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- GRACE SEFERIAN
- P.E., PMP, M.E.M., LEED AP, QSD, QSP
GENERAL OVERVIEW
Grace Seferian is a Program and Construction Management professional as well as a Professional Mediator and Arbitrator with over 20 years of construction experience in both the public and private sectors. She has managed all aspects of multi-million dollar projects from Programming & Planning, Design, Bid & Award, Construction and Closeout maintaining scope, schedule and budget as well as compliance with applicable state and agency criteria and safety standards. She currently practices alternative dispute resolution and is the founder of ResolveWithGrace.
The combination of her engineering and construction experience gives her a complete and well-balanced understanding of the building process. As an expert in the field of construction, Grace has a deep understanding of technical terms, engineering and claims analysis principles. She has resolved hundreds of construction disputes and potential claims. Her professional experience includes educational facilities, financial institutions, and both commercial and residential buildings.
In her last assignment she was supporting a Bay Area community college district’s $253 Million 5-year bond program for construction and modernization of one of their campus facilities with Program and Construction Management services. Her services included monitoring the performance of Architects and General Contractors to ensure that District Standards were being achieved and the District's Bond Program Goals were met.
Grace’s responsibilities included managing the overall project cost, schedule and budget; managing the General Contractors and other directly contracted vendors and consultants, such as architects, inspectors, engineers, materials testing labs, furniture consultants and moving companies; managing the contractor bidding and selection process; reviewing construction proposals and related pricing/scopes; analyzing, tracking and managing critical milestone activities to avoid schedule slip; correcting and assessing “work-in-place” to approve capital expenditure; leading and conducting Project Meetings; identifying the factors that influenced construction costs, and monitoring and reporting on this data; reviewing validating and auditing cost estimates prepared by contractors and architects and other consultants; supporting engineering decisions as it related to the project cost and budget while design or construction changes took place during construction; resolving daily construction disputes and project issues; processing approval of change orders; reviewing requests for payment by the GC/CM and Owner vendors and consultants; tracking and ensuring OFCI equipment met the project schedule; reviewing the punch list items to be completed or corrected with the GC/CM prior to issuance of Certificate of Substantial Completion; reviewing and approving final GC/CM invoices, payment applications, retention payments; overseeing the moveable furniture order, delivery and final installation; and overseeing and managing the transfer of the building operations to the owner including all close out documentation and warranties.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
2013 - Present
ResolveWithGrace,
Berkeley, California
Construction Mediator (own practice)
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Mediation and dispute
resolution services for construction and consulting services disputes.
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Mediator at the Superior
Courts of California, Counties of Alameda and Contra Costa.
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Mediator at the Office
of Citizen Complaints (OCC) in San Francisco, California.
2006 - 2013
Swinerton Management and Consulting
– Education Division,
San Francisco, California
Project Manager
(Owner’s Representative)
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Program and construction
management services for the Chabot Las Positas
Community College District (CLPCCD) and San Francisco Unified School
District (SFUSD).
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Services included
managing demolition, hazmat abatement, design, construction and swing space
processes of several projects on campus with aggressive schedules.
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Key projects included
installation of underground utilities, structural and seismic upgrades for
several classroom building renovations; similar upgrades for the Math and
Science buildings (LEED Gold project); modernization of the Dental Hygiene
facility; the Planetarium building renovation; swimming pool renovation;
football field turf replacement with new athletic equipment; and Campus
security system.
2002 - 2006
Bernards,
San Fernando, California
Construction Manager (Owner’s Representative)
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Construction management
services for Multi-Prime High School projects for the Burbank Unified School
District (BUSD) and the William S. Hart UHSD.
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Services included
managing the construction process of new high schools.
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Scope of work included
new classroom buildings, swimming pool, outdoor tennis and basketball
courts, football and baseball/softball fields, gymnasium, kitchen and
cafeteria, indoor theater and performing arts center, outdoor amphitheater,
new underground utilities and equipment, parking lots and new road
construction on Campus.
2000 - 2002
F.H. PASCHEN / SN NIELSEN,
Santa Fe Springs, California
Project Manager
1999 - 2000
KCE Matrix, Inc.,
Glendale, California
Environmental and Civil Engineer
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Environmental Site
Assessments for commercial properties and gas stations.
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Subsurface assessments
and groundwater monitoring and sampling.
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Remedial design and
monitoring of subsurface soil and groundwater remediation systems.
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Building assessments for
asbestos and lead.
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Site inspections for
seismic repair.
1995 - 1999
La Constructa, s.a.l.,
Beirut - Lebanon
Planning Engineer and Contract Manager
1994 – 1996
American University of Beirut
(AUB), Beirut - Lebanon
Graduate/Research Assistant
at the Engineering Management Department.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
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Master of Engineering Management Degree (M.E.M.) – February 1996
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Bachelor of Engineering Degree (B.E.) Major Civil Engineering – February 1994
Both degrees received from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon
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Dispute and Conflict Resolution Mediator training (40 hours) UC Berkeley
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Advanced Mediation training (33 hours) by SEEDS
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Real Estate Mediation training (2 hours) by Community Boards
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Mediator Malpractice; Transforming Impasse from Problem into Opportunity in Business Mediations; and Mediator Proposals (4 hours) by The Mediation Society
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CDRS Arbitration, CDRS Advanced ADR and CDRS Dispute Review Board training (32 hours) by Construction Dispute Resolution Services (CDRS)
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DRB/DRA training (16 hours) by Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF)
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EPA - Asbestos training: AHERA Contractor and Supervisor (40 hours) by Hazard Management Services, Inc.
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Intensive Program Management training (21 hours) at UC Berkeley
REGISTRATIONS
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Licensed Professional
Civil Engineer (P.E.) in the State of California Board for Professional
Engineers and Land Surveyors, License C68317
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Licensed General
Contractor (Classification B) in the State of California Contractors
State License Board, License 832525
AFFILIATIONS
- Construction Dispute Resolution Services (CDRS)
- Association for Dispute
Resolution of Northern California (ADRNC)
- The Mediation Society
- California Board for
Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists
- California Contractors
State License Board
- Project Management
Institute (PMI)
- United States Green
Building Council (USGBC)
- California Storm Water
Quality Association (CASQA)
ADDITIONAL ASSETS
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Certifications and Accreditations:
Project Management Professional (PMP)
LEED Accredited
Professional (LEED AP)
Qualified Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) Developer (QSD)
and Practitioner (QSP)
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Software: PRIMAVERA
P3, SureTrak, Claim Digger, Expedition, PROLOG, MS PROJECT, WORD, EXCEL,
POWERPOINT
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Languages: English,
French, Arabic, Armenian
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