Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets: How to Fix America's Trillion-Dollar Construction Industry by Barry B. LePatner | 9780226472690 | Get Textbooks | New Textbooks | Used Textbooks

Across the nation, construction projects large and small—from hospitals to schools to simple home improvements—are spiraling out of control. Delays and cost overruns have come to seem “normal,” even as they drain our wallets and send our blood pressure skyrocketing. In Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets, prominent construction attorney Barry B. LePatner builds a powerful case for change in America’s sole remaining “mom and pop” industry—an industry that consumes $1.23 trillion and wastes at least $120 billion each year.

With three decades of experience representing clients that include eminent architects and engineers, as well as corporations, institutions, and developers, LePatner has firsthand knowledge of the bad management, ineffective supervision, and insufficient investment in technology that plagues the risk-averse construction industry. In an engaging and direct style, he here pinpoints the issues that underlie the industry’s woes while providing practical tips for anyone in the business of building, including advice on the precise language owners should use during contract negotiations.

Armed with Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets, everyone involved in the purchase or renovation of a building or any structure—from homeowners seeking to remodel to civic developers embarking on large-scale projects—has the information they need to change this antiquated industry, one project at a time.

“LePatner describes what is wrong with the current system and suggests ways that architects can help—by retaking their rightful place as master builders.”—Fred A. Bernstein, Architect Magazine

“Every now and then, a major construction project is completed on time and on budget. Everyone is amazed. . . . Barry LePatner thinks this exception should become the rule. . . . A swift kick to the construction industry.”—James R. Hagerty, Wall Street Journal

		Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets: How to Fix America's Trillion-Dollar Construction Industry by Barry B. LePatner ISBN-10: 9780226472690 ISBN-10: 0-226-47269-8 ISBN-13: 9780226472690 ISBN-13: 978-0-226-47269-0 Paperback 2008-09-15 University Of Chicago Press Find Lowest Price
Editorials

Product Description Across the nation, construction projects large and small—from hospitals to schools to simple home improvements—are spiraling out of control. Delays and cost overruns have come to seem “normal,” even as they drain our wallets and send our blood pressure skyrocketing. In Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets, prominent construction attorney Barry B. LePatner builds a powerful case for change in America’s sole remaining “mom and pop” industry—an industry that consumes $1.23 trillion and wastes at least $120 billion each year. With three decades of experience representing clients that include eminent architects and engineers, as well as corporations, institutions, and developers, LePatner has firsthand knowledge of the bad management, ineffective supervision, and insufficient investment in technology that plagues the risk-averse construction industry. In an engaging and direct style, he here pinpoints the issues that underlie the industry’s woes while providing practical tips for anyone in the business of building, including advice on the precise language owners should use during contract negotiations. Armed with Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets, everyone involved in the purchase or renovation of a building or any structure—from homeowners seeking to remodel to civic developers embarking on large-scale projects—has the information they need to change this antiquated industry, one project at a time. “LePatner describes what is wrong with the current system and suggests ways that architects can help—by retaking their rightful place as master builders.”—Fred A. Bernstein, Architect Magazine “Every now and then, a major construction project is completed on time and on budget. Everyone is amazed. . . . Barry LePatner thinks this exception should become the rule. . . . A swift kick to the construction industry.”—James R. Hagerty, Wall Street Journal
Reviews

