5 Steps to a Successful Construction Project
In this series we’re going to explore overall construction process and what goes into a successful construction project. We’ll cover the various phases of all construction projects such as design, bidding, the actual construction, and project closeout. All reputable construction managers follow the same general outline for managing their projects because it’s been proven time and again to generate exceptional results. Whether you’re planning to act as your own general contractor or just want to gain a better understanding of the process and be more informed when hiring the right construction manager for your project I think you’ll find this extremely helpful. In this post we’ll give you a big picture overview of what the different steps are and then dive into each one in greater detail in our later posts. As they become available you can click on each heading to learn more about each phase of construction in greater detail. Before we get into it, it’s important to note, that while there is a particular order that the different steps of the process need to be performed in, it’s not always that linear and at times multiple steps may be happening simultaneously.
Getting into it, assuming you already have a piece of real estate selected, either land to build new, or space in an existing building you plan to lease, the first thing you need to do is assemble your design team. Designs are a combination of Architectural, Structural, Mechanical, Plumbing, and Electrical plans and specifications that will guide the entire project. It’s a great idea to get your Construction Manager on board early to help with the design and provide architects and engineers with valuable insights on the constructability and cost of particular designs to help keep your project within your budget from the start. During the design phase you will be making the big decisions such as the overall shape and configuration of the building, the layout, and how many stories it will be as well as more refined decisions such as where to install cabinets, what type of flooring you want in each room, and what type of wall finishes will be installed. At this phase it isn’t necessary to have the exact product picked out, you’ll just need to know type of product you want. While it isn’t necessary to get overly detailed at this phase the more detail you can provide the easier the next step will be – soliciting bids!
Sub-Contractor Bidding and Award
After your design is complete, you’re ready to solicit bids from the various companies or sub-contractors that specialize in each area of construction. Construction managers all have lists of sub-contractors that they work with regularly that they will send your plans and specs to. The sub-contractors will then review the design documents and provide a bid outlining how much they will charge to complete their portion of work on your project. The more detail you can provide on your plans the more accurate the pricing from the sub-contractors will be. If your uncertain of items such as which carpet you want, or if you want painted or wood cabinets the sub-contractors will provide either a budget number that they used to prepare their quote, or they’ll provide you with a quote for option A and an alternate that either increases or decreases the quoted price if option B is selected. Once all of the bids have been received your general contractor will review the bids for each trade, ensure their accuracy and then enter into contracts with the sub-contractors that they determine are the best fit for the project. Price is obviously a primary consideration when evaluating sub-contractor bids, but experienced general contractors are also considering things such as performance on past projects, manpower, availability, and proximity to the project. Bids require much deeper analysis beyond just whose the cheapest to know that the sub-contractors you’re working with are capable of performing the work, have the manpower to complete it in a timely manner, and are close enough to your project to provide any service you might need after your project is complete.
Submittals
What comes next is often a missed step, especially among do-it yourself general contractors, Submittals. This is something you may never have heard of before, but in short, submittals are the information on all the products that are going to be installed in your building. Different construction managers execute submittals on different scales, and often it varies based on the project, but they should never be skipped entirely. Submittals can be as simple as wood and paint color samples or as complex as information on every single product being installed right down the type of fasteners the sub-contractor intends to use. This is important because the submittals provide valuable information on how each product performs in a given environment as well as how one product might interact with another product. For example, certain fasteners are not compatible with lumber that has been treated with chemicals to prevent it from rotting. In this case it’s critical to know what type of chemical was used to verify that the proposed fasteners won’t deteriorate over time. As I’m sure you can imagine, this amounts to a very substantial amount of information being submitted on any given project, fortunately professional builders have tools and resources available to them to sort and review this information.
Construction
Finally, we’re to the part everyone loves, Building. This is the most exciting and rewarding part of every building project, it’s when you get to see your vision and dreams brought to reality. During this phase of the project the Construction Manager is busy coordinating work on site. We’re communicating with the sub-contractors to make sure material deliveries are on time, the sub-contractors know when they are needed on site, and that the project is ready for them when they arrive. The site superintendent will be continually monitoring the work of the sub-contractors to make sure it complies with the designs and that the sub-contractors are using the products they said they were going to use when they turned in their submittals. The construction manager will also be documenting the entire process through a journal referred to as a Daily Log and by taking photos ….. A LOT of photos. The documentation always proves to invaluable on every project when you need to look back later to see exactly how something was installed or assembled. In every construction project you can never have enough notes, nor can you have enough photos from enough different angles.
Closeouts
Lastly, and yet another lesser known part of each project is Closeouts. Closeouts are the information that each sub-contractor provides to the owner on how to use and care for the products they installed as well as the 1 year warranty from each sub-contractor. The care, operation, and maintenance manuals include basic information such as how the manufacturer recommends cleaning their products, as well as more complex information such as how and how often to change your furnace filter or how to program your garage door opener. In the past most Contractors delivered this information to the owner via a 3-ring binder, however now most have transitioned to digital copies of this information. The switch to digital has allowed contractors to provide much better information such as videos of how to operate your programmable thermostat or adjust the schedule on your lawn irrigation system. As part of the closeout package, I highly recommend that you schedule a walk through with all of your sub-contractors for 11 months after the completion of construction. This is important because at the 11 month walk through you can bring up any issues that need to be addressed as part of the 1 year warranty that wouldn’t typically be covered by the state mandated 10 year structural warranty.
That’s it, your project is complete! Like I said at the beginning, each of these phases of construction can occur somewhat simultaneously. As an example, in a design build scenario a contractor might be soliciting bids and receiving submittals on flooring while the foundation is already being poured, or just starting on the interior design of a building while the shell is already under construction. The whole process can be somewhat fluid and intermingled depending on the project and the General Contractor. The emphasis that is placed on each phase also varies by Contractor and project. While the process does vary the one thing that always remains constant is that all successful construction projects have executed each phase of the build process. If your project seems to be plagued by issues or doesn’t seem to be running very smoothly there’s a good chance that one of these steps was not given the attention it needed. Asking your potential General Contractors how much attention they give to each of these 5 steps to a successful construction project can be a great way to vet them, if they do not believe in, or implement one of these steps it may be a red flag. To learn more about vetting your General Contractors check out our post on Selecting a Qualified General Contractor.
Build with Experience – Build with Dedication – Build with HCI
