Pre-construction is a necessary step that will help your commercial building project run smoothly. There are numerous things you need to complete within the pre-construction process.
What is Pre-Construction?
Pre-construction is the phase that pulls together all the different parts to make a final game plan. This phase outlines the project’s overall scope, but to form this scope, you must lay out a schedule, budget, potential issues, and other contributing factors.
During this phase, you will work closely with your design team and construction firm. For this phase to run smoothly, frequent communication with all parties is necessary.
After this commercial pre-construction checklist is complete, you will be able to define the project. Thoroughness in this phase is vital to ensure a successful construction project!
Commercial Pre-Construction Checklist
- Choose a Location: Begin by selecting a location that will suit the needs of your business and the physical requirements for construction.
- Overarching Goals: Determine your goals for this construction project before you begin designing. This way, you will have all the information you need before the design stage.
- Pre-design: Before developing your construction design, decide who your full-service construction company will be — maybe VPC Builders?
- Design: Begin and finalize your construction drawings. This process will include extensive communication with other professionals — structural, mechanical, electrical, and civil engineers —– to ensure that everything within the building is operational.
- Budget: Now that you have laid out your design, you can begin budgeting. Now is an excellent time to ensure that what you designed you can afford. It is better to cut costs now than add them during construction when it will cost more to change plans!
- Identify Potential Issues: You have a location, goal, design, and budget. Before laying out a schedule, it is essential to identify any potential issues that could affect construction — Is anything about the design unique? Is inclement weather a threat? Are any materials on backorder?
- Build a Schedule: As explained above, it is important to leave room for potential issues during construction. It is always better to end earlier than expected than later!
- Obtain Building Permits: Not that you know what you plan to accomplish, your project manager can go ahead and apply for the building permits necessary for your construction project,
- Procure Materials: At the same time, your project manager will begin to order materials based on your schedule and budget.
- Determine Job Needs: With the schedule, you can not project how large of a construction team you will need to meet your schedule demands. You will also want to determine if you need to hire specialty employees.
- Build a Construction Team: Your project manager will now help you find the people for the job to build a team to start construction!
More On Commercial Construction
To read more on commercial construction, either in preparation or conceptualization, visit our blog. You can also learn about our commercial construction work.