Why are pre-construction services preferable?

The two most important concerns of a building project are the budget and the schedule. Pre-construction services ensure that both budgeting and scheduling goals are met.

A common error in the construction process is to wait until the building documents are completed before issuing them to contractors for pricing or competitive bidding. At that point, when the costs are determined, you may find out that the current market was misjudged and the project is over the desired budget. You may need to re-design the project or secure additional financing. Both options would inevitably delay the schedule.

Pre-construction services are designed to avoid cost overruns and scheduling delays by:

Setting an overall schedule for design, permitting, and construction.
Checking current market costs on a regular basis during the planning process.
Identifying scope items added to the project that increase the budget. Commonly known as "scope creep," minor enhancements to the work scope can add up and push the overall cost over the limit.
Organizing the project team members and keep the pace of the work flow on target.
Advising the team of any required pre-purchasing of long lead items during the design process so the construction phase would not be adversely affected by waiting for materials to be delivered when needed.
Advising the team of any phasing of construction work that would be required.
Assisting in resolving "in road" problems or conflicts that arise during the planning phase.
Fostering interest in the project with the desired contractors and material suppliers.
Preparing comprehensive bid packages to be issued to the appropriate contractors for pricing.
Analyzing and "leveling" the bids submitted by the competing contractors to ensure that the team members would be comparing apples to apples.

Feasibility Assessment

Once the property owner has determined the financial parameters that would make the project viable, Cedar Construction confirms the budget and schedule, each in terms of the other. This step is performed before any work begins to produce building documents. The "conceptual budget" is prepared by interviewing the owner and any other project stakeholders with regard to the projected program for the site and building. Once the desired program is documented and confirmed by the owner, a conceptual budget can be developed. Cedar Construction breaks down the scope of work into subcontractor trade categories and assigns values to the scope of work from costs experienced on similar recently completed projects.

In the same manner, Cedar Construction develops a timeline schedule for planning, design, permitting, and construction. The schedule is analyzed along with the budget to determine the ability of the project to fit into the owner's overall financial plan.

Cedar Construction's unique experience and diverse portfolio of successful projects enables us to evaluate and project costs and schedules accurately.

Governmental Regulatory Requirements

Cedar Construction has an in-depth knowledge of local codes and town building regulatory requirements. We provide a step-by-step guide for complying with the regulations required by the local governmental agencies having jurisdiction over the project site. We recommend professionals to provide the required documents and a procedure to apply for the building permits. Cedar Construction's staff assists in preparing and submitting all required documents.

Cedar Construction advises the property owner of any environmental issues that would affect the project. Wetlands, hazardous materials, unsuitable soil, rock excavation, and remediation requirements are some of the issues that could be determined during the feasibility stage of the development process.

Cedar Construction prepares all building department forms and submits them for approval. Having ongoing close relationships with licensed contractors in the area enables us to prepare all required forms without costly delays.

Conceptual Cost Estimation

Cedar Construction stands out above the rest of the field in conceptual estimating. Our advantage is that we have gathered costs from every building trade and material supplier in the construction business. Our understanding of the details, means, and methods of building construction affords us the ability to perform this critical task with speed and accuracy. Our database of information gathered from previously completed projects in our diverse portfolio enables our estimating department to address every aspect of every project with in-depth information of the current market costs and availability. Our estimating team will quickly produce an accurate and thorough conceptual budget for your use in evaluating your project financial viability and cash flow projection. Our expertise in this critical step will give you the information you need to make informed decisions on the financial aspects of your project.

Project Scheduling

A project schedule is an essential tool used for organizing and orchestrating a construction project. By graphing the time durations of planning, design, and construction, it allows the property owner to forecast the use of premises, finances and moving.

An overall schedule is created at the very start of each project. Every project’s schedule is developed by outlining a detailed list of tasks required to build the project and then assigning each task a time allocation. Once the outline is completed, research must be performed in the following areas to refine those time allocations:

Unique requirements including location, size, and program of use
Requirements for governmental agency and code compliance
Utility companies' work and safety regulations and operating constraints
Unique set of material and labor requirements to comply to the owner's needs

These are only some of the tasks and requirements we research. Once accomplished, the scheduler can then integrate the task times into a precise sequence of operations that neither allows more or less time than it is required or necessary.

Cedar Construction, LLC provides the experience and skill needed to develop a project schedule and then keep it up-to-date and informative as events take place. Our schedules are easy to follow, and they become an essential tool in every phase of the project. Click here to view a sample of our Project Schedules.

Administration

Project administration includes:

Instituting a site-specific safety plan
Instituting quality control procedures
Developing and distributing a construction schedule
Preparing a construction cost budget
Bid package preparation and administration
Bid review, evaluation, and leveling
Instituting and overseeing purchasing procedures
Contract administration
Developing and distributing a contact list with telephone and fax numbers and e-mail addresses
Maintaining a request for information log
Maintaining a submittals log
Developing and distributing a responsibility matrix
Issuing change order requests
Maintaining a change order log
Preparing and distributing meeting minutes
Organizing testing and inspection procedures
Administration of payment distributions
Obtaining and organizing all record documents
Expediting local building department inspections, signoffs, and final certificate of occupancy