Construction is complicated. The process of transforming an idea into reality requires much more than just hard work, equipment, and expertise. This is where the preconstruction services provider comes into light. Preconstruction services are introductory engineering and planning tasks that are basically the foundation for 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 obvious. The American Institute of Architects issues a document involving best practices. It is called “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 concerning 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 a contract – especially 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 another kind of utility services? What should all areas 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 the 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 before facing a problem in the concerned field. You should be ready to provide the information also. If you are foreseeing any problem about 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 workflow, offer your ideas, and listen to other team members’ ideas related to the project. Do not forget that preconstruction aims to gather everyone on a single page. Various problems can be avoided by bringing and discussing them with the group setting before beginning the work.
Connected Team
A project team that is well-informed, communicative, and properly connected diminishes any concerns regarding the efficient and smooth running of the 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 the most from the preconstruction service.
Although several tasks are covered in preconstruction services, the final work depends upon the project’s requirement and the client’s preference. 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.. On another side, there are several types of benefits one can avail of 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 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 of 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 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 few 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 project’s path is smoothened, and the problems are prevented even before the initialization of the commercial construction. The various concerns which can be addressed during the 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, you should search commercial general contractors in your area to avail of the preconstruction services. 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 a contractor’s experience 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 the project team and will help in accurately pricing and planning the project.
I found it interesting how you mentioned how pre-construction services are great for clearly mapping out the estimated time, cost, and scope of the project. My wife and I are moving soon and we have decided that we want to build our home instead. However, with our busy schedules, we won’t be able to supervise the project the entire time. I will keep this in mind as we search for a residential construction service that offers a pre-planning option so we can know our future home is well taken care of!