Best Practices for Project Management, Design, and Construction of ...

contingencies, that concur with defined scope. Value engineering should be addressed and
applied during the design development phase.
Project Planning Phase
Best Practice 3: Contact a Compliance Officer to determine whether or not a permit is
needed for a remodeling project
If a hospital owner is unsure whether a permit is needed, a hospital representative should check
with the OSHPD Compliance Officer (CO). If a hospital owner proceeds without a permit to
construct a project that requires one, it is considered unauthorized construction (sometimes
referred to as a "bootlegged project"). Unauthorized construction can have serious ramifications,
including noncompliance with licensing requirements, validation survey citations, and
noncompliance with Medicare Conditions of Participation and standards of accrediting
organizations. Following a disaster, a damaged hospital that has unauthorized construction may
not be eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance. Many OSHPD
problems that arise with projects can at times be traced back to related unauthorized construction.
OSHPD will require correction of all unauthorized construction and insist that the new work to be
performed under a building permit and designed to code.
Best Practice 4: Assign project management duties to qualified people who can handle the
expected workload
Obtaining a good outcome requires active management. Assignment is scalable; whereas
installation of equipment may be managed by a single staff member, a hospital replacement
project may require a team of managers. Remember, the design team, equipment vendors and
contractors may not have the same interests in the well-being of a hospital as that of its
management team. Management control of the process is essential to minimize problems as the
work proceeds through the OSHPD process.
Assign a project manager to each project submitted to the FDD. The project manager is
responsible for the overall coordination required to ensure a successful project. The project
manager ensures that all players know their roles. FDD experiences indicate the following
potential problems related to project management:
• Some hospitals do not use project managers and expect all project participants (architect,
engineers, IOR, contractor, etc.) to communicate and coordinate among themselves and
with OSHPD. This coordination and communication often does not occur without a project
manager.
• Some hospitals believe the IOR serves as the project manager. The IOR has a defined role
and it does not include project management.
(OSHPD Best Practices) Page 89 DRAFT FINAL, Sept. 2011