Development

Del Buck, vice president of preconstruction at Hoar Program Management (HPM), an affiliate firm of Birmingham, Ala.-based Hoar Construction, has the challenge of saving construction costs in the face of a significant labor shortage that’s hobbled the construction industry. According to research from Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), 1.5 million construction jobs were lost during the Great Recession. While the industry is still working to fill the void, labor and materials costs have increased dramatically. Turner Construction Co. reports that construction costs have increased 5.9 percent since 2018. Buck emphasizes the importance of developers and owners not accepting the “false premise” that construction costs are outside of their control. Instead, he says that costs can be salvaged using third-party project management firms during the planning stages. These firms can provide preconstruction services, which help stakeholders realize the scope, costs and schedule of a project before breaking ground. Outside of cost savings on the front end, he says owners and developers can also benefit from program management firms as they can help mitigate costs once construction is already underway. Buck spoke with REBusinessOnline about the ever-changing construction industry, outlining his firm’s creative workarounds for lowering costs. What follows is an edited …