The procedures in this manual distill six years of learning about the
most efficient acquisition and construction methods in this country for
high volume production of housing affordable to low-income people. The
people in the Rehab Work Group at The Enterprise Foundation have
gathered this information first-hand and conveyed it in training
workshops on production management throughout the country. Over 2000
participants in the workshops have included rehab specialists from city
housing departments, con- struction managers of single and multifamily
rehab projects, program managers from both nonprofit housing development
organizations and city rehab depart- ments, as well as students in
colleges and universities. They are becoming the backbone of a new cadre
of effective producers of affordable housing. In the 30 cities and
several rural areas where we have both learned and applied these
production management techniques, they have resulted in savings of 5,
10, even 25 percent of the cost of housing development. The Enterprise
Foundation is a national, nonprofit organization that my wife Patty and
I launched in 1982. The Foundation's mission is to see that all very
low-income Americans have the opportunity for fit and affordable housing
within a generation, and work their way up and out of poverty into the
main- stream of American life.