I am thrilled to contribute to the AGC’s Building Best Practices and honored to write in the inaugural edition.  Our goal with this quarterly newsletter is to share the best practices developed by our members and to propose new strategies or ideas to improve the construction industry in Massachusetts.  Whether done through case studies, tips, articles, or sample documents, it is our intention to spark an increased dialogue about ways we can improve construction processes for AGC MA members.   
 
Our authors set the bar high for future editions.  Susan Shelby made the case for a Crisis Communications Plan.  Failing to have such plan, and team in place, could have direct and meaningful consequences to a company’s reputation if and when such a crisis arises.  Jason Edic, and the dedicated companies that form the Boston Construction Managers Safety Partnership (CMSP), are taking real action to harmonize safety practices on projects.  The focus is on safety but also to obtain substantial efficiencies amongst subcontractors by having consistent safety requirements.  John Sheridan and Kelly Gillen’s articles also provide invaluable tips, including developing a 1-2 page cheat sheet of contractual notice provisions on every contract for your project management team. This is a practice I recommend to my clients.  The contractors who have implemented the practice are much more likely to have project correspondence from their PMs citing key contract provisions and not missing certain requirements or deadlines that could be detrimental to their legitimate claims. 
 
The editorial team of Building Best Practices wants to hear from YOU.  Contact us with your suggestions, ideas, and articles.  We want this to be a valuable resource for all of AGC MA’s members and the best way to achieve that is if our members contribute. 

Tom Dunn is a construction attorney at Pierce Atwood representing contractors, subcontractors, and owners in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  For the past 14 years, Tom has assisted clients in contract drafting/negotiation as well as dispute avoidance/resolution through consulting/negotiations during the project and/or in mediation, arbitration, or litigation.