early involvement = future satisfaction
Through early collaboration our expert building knowledge bridges the gap between desire and design.
You need to know how much it is going to cost and whether your design aligns with your budget. You need to know how long it is going to take, and what each participant needs to contribute to get the project running. Getting to the starting line takes a thoughtful, thorough assessment. Our involvement is the third leg of a three-legged stool. When architect, client and builder collaborate, synergy happens.
Frequently when we un-roll a new set of plans we notice two issues
Budgetary constraints – the design or scope of a project is greater than a client's budget. This creates disappointment when the solution is simply to reduce scope in order to meet the budget.
Incomplete information – the project is underdeveloped and requires additional engineering, detailing, and specifications. Incomplete information hinders our ability to accurately forecast time and money.
We avoid the cliché of "over budget and behind schedule" through our refined pre-construction process.
How to achieve your goals
We provide an in-depth assessment, evaluating the project package for completeness and constructablity.
Using the following tools, we provide the necessary feedback to bring your project to the starting line efficiently.
ROM (rough order of magnitude) is a quick yet systematic accounting of the macro elements of your project utilizing square foot and other unit pricing, our past projects, experiential data, and a bit of alchemy for a budgetary reality check.
Preliminary estimate is an in-depth analysis of all project components, utilizing unit pricing, subcontractor participation, and assessment of finish specifications, and structural engineering. This more accurate estimate serves the process by highlighting what is missing, and the need for more development, thereby further defining costs.
Value engineering is a well-worn phrase that typically means finding better value using alternative materials and methods to reduce cost. The need for this phase is often driven by a project where the design scope exceeds affordability or has incomplete detailing, specifications, engineering or code compliance issues.
Construction contract is the culmination of the pre-construction phase. It typically contains the control budget for the project which is composed of the agreed upon scope, preliminary schedule, cost to complete the project including allowances, conditions and exclusions, project scope narrative, any contingency and the builder's fee.