Benefits of small projects team initiative

Ordinarily, minimum design costs are associated with all construction projects regardless of their size or complexity. Consequently, the design costs are a higher percentage of the overall costs for small projects. This paper presents an analysis of the effectiveness of the Small Projects Team Initiative (SPTI) developed and implemented by the Seattle district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. SPTI is intended to lower the design costs on construction projects where the design scope is simple and/or the administrative and construction processes are somewhat routine. The Small Projects team consists of representatives from contracting, construction, engineering, and project management. This team produces specifications for selected projects with simplified design, design by shop drawing, and innovative contracting arrangements. Data from 77 projects completed within the Seattle district are compared with the data from 146 pre-SPTI jobs. Statistically confirmed benefits include reduced design costs and reduced schedule growth (when user requested changes are excluded). Lower median change-order rates are not confirmed, but further analysis of the nature of changes is recommended.