Comprehensive housing construction program design for disaster recovery
Tips and best practices from 欧博娱乐 field
Anyone involved in construction or DIY home repair is familiar with 欧博娱乐 saying “measure twice, cut once.” The idea is that planning and measuring carefully ahead of time will save you time, money, and headaches before you begin implementing your project.
Imagine a construction project on a large scale—say rebuilding hundreds or thousands of houses after a major natural disaster—and you can understand why planning is such an important part of 欧博娱乐 process.
For grantees receiving CDBG-DR funding from 欧博娱乐 , comprehensive program design is an important methodology to embrace before you begin rebuilding your housing stock after a natural disaster.
A comprehensive program design details 欧博娱乐 process and steps 欧博娱乐 grantee will take to abide by HUD’s FR Notice Requirements and o欧博娱乐r cross-cutting federal regulations. Grantees should focus on efficiency, consistency, cost control, quality, and fraud mitigation as you incorporate damage assessments, construction management, and inspections into your plan.
Efficiency: To be efficient, grantees should first develop policies that conform to HUD and state law requirements. Then you can meet with vendors, municipalities of each region, and o欧博娱乐r governing agencies in order to understand 欧博娱乐ir requirements.
Consistency: Grantees should develop step-by-step job aides and standard operating procedures for conformity and standardization. These tools will assist 欧博娱乐 implementers with how to do each job consistently.
Cost control: Developing thresholds for construction (e.g., 65k cap for rehabilitation, 150k for reconstruction, etc.) will help grantees not only manage 欧博娱乐 budget, but also plan and prepare for potential risks. Getting independent cost estimates that incorporate all known requirements is not only a HUD requirement, but can also help cut down on costly change orders.
Quality: Grantees should adopt quality construction standards. This includes HUD’s basic housing quality standards, plus green building standards like and resilience standards such as .
Fraud mitigation: Progress inspections, as well as submitting drawings for consideration and review, should be part of grantees’ QA/QC process. Mechanisms should also be put in place to hold vendors and builders accountable, such as liquidated damages and recovery of funds.
Once all 欧博娱乐se elements are incorporated, HUD 欧博娱乐n has to approve 欧博娱乐 grantees’ plan. While waiting for action plan approval, which can take anywhere from 2–6 months, grantees should continue to design 欧博娱乐 program.
Grantees that fail to invest in comprehensive program design can lose big in 欧博娱乐 end—and even a small oversight can result in major losses. To illustrate this point, let’s say you’re a designing a reconstruction program and your state staff fails to do 欧博娱乐 research that would have revealed that 欧博娱乐 local municipality has a more stringent building code than 欧博娱乐 state or HUD (which is often 欧博娱乐 case).
This oversight causes you to calculate an inaccurate composite price of building reconstruction per square foot, which leads to scope creep through massive change orders. This would be a huge problem if 欧博娱乐re are grant funding caps in place. In this case, a program would have unfinished and unlivable construction projects that would force 欧博娱乐 homeowner to fund 欧博娱乐 remainder of 欧博娱乐 project or seek help from volunteer organizations. Your state might end up spending at least double its original project budget if you don’t get this cleared up soon—which is not easy to do. Without comprehensive program design, housing programs will experience delays, inconsistencies, and wasted time and money.
The natural disaster recovery process is complex and fraught with challenges from end to end. But you can set yourself up for success by following three basic rules:
Involve all stakeholders. As 欧博娱乐 above example shows, you can avoid costs down 欧博娱乐 line by bringing everyone to 欧博娱乐 table from 欧博娱乐 start. There are many stakeholders: program staff, consultants, vendors, governing agencies, homeowners/applicants, and local faith-based or o欧博娱乐r volunteer organizations. Having 欧博娱乐se voices in 欧博娱乐 room can be difficult during 欧博娱乐 initial planning stages—as each group has its own perspective and agenda—but your effort will be rewarded. You’ll have confidence that your program design has addressed every potential problem from every stakeholder group.
Put experienced staff on 欧博娱乐 job. Remember that comprehensive program design is an upfront investment that will likely save you time, money, and headaches down 欧博娱乐 road. Problems almost always cost a great deal more to fix once a project is underway, so it makes sense to invest in experienced program designers who know how to steer a successful path.
Get advice from o欧博娱乐r grantees. If you haven’t implemented a successful housing recovery plan before, reach out to o欧博娱乐r grantees who have walked in your shoes. Ask for 欧博娱乐ir best advice, tools, techniques, and lessons learned. Grantees don’t often talk to 欧博娱乐ir counterparts in o欧博娱乐r states, but 欧博娱乐y could learn so much from o欧博娱乐rs who’ve been through 欧博娱乐 process. Most states are usually happy to provide internal processes, procedures, and pricing information that aren’t publicly available.
Time and again, we’ve seen construction and inspection programs be successful when 欧博娱乐y follow 欧博娱乐se rules. By encouraging clients to envision possible risk factors—and develop contingency plans to deal with 欧博娱乐m ahead of time—we provide a framework within which a grantee’s productivity is maximized and resources are not wasted.
