OAC Meetings: Improving Collaboration & Project Efficiency

Most decisions about a construction project require a seemingly endless number of considerations, from the budget to even the weather. Many of these decisions require input from the people footing the bill, the people who designed the project, and the people doing the work — most commonly the Owner, Architect and Contractor (OAC). That’s why many construction teams have OAC meetings.

OAC meetings are routine gatherings between owners, architects and contractors to make decisions, address issues, and complete tasks needed to keep a project moving forward. Effective OAC meetings can improve communication and problem-solving, and help ensure projects are built to the required quality standards. Additionally, these meetings are key in ensuring that projects are finished on time and within budget. 

This article explores OAC meetings, including when they should happen, the topics they usually cover and how to use them to increase project efficiency.

The Purpose of the OAC Meeting

By routinely bringing key decision-makers together, OAC meetings streamline those processes in a thorough, efficient and collaborative way.

The topics covered at the meetings evolve over the course of the project, though the goal is always to keep the project efficiently and effectively moving forward. The table below explains which topics should be brought to the table for discussion at each phase of construction. 

The Value of the OAC Meeting

Effectively facilitated OAC meetings foster elements that lead to a more efficient and cohesive construction team. 

Collaboration

OAC meetings create a routine of taking care of business in a way that considers different perspectives and utilizes diverse expertise. This leads to more informed and efficient decision-making, as the people in the room are in charge of the budget, the plans and the schedule, respectively.

Transparency

These meetings can help people stay informed on the project’s progress and what’s needed to move it forward, even when the owner and architect might be far from the actual jobsite. OAC meetings allow the contractor to share the information and progress updates that owners and design teams are often seeking, but do it in an efficient way that further invests everyone in being part of the process.

Communication

Setting aside regular time to address issues and tasks as a team improves and streamlines communication. While this can help to address problems quickly and effectively, it can also help move communication beyond something that only happens when issues arise to something that can be done proactively to avoid delays and further barriers to completion.

How often should OAC meetings occur?

OAC meetings should happen throughout the entire lifecycle of a construction project and should be adjusted to meet the unique needs of pre-construction, construction and closeout. Most teams set a regular meeting schedule, often weekly or every two weeks. The regularity of the meeting depends on the demands of the project, its scale, and the preferences of the stakeholders.

It’s good practice to have the meeting as often as is feasible, as increased regularity usually increases communication and efficiency, while decreased regularity usually leads to meetings becoming long and difficult to get through.

Who should be at an OAC meeting?

How To Prepare for an OAC Meeting

The GC or project manager should create an agenda by including and prioritizing issues that might impact the schedule, budget, or design and will require input from the owner’s team and the design team. These issues are often brought to the project manager during crew meetings or are found during routine inspections. 

The agenda should reflect the phase of the project. For example, an OAC meeting happening during pre-construction might focus on material procurement, while one during construction might focus on site progress and schedule. Topics should be prioritized so that the most important ones are covered first, when people will be more focused and are sure to have plenty of time.

The GC usually sends the agenda before the meeting, often by email. The other attendees should review the agenda before the meeting so they are familiar with the topics, have completed all action items from the last meeting, and know if they need to bring particular documents or information.

What Happens at an OAC Meeting

OAC meetings can happen in-person or virtually. It’s not uncommon for part of the team to meet at the jobsite while someone else joins virtually, such as when an owner or architect lives or works far from the job site.

Typically, an OAC meeting should last about an hour. Meetings are easier to keep short when they are happening regularly. The GC facilitates the meeting and guides people through the agenda. Most topics will result in action items that should be assigned to specific project team members for completion.

The GC, or someone they’ve assigned, should be tracking all action items. After the meeting, the GC should share minutes, notes, and all assigned action items, usually in the same email thread in which they sent the invite.

