When a builder provides pre-construction services, it means more than just planning before construction. The builder will work in conjunction with you, the architect, the engineer, and other stakeholders to come up with the best possible plans before building.
By contrast, a design-build process that does not include pre-construction services would not include this collaboration and planning. Instead, one team designs everything and then hands it off, without necessarily having any interaction with the actual builder.
Construction services are always a team effort. As the owner, you benefit from pre-construction services in three particular ways:
- Reducing the risk of cost overages later on
- Improving the odds of finishing on schedule
- Eliminate many costly surprises that would come up later
Who Is Involved in Pre-Construction Services?
The future homeowner gets involved in pre-construction to voice their priorities and preferences. The design team needs to know the fine details of what you want, and it’s also a good time for the owner to get comfortable communicating with and working with the builder.
Architects, engineers, and a design team work together to draw up plans that are functional and suited to the owner’s vision.
The builder participates in a hands-on way. We assess the plans for feasibility and develop highly accurate estimates for costs and scheduling. If there’s a shortage of a certain material or the building site has a soil issue, we aim to discover and address these issues early rather than after the construction services have begun.
All parties work together with the goal of creating an actionable plan that can be executed on-time and within the owner’s budget, with limited risk of unexpected changes or delays.
How Does Pre-Construction Add Value?
Builders see everything in terms of cost, function, and value. A big part of the builder’s job during pre-construction services is value engineering. This means coming up with alternatives and suggestions for different materials and methods. For example, we might recommend a lower-cost material that provides the same function as a more expensive option. Or we might find something that costs the same or a little more but provides a significant amount of extra value.
Value can be a bit subjective, so the final decisions are always made by the homeowner. Overall, pre-construction services add value by delivering more of what the owner wants from the project within the same budget. In some cases, we even come up with savings while still including everything you wanted.
Regardless of any actual savings, however, the biggest goal of pre-construction services is to create the intangible value of reducing risk. If we can plan ahead for a foundation issue or HOA stipulation that could derail the project for a few weeks, that in itself is a huge source of value.
Are Pre-Construction Services Necessary for Building a Home?
The larger the project, the more value there is in pre-construction services. If you were building a house from a generic blueprint on flat ground in the middle of nowhere, you would scarcely need a high level of collaboration and planning.
However, in the Bay Area, virtually any type of building project benefits from pre-construction services. Collaboration helps make cover issues ranging from city and state regulations to green building best practices.
Pre-construction services are typically priced as a small percentage of the overall budget. Considering the risk reduction, potential savings, and added value, most architects and builders alike will agree that the process pays for itself.