From David Gerstel, Builder and Author Maybe I can not be objective about this book. LePatner cites my book on running construction companies about fifty times. That's flattering. On the other hand, he cites me only when he borrows my criticisms of our building industry. He never cites me when he is proposing solutions, though many of his resemble those my book offers and are, in fact, practiced by many builders. That irks me a bit. Even so, I give LePatner's book 5 stars. Here's what I wrote about it in the Resources section of my new book, CRAFTING THE CONSIDERATE HOUSE: "Rightly criticized for being overly redundant and for a lawyer's bias toward his clients (owners as opposed to builders and designers), LePatner's book is, nevertheless, an exceptionally vigorous exposition of the ailments of and possible cures for the construction industry." In fact, the book is so energetic and provocative it's downright fun to read. LePatner takes ideas for remodeling the construction industry much farther than my book does. When I write my next edition I will borrow back some of my ideas along with his added insights.
Knowledgeable... Great read and gives you a great insight to the construction industry in a "big picture" form. As a construction management student, it makes me feel good about where the construction industry is headed in the near future and the optimism the author has for the broken buildings to be "fixed" as he proposed in the text.
Focused on large projects This book focuses more on large, commercial construction projects and the industry in general. If you are looking at a book for home construction or improvement this would not be my first choice. With that said, it offers a lot of insights in how the construction business operates, some of which is quite eye opening. The book includes good descriptions of types of construction contracts and offers sound advice on how to write a contract that benefits you as the customer.
A must read book for engineers and students As one of the leading construction lawyers in the nation, Barry Le Patner doesn't necessarily expose the faults of the $1 trillion construction industry as much as he lays it out for public view. In writing this book he risks being labeled a pariah in the construction industry for biting the hand that feeds him. Of the $1.23 trillion spent on construction in the U.S. last year, La Patner points out the industry wastes $120 billion, enough money to set Social Security on the path to financial solvency. What's the root cause of the waste? La Patner emphasizes the two most hated words an owner hears from a general contractor: cost overruns and change orders. The mom and pop construction industry purposely bids low on a project to lock in a mutable contract. Once in hand, the contractor becomes a monopoly that can run roughshod over the owner with schedule delays and change orders that almost guarantee a large profit for the general contractor. This is why we see so many articles in newspapers about delays and huge overruns on projects. A recent example of this waste is the Big Dig in Boston. $12 billion over budget, years late, and it leaks. Mr. LaPatner's solution seems simple, fixed-price contracts and consolidation of the mom and pop small contractors into a larger corporation that will take responsibility for all the construction tasks. He also recommends an intermediary to oversee the project with the interests of the owner in mind, and not the contractor, This well-written, 200 plus page book will not threaten James Patterson's novels for domination at the beach next summer, but it may have the potential to influence public opinion of the wasteful construction industry just as Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring influenced and kick-started the environmental movement. It's probably too late to change the ways and habits of the entrenched contemporary construction industry, but it's not too late to influence the minds of the future architects and engineers attending the nation's universities. This book should be required reading of those students who will someday steer the beleaguered industry.
Pretty Deficient Like others here have said - the book offers a promise but doesn't deliver. Ironically - much like the sub-standard contractors the author faults for all of the industry's problems. The book has serious deficiencies - it is questionable how much the authors really know about certain industry practices such as cost estimating, building information modeling (BIM)or Job Order Contracting (which is never mentioned). Some of their observations are simply anecdotal (despite an over-abundance of footnotes, like some academic text). They seem not to realize some of the circumstances that lead to the current configuration of the industry - such as specialized crafts and training required by contractors in order for owners to get manufacturer's warranties on certain products such as roofing. A general contractor can't keep people like that on the payroll all the time - it's just-in-time work, and a good deal of it is refurbishment, not new construction. Also, much of what the author faults the entire industry for are simply examples of bad management - on the part of architects, contractors and owners. Nothing new there. Then again - that's how the author makes his living - as an attorney in contract disputes. As another reviewer opined - he never sees the good projects. For example - the author lauds architect Frank Gehry and specifically the Strata Center at MIT. Apparently the book was written before MIT sued Gehry for the many flaws in the design of the $300 million Strata center (search the Boston Globe of November 6, 2007 for the full article.) Just because MIT paid Gehry $15 million - MIT expects a building that doesn't leak, have poor drainage and a host of other problems. The nerve! Here's another take on Gehry's Strata Center: "It really is a disaster," said former Boston University president John Silber, who sharply criticizes the Stata Center's design in a new book, "Architecture of the Absurd: How 'Genius' Disfigured a Practical Art." I was especially amused at how the authors tap-danced around the issue of how the construction industry in the US is supposedly deeply flawed, but leads all the others in the world in productivity! An interesting oxymoron that really isn't addressed. This book is a scan read, and library loan at best.