JOC Best Practices

The efficiency,quality, and level of satisfaction associated with any facility renovation, repair, maintenance, sustainability, or new construction project are directly linked to the CONSTRUCTION DELIVERY METHOD and related disciplines in the public and private sectors.

Considering a Job Order Contract?  Make certain it’s based upon best management practices.

JOB ORDER CONTRACTING is LEAN management process and thus shares many common principles and practices.  Below are examples of best practices to be considered when structuring and executing a JOB ORDER CONTRACTING PROGRAM.
  • Promote awareness and education of  LEAN and BEST VALUE construction delivery methods among management and projectall project participants – Owners (procurement/contracting, engineering/management) Contractors, Engineers, Architects, and Oversight Groups.
  • Focus upon BEST VALUE and fully leveraging and enabling the expertise of all  project participants from initial concept and throughout the entire life-cycle of the built structure.
  • Enhance the understanding and appreciation of collaboration, transparency, common terms/definitions/data formats, shared risk/reward, best business practices, metrics, and continuous improvement.
  • A common and minimum body of knowledge must be defined as a performance standard.
  • Reward achievement through an appropriate recognition –  example – additional work for contractor.
  • Provide work flows, data formats, and technologies which enable experiences with the principles and techniques of state of work definition, cost estimating, project management, and performance analysis to be reported, discussed, documented, and reused.
  • Foster and promote ongoing training.
  • Incorporate systems to maintain standards of proficiency and performance – monitoring / metrics.
  • Require cooperation among internal and external project participants with common or related purposes, in furtherance of project success.
  • Provide opportunities for participants to collectively discuss and comment on subjects of common interest.
  • Establishing standards in the terminology, conduct and application of all procedures and policies
  • Leverage technology that embeds LEAN workflows
  • Share risk and reward among participants.
(Learn More about JOC – JobOrderContractingWhitePaper2016801)
JOC is perhaps the best tool for owners and contractors to get timely, and quality work accomplished to everyone’s benefit and satisfaction.  In fact surveys point out that 87% to 91% of job order contracting projects are completed on-time and on-budget, and have a 97% satisfaction rating.   Compared to only  2.5% of construction projects completed on-time and on-budget globally, it’s clear the AEC industry in is dire need of greater education and awareness.
That said, unfortunately sometimes JOC is used as a way to bypass procurement versus deployed as a true LEAN construction delivery method.  Below are “best management practices” related to an open joc approach.
So, whether you deploy or work with a Owner-managed JOC, a COOP-deployed-JOC, or an outsourced-JOC (JOC as a service), assure you follow open JOC practices.
1. Collaboration
2. Full Transparency
3. Unit Price Book – based upon standardized data formats, easily understood tasks using common terms…
4. Shared risk/reward
5. Ongoing education, training, and improvement
6. Quantitative metrics, KPI’s, regular third party audits
7. Well defined roles/responsibilities
8. Mutual respect