Every building project benefits from comprehensive planning, but involving specialists at the very early stages brings even greater foresight, helping to mitigate any issues that may arise.
Traditionally, it’s been the estimator’s primary responsibility to evaluate and price a project right at the beginning, before any subcontractor or vendor bids have been accepted. However, now, the estimator is expected to take on additional roles such as defining scopes of work, assessing alternative materials, systems or methods as well as managing the intent of the design team and desires of the owner.
At LockMetal, we believe that early decision-making by the right experts is vital, instead of expecting estimators to take on this crucial phase of preconstruction.
Why is preconstruction so important? Preconstruction involves the collation of information from all of the project teams involved and projecting it into the budget as early as possible. This allows an early review of project costs to take place – vital to ensure sufficient funds are available – otherwise a redesign may be needed. Things to take into consideration at this stage include environmental assessments, testing services, design fees, permit fees, furniture and equipment.
We make sure that during the proposal stage, we are fully involved in understanding, planning and designing in order to provide the very best end result. We take a collaborative approach every step of the way, and actively reach out to the other subcontractors involved in the project for even greater understanding. With each project having varied levels of complexity, communication is imperative to make this process as smooth as possible.
To take the burden off estimators and to guarantee you the best results, involving a specialist – such as ourselves – as early as possible, is crucial. This allows you to improve predictability, reduce information loss at hand-offs and satisfy even the most demanding client.
We pride ourselves on offering so much more than just an estimation for a project because we believe that preconstruction is the foundation for any successful building venture. If you’d like to speak to us more about our services, get in touch today.