The successful and efficient delivery of a capital expansion project is not a job to be done alone. It requires a team with complementary yet diverse skill sets. Be it renovation, expansion or green field, a successful collaboration starts well before the hammer swings.
A successful project requires the collaboration of an owner’s team, design team, and construction team. Each party has a role based in unique perspective and expertise. When this expertise is effectively integrated, it can yield a final product that captures the owner’s desired outcome, on schedule and on budget, while mitigating risk along the way.
The well-worn, yet nearly perfect analogy is the three-legged stool. A stool will not function with any less than three legs. Likewise, it will be virtually impossible to develop a project that will find the value-based blend of design, schedule and budget without an integrated owner, design team, and construction team.
Once a project is conceptualized, the next question from senior leadership is of course “How Much and How Fast?” This is a tricky question for anyone that has ever had to provide an answer. If the response provided is ultimately under budgeted or promised too quickly, trouble abounds. If the answer exceeds the reality in cost and schedule, the project may not happen. Neither is helpful to an organization. You will find a sand trap to the left and water to the right.
By bringing in design and construction partners early, an owner will gain a lot.
By engaging a design team early, the designers are provided the ability to more completely understand the operational objectives of the owner and identify opportunities to provide for these needs and also perhaps account for future growth. With time, a design team can look across industries to find unique concepts that may bring further efficiency to the owner. Perhaps more importantly, the designers can help the owner prepare contingency plans for the “what if” if scenarios in the uncertain world of health care. These benefits extend well past architecture to include mechanical, electrical and plumbing design as well as other sub consultants.
Likewise, when a contractor participates early in the process, various construction types and methods can be evaluated. Possible alternatives in construction sequences can be vetted. Potential subcontractors can be brought in to help aid in costing, and development of a complete construction budget can be achieved.
As markets heat up, material and labor prices will rise. In addition to labor costs rising, the availability of skilled labor also becomes tight. With early involvement, project partners will begin to schedule resources to ensure that the most qualified team is placed on the project. Good folks will always have a place to go and if you ask for them late, you may have to settle for less experience.
With their hands in the clay early, project partners can be better informed which will translate to more efficient work put in place and fewer change orders. Both outcomes benefit the owner.
When an owner is looking to kick off a project, they would be well advised to bring on partners early. There can sometimes be a hesitancy to commit to incur costs early on for a multitude of reasons. Regardless of what the justification may be, I would advocate that this is a false economy.
