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5 Factors for Businesses to Plan a New Construction Project

Construction Planning

What is needed to start?

Business owners may think they need to be overly prepared before they talk to their Architect or Builder about commercial construction planning. There is a lot to consider when planning a new business construction project, but there are only five major ideas to consider before contacting design and building professionals:

  • How will you manage the risk to your business during construction?
  • What is your maximum budget?
  • When would you like your building to be operable?
  • What are your site criteria, i.e., size of property; general part of town/city, etc.; do you need a site that is utility and road accessible ready?
  • Share design ideas that you like. Before meeting with your Architect, have a few design ideas, descriptions, or print outs of spaces that you would like to be similar to your space.

Risk Management

There are a couple of options to manage the risk to your business when it comes to a remodel or new construction. Design-Build and Leaseback construction are the least risky for a building owner. Both put the single source responsibility on the contractor to complete the project as contracted. With Design-Build, an owner will pay for their building through a scheduled payment plan. Leaseback construction offers for an owner to lease the property back from the contractor per an agreed upon timeline.

Setting a Maximum Budget

It may seem counterintuitive, but sharing your maximum budget with a Design-Builder will help them to not over-design the space you need. They will be your advocate and can help regulate your planning as they budget through the phased approach, which in turn saves time during the design phase. The fewer re-design sessions, the faster the team can get to construction.

Building Deadline

Providing your construction project timeline helps a building partner know if they can fit it in their schedule, helping you narrow down your choices. Contacting Architects or Contractors at the busiest time of year (warmer months) could more often be a problem with meeting your schedule as many will already be contracted with other projects. Starting your planning in the colder months may widen the availability of Contractors, also the more time you provide, the better your chances of working with your top Contractor.

Site Criteria

Specific criteria for your ideal location will be helpful to your Design-Build or Leaseback contractor. They will help you to search for a property that is closest to your requirements. An owner may be surprised to find out that their D-B Contractor already knows details about a property in question because they have already inquired about it or have resources who know. This could also speed up your search.

Design Ideas

Finally, a Design-Build or Leaseback team includes an Architect. He or she will conduct a needs analysis to start their design process, so it is helpful when an owner already has ideas of what they want their space to look like or the quantities of rooms they need. Printing photos of other spaces is a great way to communicate this, or if desired an Architect can set up tours of buildings that he or she has designed to show a potential client. It will be their goal to design the most functional workspace for the owner’s operation.

 

By getting their design and construction teams involved earlier in the planning process, a business owner will make educated building decisions faster and in turn be able to generate income faster. Call Wolgast today to get started at 800-WOLGAST!