Construction is complicated. The process of transforming an idea into a reality require much more than just hard work, equipment and expertise. This is where preconstruction services provider comes into light. Preconstruction services are introductory engineering and planning tasks which are basically the foundation for a thriving commercial construction work.
For every kind of commercial construction job, all the involved people’s aim about the stated plans and procedures of the building should be very clear. A document involving best practices is issued by The American Institute of Architects. It is called as “A Sample Preconstruction Conference Agenda” and it outlines the most common issues emerging during preconstruction. Below some of those issues are mentioned:
Who is doing what?
A preconstruction service should create a chain of commands with respect to the person leading the commercial project. The service should also describe under who’s charge submittals (like shop drawings, permits, engineering data, tests, licenses and inspection) and scheduling (involving updates and progress reports, approvals and submittal times) will remain. Moreover, a schedule should be set for project meetings having clear attendance and agenda requirements.
Dollars & cents
Every person involved should be familiar with contract – specially with the provisions for dispute resolution and change orders. You should know about the progress of payments being addressed, including the procedure for payment of materials, keeping aside retainage and submission of payroll records.
Which work goes to whom?
When preconstruction handles the job site’s logical structure, a lot of uncertainties are avoided. Who will be handling the timetables and procedures for ordering gas, phone, water, electric and other kind of utility services? What all areas should be designated for parking, storing equipment and materials? How to establish access to site and pathways – including cautions regarding adjacent properties, tree protection and other similar issues? The arrangements about security of job-site should also be discussed.
Group Communication
If the issues are not raised, or you are not clear about them, then it will be better to raise a question prior to facing a problem in the concerned field. You should be ready to provide the information also. If you are foreseeing any problem with regard to sequencing or scheduling your work with other trades, the issue should be brought up to the notice during preconstruction.
If you bear any ideas to streamline the work flow, offer your ideas and also listen to the ideas of other team members related to project. Do not forget that the aim of preconstruction is to gather everyone on a single page and various problems can be avoided by bringing and discussing them with the group setting prior to beginning the work.
Connected Team
A project team which is well-informed, communicative and properly connected diminishes any concerns regarding the efficient and smooth running of project. With such a team, a stage is set for executing the best work with costs being kept down. All you have to do is make sure that you are making most from preconstruction service.
Although there are a number of tasks covered in preconstruction services but the final work depends upon the requirement of project and the preference of client. Some usual tasks included in preconstruction services are:
• Risk analysis
• Feasibility studies and constructability reviews
• Planning of site and its evaluation
• Engineering services
• Project scheduling
• Utility mapping
The data collected during the preconstruction phase helps the commercial project a lot. With preconstruction services, you may achieve more energy-efficient and productive operations. On one side, there are several types of commercial projects like building renovation, medical construction, tenant improvements, industrial construction, etc. and on another side, there are several types of benefits one can avail with preconstruction services. Some of the benefits are mentioned here:
Clear Planning
Before any new commercial project, there is just an idea. However, transforming it into reality requires you to have a clear planning. You can properly plan your commercial project either with the help of a construction company or a good contractor. During the process of preconstruction planning, different factors like scope, scheduling, etc. are being focused upon and these factors help to come up with a concise and clear plan which can be easily followed by everyone involved with the project.
Budget Estimate
If you have availed preconstruction service for your commercial project, then you will get a complete estimate about the money required to complete the project. This helps the companies to do planning and budgeting of funds required to successfully complete the project. It is very beneficial because any kind of potential fund shortage is identified in the starting stage of the commercial project. With such information, the concerned person or team gets enough time to make any necessary financial adjustments.
Less number of problems
A commercial construction project cannot be completed without problems. It is very natural for problems to occur during construction. However, with preconstruction consultation services, very less problems occur because with it the construction process is streamlined to execute the project successfully. A preconstruction service helps to locate the possible issues and risks in the starting and various concerns are properly addressed. The path of the project is smoothened and the problems are prevented even before initialization of the commercial construction. The various concerns which can be addressed during preconstruction phase are as follows:
• Constructability reviews
• Permitting requirements
• Site selection and site requirements
• Soil evaluations and utility
• Equipment selection and analysis of building material
• Scheduling obstacles
• Opportunities of value engineering
Whether you are in San Francisco, Oakland or any other area, to avail the preconstruction services you should search commercial general contractors in your area. Their main target group is industrial and commercial clients. So, all your commercial construction tasks will be handled properly by them. This way you will be leveraging the experience of contractor because the contractor will advise you properly about the construction planning and design development even before initializing the major decision. The contractor will be an important part of project team and will help in accurately pricing and planning the project.
