Pre-construction basically involves providing an individual who wishes to undertake a construction project with the correct approach for developing the scope, schedule, and cost of the project. This is often done with the objective of defining the project, identifying any issues that might arise, and analyzing its costs and benefits. This goes a long way in determining the viability of that project.
Companies that provide construction services aim at generating sufficient discernment so that the viability of a particular project is understood by all stakeholders. In line with this, your construction services provider must first create a project program that identifies your specific needs and expectations. This helps in finalizing the conceptual size, look, and the quality of work. This is often done in liaison with design consultants, engineers, inspectors, and builders.
What Does Construction Services Entail?
Many construction projects stall or fall behind schedule because project managers embark on them without consulting construction services providers. These are specialists in the field of construction, who will ensure that your project is completed within schedule. Generally, pre-construction involves:
- Site Analysis- When you hire a construction services firm, its technicians will carry out a physical site analysis. This is done to determine whether the site that you have chosen conforms to local government regulations pertaining to construction. Besides this, they will create a general site master plan, and carry out soil analysis to ascertain that the foundation design supports the building
- Seeking Approvals– Most pre-construction companies have withstanding relationships with relevant government agencies. This means that they can easily present the project design to the architectural control committee for approval.
- Value Engineering– This entails determining whether the scope of the project equals the budget at hand. Value engineering helps save costs since the construction services company will prepare a well-defined project estimate using the latest estimation technologies. It also involves providing the cost-benefit analysis of specific materials, and recommending alternative solutions where it is deemed fit.
- Constructability Review– It is obvious that you wish your design to be accurately reflected in the plans. Preconstruction companies carry out a constructability review in order to streamline and clarify all the details. The review involves examining your design documents to pinpoint oversights and inaccuracies.
- Cost Control- At this stage, the construction services firm will review the scope of the project and the projected costs to ensure that they are in line with the budget. This helps in the preparation of a final project cost estimation, and the cash flow management mechanism.
How Do Construction Services Benefit You?
The pre-construction phase vexes many homeowners who are either remodeling their houses or building from scratch. Fortunately, you can carry out your project stress-free if you choose to hire a pre-construction firm. This way, you stand to benefit in numerous ways since these construction experts can help you undertake an accurate project cost estimation.
Construction services companies also reduce the risks involved by pinpointing and addressing shortcomings in the planning process. Their longevity in the industry similarly helps them to carry out an evaluation of different scenarios beforehand, and chart a path that will guarantee the success of the project.
Cost and Duration of a Pre-construction Exercise
Typically, a pre-construction effort takes up between 1 and 3 percent of the total construction cost. Nonetheless, this is dependent on the size and complexity of the project. It takes between 2 and 12 weeks to undertake a comprehensive pre-construction effort. Again, this depends on the amount of work that the company will undertake so that it fully meets the purpose of the pre-construction effort. Contact us for more information.