Metro Atlanta construction cost adviser PCS Teams with Boston firm to form joint-venture as part of

Metro Atlanta construction cost adviser teams with Boston firm to save owners’ and taxpayers’ money

DECATUR, Ga. – April 9, 2018 – As the tax deadline looms and Americans stress about what they owe and how the government will use it, construction cost adviser and chief executive officer Lee Thomas is broadening his strategy to stretch every taxpayer’s dollar.

His company, Project Cost Solutions, a construction-cost advisory firm in metro Atlanta, began a joint venture in February with Boston-based MOCA Systems. MOCA provides owner’s representative services and software product development for design and construction clients.

Teamwork and brand building aside, both companies are banking on changing construction’s culture, a major influencer affecting America’s money.

“When our clients set out to build something, PCS’s seat at the decision makers’ table – long before breaking ground – and our collaboration with MOCA act as an extra protective layer of improved project controls,” Thomas said. “It’s a fundamental tenet that the industry needs to improve: ‘construction stewardship.’”

Common construction pitfalls

80%

of large construction projects are over budget and inefficient.~ McKinsey Global Institute, 2016

44%

of project managers use no software, even though it increases performance and satisfaction.~ Price Waterhouse Coopers, 2012

31%

of projects came within 10% of the budget in the past three years.~ KPMG, 2015

1 in 6

projects had a cost overrun of 200% on average.~ Harvard Business Review, 2011

The duo’s three-year joint venture, with an option to extend an additional three years, is part of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s All Small Mentor-Protégé Program. It pairs small businesses with more established firms. The mentoring companies then help the newer ones to navigate the intricate process of becoming federal government prime contractors. The program mandates periodic check-ins, tracking predefined, measurable goals.

This alliance also represents PCS’s concerted push for key construction industry agents to recognize it “as not just an Atlanta-based firm,” said Thomas, “but one that provides value to customers, wherever they may be.”

Yet before its involvement with the SBA, PCS’s cost-advisory portfolio already included projects for the U.S. departments of Energy and Veterans Affairs, and the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Along with their similar proficiencies, PCS and MOCA possess complementary strengths. “Lee and his team bring quite a bit of expertise in private-sector efficiencies, in other words, the lean environment.” said Sandy Hamby, MOCA president. “MOCA is working on the biggest challenge in the design and construction industry today, and that is the construction industry is the last one to adapt to technology. MOCA is strong with technology.”

“Dwindling coffers and cost overruns don’t have to rule the day,” said Thomas. “Our know-how and proven methods can save owners and taxpayers millions that could be better allocated to enhance education, public safety, affordable housing and more because we objectively calculate construction cost.

“That’s value engineering: responsibly spent money serving the public trust.”

ABOUT PCS: Project Cost Solutions is a capital cost advisory firm based in Decatur, Ga. With over 130 years of collective expertise, PCS helps clients to improve cost certainty, minimizing risk and increasing success on construction projects nationwide.