By Regan Horn | BCS senior
Starting off a series of lectures for the Building Construction Science Program, George C. Martin Jr. (president, Construction Management Inc. of Virginia and partner, Martin Industrial Park Venture LLC) presented on the topic of arbitration on Oct. 27.
In his lecture titled, Alternative Dispute Resolution: Arbitration and Mediation in the Construction Industry, Martin discussed the other option of resolution in the industry.
Typically, BCS students do not learn about arbitration, mitigation and litigation until their senior year in the Professional Communication & Practice course; however, Martin’s lecture provided an insight into the world of dispute resolution for all BCS students.
Topics that were discussed during the lecture included what is arbitration, what are the benefits of arbitration and who is an arbitrator.
After the lecture, Martin was able to talk more with the seniors in Assistant Professor Michele Herrmann’s fourth-year studio about more detailed information on arbitration.
Martin has more than 35 years’ experience as a construction management professional including general contracting, property development, construction management and construction consulting. His construction career began with work on projects as a carpenter during school breaks throughout high school and college. He entered general contracting following completing a degree in architecture from The Catholic University of America. Initially, he was involved in estimating tasks and had the opportunity to complete design work while also serving as a construction engineering officer with the West Virginia Air National Guard.
Martin has served as project manager on a wide variety of projects including shopping centers, churches, schools, industrial, multi-family housing, medical and institutional and government facilities. Following a period of greater responsibility for acquiring new work, he assumed presidency of a general contracting firm and founded a new entity specifically focused on construction management. While continuing to perform general contracting work, he directed the focus of the business towards construction management. He currently serves as both construction manager and construction consultant for a variety of clients including utility companies (Pepco – 20 years), surety, private owners and institutions. As both constructor and consultant, he was involved in numerous claims recovery, adversarial and mediation proceedings.