End of Internship Report 

Contents:

1. General Information

2. Relationship of Work Experience to CSM Curriculum

3. Problem and Solution

4. Ethical Situation

 

 

 

 

1. General Info

 

Internship Duration: 5/7/15 – 7/31/15

Total Hours Worked: 496

 

For my internship during the summer of 2015 I had many different jobs and opportunities working as a project engineer intern for Paric Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri. For the first month and a half of my internship I was assigned to the Electric Cooperative division. The multiple co-ops I was assigned too were all in different stages giving me the rare chance to work everything from the pre-construction stage to project closeout and warranty work. The only downside to working these multiple jobs was that they were all in remote locations such as Medicine Lodge, Kansas or Dalhart, Texas. I had the great opportunity to visit our job in Dalhart allowing me to see all the work I had done being put into action. The ability to sit in and participate with multiple bids for these jobs as well as planning and other stages of construction allowed me to get a complete view of all roles in the management of construction. This was an excellent start and buildup to my future opportunities. For the Second half of my summer I was transferred to another Project Manager and assigned to two jobs at Maryville University. The first job was new student housing but it was in the very early stages of construction involving mostly earthwork, site utilities and foundations. The second job was a very small renovation of Simon Hall into athletic offices. The Simon Office job was assigned specifically to me under supervision from both the PE and PM. I was responsible for all aspect of this project; from acquiring bids, writing up contract drafts, submitting RFI’s and Submittals, acquiring building permits and the proper inspections, and Scheduling. This project was on a very tight schedule as it needed to be completed by the start of school in August. This was a very complicated project for its size and gave me a lot of experiences in dealing with owners and a tight schedule. Against all odds it was in fact completed before school began making it a very rewarding project. In the end my experiences as a PE Intern was very beneficial as I got to work with all parts of construction on multiple different projects making it so I never had a dull day.

 

2. Relationship of Work Experience to CSM Curriculum

 

My first semester in the CSM program was the fall of 2015 after I had already completed my internship. So I will relate my experiences as much as possible to the non-CSM classes I had prior to this internship. When working on the new student housing job at Maryville University, the job was in its very early stages. By the end of summer we had go the building pad leveled and compacted and ready for the start of the foundation walls and footings. The job of doing the foundations and all of the layout was won by Paric’s self-preform. The layout was all automated and too be done with BIM points and a robot. This type of layout was very easy for me to understand and assist with due to my experiences in AGM 2210. In this Land Measurements class we spent upwards of three weeks learning the ins and outs of the robotic layout machine that Paric Self Perform was using to do the foundation layout. This allowed to further my learning of robotic layout and will surly assist me in future roles as this is the future of layout in the construction industry.

 

Throughout the summer I had to use multiple different computer software’s in order to manage construction processes. This involved a lot of Microsoft Office program use. Most of the pre-con and early stages of construction required the elaborate use of Microsoft Excel. Excel spreadsheets are used throughout construction but they mostly are used early on for completing buyout and estimating purposes. Also when it came to schedule, knowing Microsoft project was very useful when I needed to navigate a jobs schedule and check on durations and how line items were linked together. MGT 2180 furthered my understanding and skills with PC applications and allowed me to easily navigated and use the files and documents that were placed in front of me. This class taught me how to fully utilize programs that I will need to use for the entirety of my career in the construction industry.

 

 

 

3. Problem and Solution: explained below

 

While working on the Simon Office at Maryville University for Paric Corporation we ran into many issues. The biggest of these problems was the oversight of updates need to make the renovation meet current fire codes.

 

Problem: Oversight of updates needed to make renovation meet current fire codes.

 

Step One:

 

• Continued issues that held up schedule

• Issues were unknown by the design team

• All parties were unaware of issues that came up

• Inspector pointed out many areas that need be addressed

 

Step Two:

 

WHAT- Renovation was not up to current fire code, Building should have been up to date.

