Fonda Rosenfeldt is a regional editor at Construction Market Data and the team leader on the CMD Express Initiative. She can be reached at fonda.rosenfeldt@cmdg.com.

"Partnering" and "strategic alliances" are buzzwords that dominate today's business world. What do those phrases mean when they describe APPA's strategic alliance with the CMD Group?

APPA and CMD Group formally announced their strategic alliance at the 1998 educational conference in San Jose, California. Though this alliance, CMD Group is committed to giving—at no or little cost—APPA members tools to make their jobs easier. In fact, CMD Group's products, services, and programs build on two of APPA's key focus areas: Planning, Design, & Construction and Maintenance & Operations.

CMD Group's products and services assist in tracking construction projects, estimating project costs, selecting architects and design professionals, identifying building products, and selecting bid dates for upcoming projects. Together, these tools improve the flow and quality of information being reported to the industry.

Tracking Construction Projects

CMD Express is an Internet-based, project-tracking tool for construction and facilities professionals located online at: www.cmdexpress.com. Once users register in CMD Express, they have the ability to create their own database of projects and project contacts.

When a user logs on to CMD Express, he or she is provided with a template to input their project data. The template guides them through fields to capture and input key project data into a project record. The project record consists of pertinent information including: project title, location, size, roles (owner, architect, consultants), important project details (including structural, mechanical, electrical details), and status (whether the project is proposed, in working drawings, in the bid stage, etc).

Once project and company records are created, the user has the ability to update and track project information in their database. Facility managers can go to one place and check or update the status of all their projects, as well as keep a comprehensive database of contacts for projects.

Data entered by APPA members feeds into Construction Market Data's project database. This comprehensive database details and promotes commercial construction projects in the planning or bidding stages. Commercial building product manufacturers, contractors, subcontractors, and other members of the construction industry subscribe to the database so that they can discover, bid on, and track construction activity.

Construction Market Data will roll out CMD Express to a selected group of APPA members for testing and will make CMD Express available to all APPA members in the future. "We are really looking forward to directing our members to CMD Express," says E. Lander Medlin, APPA's executive vice president. "There is a growing need for this type of construction management tool, and we need APPA members to contribute to the database to make it even more valuable."

In addition to CMD Express, CMD Group brings even more tools to APPA members to assist in project development and management.

Bid Date Selection and More

Construction Market Data offers assistance to APPA members when selecting bid dates. Once an APPA member is ready to set a bid date on a project, they can contact their local CMD reporter, give the reporter information on when they would like to bid the project, and receive feedback on which bid dates are best. CMD reporters are able to advise owners and facility managers with this information by looking into the Construction Market Data project database and reviewing the number of projects in their area that are bidding on or around a certain date.

By having this type of reconnaissance in setting bid dates, and by choosing dates that do not already have an abundance of projects bidding, a facility manager or owner can improve the likelihood that they will receive more careful and accurate estimates. Ultimately, this service helps to improve the price on a construction project and avoid unnecessary and costly project rebids.

Construction Market Data offers many other services to APPA members including assistance in listing RFPs and the free advertising of bid notices. Construction Market Data also operates plan rooms in the major construction markets, where facility managers can place plans and specifications on bidding projects, allowing contractors to view their projects.

Cost Estimation

Construction Market Data offers several ways to get project estimates. For all APPA members who register and track projects through CMD Express, Construction Market Data will provide free project comparables. Project comparables are listings of actual construction projects that have gone through the bidding process. For example, if you are planning to build a new dormitory and you enter the report in CMD Express, Construction Market Data will automatically e-mail you reports on recent dormitory project that have bid in the last 18 months and contain the three low bidders and their bid amounts. These project comparables help CMD Express users benchmark costs and bids with actual projects and to identify low bidders.

CMD Group is the parent company of R.S. Means, the leading publisher of cost information and other reference titles. Known best for its annual cost guides, R.S. Means helps facility managers and other construction professionals prepare estimates with the Means CostWorks CD-ROM. Means CostWorks allows users to select line items and create cost lists, search electronically for key words, export data to spreadsheet applications, and more.

Finally, CMD Group companies in conjunction with Cahners Business Information (the largest business to business information provider in the United States) and DPIC Companies, also offers a web site www.buildingteam.com. The website, among other features, provides users with a preliminary cost calculator for key project types. The user inputs key information such as type of building, building size, location, etc., and in return receives an estimated cost range on the building based on R.S. Means cost data.

Product Selection and Specification

Finding preliminary building product information, comparing and evaluating products, and accessing proprietary specifications from building product manufacturers is made easier through the products and services of Architects' First Source. Available in both print and Internet formats, Architects' First Source provides product information to APPA members at no charge. This information makes it easier for facilities managers and owners to locate products, identify manufacturers' national or regional distributors, and compare and evaluate similar products. Together, these resources can save APPA members valuable time and money, especially when the alternative is to track down resources one by one.

Architect Selection

CMD Group also publishes a directory of architectural firms called ProFileSM: The Architects' Sourcebook on behalf the American Institute of Architects. The print version is updated and distributed once a year by CMD Group. ProFile on the Web (www.cmdg.com/profile) is updated on a daily basis, as architectural firms submit current data. Users logging onto the website can input a geographical area and specific building type and pull up a listing of architectural firms who specialize in or have designed the type of building they are looking for. Many of the architect listings in ProFile give contact information as well as website addresses, so users can see examples of the architects' work.

Conclusion

CMD Group's philosophy is, and always has been, to become an integral part of the industry by giving back to industry professionals through our products, services, and our strategic partnerships with both profit and nonprofit organizations. This philosophy is key when looking at why CMD Group grew from a local construction reporting service started in 1982 to being the world's leading provider of construction information in 1999. The reason for our growth: CMD Group identifies needs of industry professionals and finds unique ways of fulfilling those needs.