click here for details and application.

CMAA SCA Dinner Table RSVP Form
Click here for details and application.

Download Event Receipt for your records.

Thursday April 2, 2009
17th Annual Awards Banquet
Pasadena, CA
Click here to download RSVP Card.
Click here to download Invitation.

Tuesday April 21, 2009
BIM & Integrated Practice
USC Dinner / Symposium. Sponsored by: CMAA S CA Chapter.
For more information, please contact:
symposium@uscagc.com.

Friday April 24, 2009
Alternative Dispute Resolution - What CM's Need to Know
The Grand Conference Center, Long Beach. 8:00 - 10:30 am

Thursday May 14, 2009
Managing GREEN in a Brown Economy
The Grand Conference Center, Long Beach. 8:00 - 10:30 am

May 17 - 19, 2009
Leadership Forum
CMAA Spring Conference
Phoenix, AZ

Thursday July 30, 2009
What you should know about False Claims
The Grand Conference Center, Long Beach. 8:00 - 10:30 am

The Mission of CMAA is "to promote and enhance leadership, professionalism, and excellence
in managing the development and construction of projects and programs."

The Vision of CMAA is "to be the Authority in the Management of the Construction Process."