Construction Projects: 6 Things to Have Locked In
Construction is a full body, intense, ever-changing, and stressful experience - even if you’ve been through it many times before. The best possible thing you can do is prepare, and control as many things as possible that you can, because there *will* be surprises.
Have a well-rehearsed playbook, but be prepared to call audibles.
So, what are the foundations of that playbook? Here are 6 things you should have locked in before you begin construction, on a project of any size:
The design.
The more design decisions you put off til the construction phase ("we don't need to select tile now, we'll do it later") the more harried the decisions will have to be. People *constantly* underestimate how much time/brain space construction take up, and how little there will be for other stuff.
Takeaway: plan and decide as much as possible before construction starts.
A good contract.
Don't skimp here. Avoid the temptation to "just get started" without due diligence here. Make sure to have an attorney *familiar with the construction type you're doing* review stuff. Shortcut: use the AIA suite of contracts. For the love of all that is holy, don't sign a contract drawn up by the contractor bc he "already spent the money and this is the contract he uses for everyone."
Takeaway: like a parachute, you don't really need the contract til you *really* need it...and then it'll save your life!
The team.
When times get tough, you need competent design and construction professionals in your corner. Don't wait til the tough moment is upon you to realize that you've got a less than stellar team. A building is the biggest investment most people make, whether it's their home or a ground up development or an investment property. Why skimp on the people who help you make it happen and are critical to your success?
Takeaway: Work with the best team you can find. (Doesn't necessarily mean the most pricey, or the famous ones, by the way…)
The drawings.
Drawings are the visual part of the contract between the contractor and the owner. When agreeing to doing a bunch of work for a bunch of money, don't you want to be as specific as possible? If there are gray areas in the drawings, there will be gray areas during the construction process. The drawings are what everyone agrees is getting built. An owner should want that to be *very* clear, and so should a GC.
Takeaway: remember that the drawings ARE the contract! Be specific and clear.
The schedule.
A GC should be able to provide you a construction schedule before the project even starts. If they can't, don't hire them. Things change, things come up, but the GC needs to start with a plan for execution and a baseline to work from. And, this schedule should be updated regularly. While the owner may get updates every 2 weeks or so, the GC should be living and dying by their schedule daily. At any time, they should know where they stand.
Takeaway: Good GCs are masters of the schedule, and give regular updates.
Schedule of values.
There are different terms or ways to do this, but it boils down to: the GC should provide a report of anticipated costs, broken down into industry standard categories. That should get updated regularly during the project, including anticipated cost to completion. Having clear cost info and a clear baseline to work from helps owners feel confident making decisions during construction, keeps things moving, pay faster, etc.
Takeaway: when people know where they stand financially, they make better decisions.
This list isn’t exhaustive - of course there are more things you should have locked in and organized before starting! The more planning you do ahead of time, the better chances of success you’ll have. Construction is stressful, sure, but it doesn’t have to be a sh!tshow!
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