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Deconstructing a $1 Billion Disaster	First published June 2011
Allison Way Think Big Partner	Rating

Executive Summary

When Lord Norman Foster & Partners designed the Harmon Hotel as a non-gaming boutique, spa center, and upscale resort at CityCenter Las Vegas, the company did not predict that the project would be cut in half…literally.  In 2008, when detrimental flaws were discovered during inspection of the building, work on the Harmon Hotel was halted. After surveying many of the building’s defects, architects and designers had to backtrack and redesign the hotel, reducing it from forty-nine stories to twenty-eight. Due to the drastic design alterations, time constraints, budget cuts, and lack of communication, construction of the Harmon Hotel was delayed indefinitely and is to be demolished completely by 2012.

Placing blame for the Harmon Hotel incident is near impossible. With so many different individuals and companies involved in the hotel’s construction including eight internationally-known architects; the project’s general contractor, Perini Building Company; rebar subcontractor, Pacific Coast Steel; and many, many others, the reason behind the demolition of the Harmon Hotel can only be explained by human error and process difficulty.

If there was a way to prevent human error exclusively, construction projects would evolve into headache-free, on-time, and under-budget endeavours. But because of miscommunication habits and basic psychology, human error, mistakes, and poor decisions are not only forecasted in the AEC industry’s processes, they are highly anticipated.
Although there is no conclusive way to eradicate human error in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, there is a way to minimize it.

“Successful completion of a construction project depends on accurate, effective and timely communication, formation, and then exchange of critical information.  To make this happen, elements of the AEC industry have started to move away from traditional communication methods…and have started to rely heavily on online collaboration and project management (OCPM) technology.”
Dr. Burçin Becerik¹
Harvard University School of Design

After extensive research, it has been found that the implementation of a project scheduling, project costing, project reporting, and project management technology has a powerful impact on the timeliness, cost, and completion of any construction project. This case study confirms that with the appropriate use of OCPM technology, communication within the AEC industry can be vastly improved and construction can be completed on-time, within budget, and most importantly, nearly error-free.

Key Points:

• The Harmon Hotel

• History

• Consequences

• The Overlying Problem

• Finding the Right Solution

• About OCPM Technology

• Quick Facts

• Benefits of OCPM Technology

• OCPM Technology and the Harmon Hotel

• Information Availability, Visibility and Control

• Project Control and Change Management

• Efficiency  

• Communication and Coordination

• Error and Omission Control

• Trends in the AEC Industry

• Conclusion