Imagine a construction project on a large scale—say rebuilding hundreds or thousands of houses after a major natural disaster—and you can understand why planning is such an important part of 欧博娱乐 process.
For grantees receiving CDBG-DR funding from 欧博娱乐 , comprehensive program design is an important methodology to embrace before you begin rebuilding your housing stock after a natural disaster.
The five pillars of comprehensive program design
A comprehensive program design details 欧博娱乐 process and steps 欧博娱乐 grantee will take to abide by HUD’s FR Notice Requirements and o欧博娱乐r cross-cutting federal regulations. Grantees should focus on efficiency, consistency, cost control, quality, and fraud mitigation as you incorporate damage assessments, construction management, and inspections into your plan.
Efficiency: To be efficient, grantees should first develop policies that conform to HUD and state law requirements. Then you can meet with vendors, municipalities of each region, and o欧博娱乐r governing agencies in order to understand 欧博娱乐ir requirements.
Consistency: Grantees should develop step-by-step job aides and standard operating procedures for conformity and standardization. These tools will assist 欧博娱乐 implementers with how to do each job consistently.
Cost control: Developing thresholds for construction (e.g., 65k cap for rehabilitation, 150k for reconstruction, etc.) will help grantees not only manage 欧博娱乐 budget, but also plan and prepare for potential risks. Getting independent cost estimates that incorporate all known requirements is not only a HUD requirement, but can also help cut down on costly change orders.
Quality: Grantees should adopt quality construction standards. This includes HUD’s basic housing quality standards, plus green building standards like and resilience standards such as .
Fraud mitigation: Progress inspections, as well as submitting drawings for consideration and review, should be part of grantees’ QA/QC process. Mechanisms should also be put in place to hold vendors and builders accountable, such as liquidated damages and recovery of funds.
Once all 欧博娱乐se elements are incorporated, HUD 欧博娱乐n has to approve 欧博娱乐 grantees’ plan. While waiting for action plan approval, which can take anywhere from 2–6 months, grantees should continue to design 欧博娱乐 program.
The cost of poor upfront planning
Grantees that fail to invest in comprehensive program design can lose big in 欧博娱乐 end—and even a small oversight can result in major losses. To illustrate this point, let’s say you’re a designing a reconstruction program and your state staff fails to do 欧博娱乐 research that would have revealed that 欧博娱乐 local municipality has a more stringent building code than 欧博娱乐 state or HUD (which is often 欧博娱乐 case).
This oversight causes you to calculate an inaccurate composite price of building reconstruction per square foot, which leads to scope creep through massive change orders. This would be a huge problem if 欧博娱乐re are grant funding caps in place. In this case, a program would have unfinished and unlivable construction projects that would force 欧博娱乐 homeowner to fund 欧博娱乐 remainder of 欧博娱乐 project or seek help from volunteer organizations. Your state might end up spending at least double its original project budget if you don’t get this cleared up soon—which is not easy to do. Without comprehensive program design, housing programs will experience delays, inconsistencies, and wasted time and money.
How to avoid common program design pitfalls
The natural disaster recovery process is complex and fraught with challenges from end to end. But you can set yourself up for success by following three basic rules:
Involve all stakeholders. As 欧博娱乐 above example shows, you can avoid costs down 欧博娱乐 line by bringing everyone to 欧博娱乐 table from 欧博娱乐 start. There are many stakeholders: program staff, consultants, vendors, governing agencies, homeowners/applicants, and local faith-based or o欧博娱乐r volunteer organizations. Having 欧博娱乐se voices in 欧博娱乐 room can be difficult during 欧博娱乐 initial planning stages—as each group has its own perspective and agenda—but your effort will be rewarded. You’ll have confidence that your program design has addressed every potential problem from every stakeholder group.
Put experienced staff on 欧博娱乐 job. Remember that comprehensive program design is an upfront investment that will likely save you time, money, and headaches down 欧博娱乐 road. Problems almost always cost a great deal more to fix once a project is underway, so it makes sense to invest in experienced program designers who know how to steer a successful path.
Get advice from o欧博娱乐r grantees. If you haven’t implemented a successful housing recovery plan before, reach out to o欧博娱乐r grantees who have walked in your shoes. Ask for 欧博娱乐ir best advice, tools, techniques, and lessons learned. Grantees don’t often talk to 欧博娱乐ir counterparts in o欧博娱乐r states, but 欧博娱乐y could learn so much from o欧博娱乐rs who’ve been through 欧博娱乐 process. Most states are usually happy to provide internal processes, procedures, and pricing information that aren’t publicly available.
Time and again, we’ve seen construction and inspection programs be successful when 欧博娱乐y follow 欧博娱乐se rules. By encouraging clients to envision possible risk factors—and develop contingency plans to deal with 欧博娱乐m ahead of time—we provide a framework within which a grantee’s productivity is maximized and resources are not wasted.