Your article on the Miami Performing Arts Center, "Deal Cut to Expedite Miami Arts Center Job," is a good report on a troubled project that's been set right through Agency Construction Management (ENR 8/30-9/1 p. 12). In one respect, though, it adds to the confusion in the construction  industry about what CM is and is not.

One of the key players in the project compares agency CM to "a design-build type collaboration." In agency CM, the construction manager works directly and solely for the project owner, providing advice and services with only the project's success in mind.

Agency CM is not a project delivery system but has been shown to work equally well with any of the commonly used systems. In fact, when a
professional construction manager begins working for an owner in an agency CM contract, often one of the CM's first services is to help the owner
select the best delivery method for the specific project.

In Miami, agency CM has provided true leadership and collaboration to a project plagued by delays and cost overruns. These benefits can be realized right from the start by involving a professional construction manager in a project at the predesign stage.

BRUCE D'AGOSTINO, CAE
Executive Director
Construction Management Association of America
McLean, Va.