Date: 1/12/2011 to 1/15/2011
Location: Walt Disney World Swan Hotel - Orlando, FL
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Robert C. McCue, P.E.
MDCSystems®
Consulting Engineer

How can a large, well-funded capital project fail to achieve its technical, cost and performance goals and why is this still a common outcome? These projects are typically undertaken by teams of personnel from the Owner, Architect and Engineer firms and Contractors. How can such a collection of talent, carefully selected based upon experience and references, fail to deliver? The answer lies in part in the inherent instability1 in the contractual structure of the participants which results in incentives/disincentives to proactively solve problems and engage in CYA activities. Systems Thinking provides a new way to understand and thereby avoid these problems.

John E. Osborn
Originally printed in The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, April 1999

When legislation passed Congress 15 years ago, requiring schools to be inspected for asbestos, a new industry was born. Surveying the nation’s schools was a big task, performed in the public eye. This article looks at the evolution of trends and public perception relating to asbestos abatement in management, abatement methods, pricing, competition, health risk, legal liability, and court precedent. Before a property is purchased or renovated, an evaluation of asbestos risk is essential. With advance planning and practical strategies, the asbestos detriment can be turned into a benefit: discounts in the purchase price of commercial real estate is common when asbestos is present, if you know when to ask for those discounts. The same theory applies to the long term lease. Significant real estate tax roll-backs through use of the tax certiorari process can be worth millions when asbestos is present.