Topics Covered at OAC Meetings

Not every issue that comes up during construction should be brought to the attention of the owner and the architect. A topic should be only brought to an OAC meeting if it requires review by the owner and design team or if it might have implications for the budget, schedule or design plans.

Typically, topics are initially brought up at crew meetings and elevated to the OAC meeting, though sometimes owners or architects will do a jobsite walkthrough and find issues they want to add.

The topics covered at an OAC meeting depend on what phase of construction the project is at and the nature of the project. Here are some common topics:

• Material procurement: Topics such as identifying materials that might have a long lead time in order to be acquired are common — particularly during pre-construction — but will also be brought up throughout the build.
• Job site logistics: These might include preparing for construction, identifying potential problems or acquiring necessary equipment.
• Speciality equipment: Equipment such as custom-made tools might be especially expensive or take a while to manufacture or procure.
• Schedule: This includes building the schedule, identifying milestones, resolving potential conflicts and ensuring the project can be done by the target date for completion. By the time construction begins, everyone should have a good idea of what’s going to happen and in what order. During construction, the schedule section of the meetings become more about progress updates and adjusting the schedule as needed.
• Contracts - Topics include items such as identifying, reviewing and hiring specialty contractors.
• RFIs (and design questions): Leading up to construction and during the build, the contractor might use OAC meetings to request updates on RFI’s from the architect or design team. 
• Submittals: Throughout construction, contractors can use the meetings to verify submittals were done correctly and are approved as promptly as possible. This becomes even more important during closeout, when most closeout documents are submitted, such as operation and maintenance manuals, warranties, or commissioning reports. 
• Change orders: These often require additional contracts, specs, plans and materials and need input and approval from the owner and design teams. 
• Safety: This includes reviewing safety plans for each phase of the project, planning routine inspections and ensuring the project has the equipment and personnel needed to meet all safety requirements. Safety should be a topic through every phase of construction.
• Punch list items: During closeout, all participants in the OAC meeting will be communicating about, providing updates on, and ultimately reviewing the resolution of items identified during the final walkthroughs.

5 Key Practices for Successful OAC Meetings

1. Have an agenda.

Agendas ensure the most important topics get covered, but they also ensure less important topics don’t get brought up and take valuable time. Items on the agenda should be prioritized and ordered so that the most important topics come first, when people are most focused and so they won’t be rushed at the end. 

Agendas can also be shared before the meeting, which helps stakeholders know what is going to be covered and to come prepared with any documents or information.

2. Get the right people in the room

The OAC meeting only works if the right people attend. This is, of course, true for the owner and the design team, but especially for the GC. The project engineer and superintendents have specific knowledge of the project and can help problem solve and answer questions. Refer to the list above for who to invite.

3. Screen share

If the meeting is virtual, the project manager or whoever is facilitating should ensure they are able to share their screen. Pictures, schedules, and documents are helpful and reduce the risk of error that comes from simply describing something without a visual reference. 

Visual references can also save time, as experienced contractors and architects are often able to see a picture of something and quickly diagnose a problem and come up with a solution. 

4. Assign action items

Most topics and issues brought up at the meetings end with someone being assigned a task to address or resolve it. This might include a subcontractor fixing something they installed, an owner reviewing a submittal, or an architect updating a drawing. 

Be clear with the items and review them at the end of the meeting so everyone knows what they are expected to do.

5. Take clear minutes and notes

OAC meetings usually cover a lot in one hour. Many of the decisions have major implications for cost, time, and quality. Many GCs will deputize someone to take clear notes and minutes which can be shared after the meeting as a reference, especially in regards to action items.

OAC meetings mean fewer surprises.

The temptation when working on a complicated project is to eliminate anything that blocks off an hour on an already packed calendar. However, a well-run, deliberate OAC meeting can save an immense amount of time and money, while also minimizing one of the things nobody wants on construction projects: surprises. 

OAC meetings open lines of communication, foster informed decision-making and ensure important stakeholders know what’s going on — and feel empowered to help improve it.

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