Value Engineering in Government and Private Sector Construction

摘要

Value engineering enjoys widespread use throughout the Federal Government and in the private sector. The many billions of dollars saved over the years is a tribute to the effectiveness of applying value engineering methodology to construction projects. The Federal Acquisition Regulations require the use of value engineering in all Federal construction contracts with working estimates of $100,000.00 or more. Many private construction management firms offer value engineering as a part of their pre-construction package of services. This report looks at the similarities and differences of value management programs practiced in the construction management industry today through a comparative look at three major Federal Government acquisition agencies with construction management responsibilities and three large scale private construction firms in the southeastern United States offering Construction Management (CM) services to their clients. The Federal Government has very stringent regulation and guidelines for executing their value management programs. The private firms in this study, on the other hand, appear to do a great job in the area of value management but do not rely as much on regulations and guidelines and more on practical experience and lessons learned. One area in which the Navy is utilizing value management methodology in a unique way is with the Functional Analysis Concept Development (FACD) workshops. These workshops use VE techniques to better define the scope of a proposed project prior to any design efforts.