 

WHERE- In the duct work passing through fire walls, Top of CMU Fire wall, Doors in Corridor, Sprinkler Locations

 

WHEN- Observed by the city building inspector during construction of the renovation

 

WHO- Owner, Design Team, Subcontractors, Project Team

 

TO WHAT EXTENT – One CMU Fire wall needed insulation along the length of the top, Several duct runs required dampers, Two sprinkler lines needed to be relocated, three corridor doors needed to have various fire ratings

 

Step Three:

 

               Facts- Renovation does not meet current fire codes

 

               Assumptions- Needs to meet current code to protect occupants

 

               Expressions of Frustration- Not something that we should have discovered during construction, building should be up to                         code

 

               Expressions of Blame- If the building owners shared that it was not up to code we could have stayed on top of the issues

 

               “Knee-jerk Solutions”- We will just ignore the new code and hope the inspector doesn’t notice

 

Step Four:

 

The current fire code requires the building renovation to be updated to meet new codes. We need to follow this policy.

 

Step Five:

 

I will immediately begin updating the renovations fire safety systems; as I work on other renovations in the future I will ensure that they also meet new code.

 

Step Six:

 

1. For all renovations find information on the age of the building and its systems in order to determine if they need to be updated to meet new codes

2. Write in the contract for a renovation that an owner assumes all cost and time associated with updating the building to meet new code requirements.

3. When inviting Subs to bid a renovation require them to have plans to update old systems to current code standards.

 

Step Seven:

 

Alternate 3: The most feasible solution requires the subcontractors to have knowledge on the current building systems and bring them up to date. Would be the cheapest as the Subs are responsible for missing anything.

 

Alternate 1: Feasible but requires a lot of work on the contractors end and then the subs will still have to figure out what needs updating.

 

Alternate 2: The most costly option makes the owner responsible but could allow construction to start sooner as issues could be figured out while construction progresses.

 

Step Eight & Nine:

 

Because construction was already well underway and the schedule was so tight we didn’t have the privilege or oversight to implement any of the solutions I previously stated. We discovered problems when the building inspector walked through and we spent the money to make it up to code as we went. This hurt our schedule as we had to wait on special parts and pieces and took time to install. While everything was updated to current code it was far from cost and time effective and when working any similar jobs in the future we will be sure to do some proactive research into the age of building systems.

 

 

 

4. Ethical Situation: explained below

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During the construction of the Maryville University Simon offices, you are told to start the job by your company. You are told that this is a small job with a very short schedule that must be completed by the start of the school year in two months. Most subcontractors are lined up and most long lead items have been ordered but there is still a large amount of work to be started and completed.

After spending a few days reviewing the plans and getting things in order with the other members of your team demolition and construction of the offices begins. The owner is very pleased to see the construction starting and lets your team know this. Shortly after your boss instructs you to submit the construction documents to the town administration that you are building in to acquire all of the permits.

After you are instructed to do so your boss and other team members in agreement with the owner acknowledge that it is not legal for construction or demolition to commence without the proper permitting from the local jurisdiction. After all acknowledged the issue they agreed to continue with the construction stating that because the University benefitted the town so much that no alarm would be raised by the early start of construction.

 

1. Knowing that you and your company are facing a tight deadline you decide to continue with the construction process. In making this decision you decide that because the owner is pushing so hard for the completion of this project that it is ok to disregard local ordinances. You feel that the owner does not care about the consequences and would rather have his project done. Because the owner is the one wanting you and your company to continue construction, you are no responsible for any consequences that might be incurred.

2. After getting all of the information on the problem you realize that this issue puts you and your company for increased risk of being unlawful and breaking the rules. If you were to continue without permits, the consequences could either be the job completed on time and a happy owner versus the job being delayed and an irate owner. In thinking about your rights and duties, you realize that it is your right to say no to the owner if he wants you to be unlawful. You also have the duty to stop construction and wait for the permit process to be completed.  

3. You realize that this is a lose, lose situation. If you stop construction, you get an upset owner who may not give you or your company work again. If you continue construction, you put your and your companies’ professional reputation on the line. Because of your position in the company and the fact that your team is thinking in line with the owner you decide to tell a supervisor that is not involved with the project and request guidance as to what company policy calls you to do. If there is no such instructions you must bring your concerns to the project team and state that you cannot work on a job unlawfully.