By Suzie Engel, P.E.
President and Owner, Motz
Every project reaches a point where the drawings are complete, systems are installed and construction comes to an end. At Motz Engineering, our work also includes reviewing what happened and carrying those lessons into the next project. In previous newsletters, we have touched on the first pahses of the IMPRESS process. Now let’s chat about the final phases of the process: Support and Strengthen. These two phases of the IMPRESS Process make learning an important part of delivery.
The Support phase focuses on verifying performance and measuring results during construction closeout. Through engineering review, commissioning activities and performance measurement, our team works to confirm that systems operate as intended, document outcomes and evaluate project success. This is where assumptions are tested against reality and useful insights begin to emerge.
We track submittals, requests for information and coordination issues using our Deliverable Database Manager. Reviewing that information helps us understand how the work is progressing and where our response or coordination needs attention.
The Strengthen phase focuses on structured feedback and data analysis. We review projects with our internal team, the architect and the owner to understand what worked well and what could be improved. Our goal is to identify our mistakes and establish engineering protocols that help prevent them from happening again.
That feedback needs to be candid and specific. A coordination issue, a design decision or a lesson from system testing becomes useful when we understand its cause and determine what to change. The review gives our team a way to translate project experience into the practices we use on future work.
Owners and design partners have an important role in this process. Their feedback helps us understand the project from perspectives beyond our own scope. Open conversations about performance and delivery allow us to identify improvements together.
The IMPRESS Process connects engineering work with the opportunity to learn from it. By reviewing results and applying what we learn, we work to strengthen our team, our relationships and the outcomes we deliver for clients.