Clemson University’s Barnett Hall Renovations work that needed to be done. “We had to be both optimistic about what we could achieve and pessimistic about what could possibly go wrong as we had to plan for the good, the bad, and the ugly while hoping the bad and ugly never materialized,” says Glover. “No plan or process is perfect but that early collaboration covered a lot of ground.” It also set the groundwork for a comfort and communi- cation level that Glover says helped the process. “I wanted to be kept in the loop with what was happening but con- tractors were also encouraged to work directly with each other, rather than going through a hierarchy of coming to me first,” Glover said. “Working with each other for those two months before work actually began meant people were very clear on who had responsibility for what and they were familiar enough with each other to feel they could approach whoever they needed to directly. You can have that type of model when you are working with rep- utable subcontractors who embrace a team approach.” Glover also credits site superintendent Tony Baron, who managed all of the field coordination, handled site issues and made judgment calls along the way. Management and coordination of the project team and site issues are skill sets in their own rights and something Waldrop works to develop among its staff. “We have a great generation of leaders within our company,” says Pruitt. “One of the hardest and most important things we do is transferring that standard and those skills to those coming up from the next generation.” He says the company achieves success by maintaining a culture of leadership on a day-to-day basis and checking in regularly – not just annually as many companies may do – to ensure standards are being met and that every staff member is taking steps to grow and learn. Although not a component of the scope of the design- build project, Waldrop also had responsibility to coordinate with the university and its asbestos abatement contractor. This included sequencing and coordinating its efforts alongside the demolition and concurrent new construction. “We knew there was asbestos,” Pruitt says. “Once the contractor got started, the asbestos was found to be more extensive than expected. Though this was a contractor re- sponsible directly to the university, we worked closely with them and they were successful not only in getting the work done but also in getting it done in less time than ex- pected.” Glover says the abatement contractor proved easy to work with and the company’s own self motivation to com- plete the work effectively proved invaluable. “If they hadn’t worked as efficiently as they did, it would have impacted us and interfered with our ability to deliver what we had promised.” Early in the construction, better-than-expected progress had been achieved and the university took the opportunity to improve the project by adding new flooring, painting, additional drywall and ceiling work and an extensive mill- _______________________________ Continued on page 19 Presenting Sponsor of The ABC Excellence in Construction Awards www.dhgllp.com 6 – December 2013 / January 2014 — The South Carolina Construction News