In today's commercial construction market, initial project estimates can often strain—or outright break—a client's budget. When a critical project estimate exceeds your financial plan, the choice should never be between sacrificing essential scope and halting the project entirely.
At Wolgast Corporation, our answer is Value Engineering (VE). This strategic service, deployed early in the project development cycle, is designed to align your project vision with your fiscal reality, ensuring you get optimized value for every dollar without sacrificing the core functionality or quality of your new facility.
Value Engineering: The Process of Building Smarter
Value Engineering is a systematic, creative process focused on lowering the total expense of a construction project without sacrificing the essential functions, quality, or overall scope of work. It is a proactive and collaborative approach that goes far beyond simple, arbitrary cost-cutting.
Our design process reflects the customer’s needs and wants and becomes the starting point for establishing an estimate. Sometimes the starting point is more than a client expects, so as part of the process, we engage in Value Engineering to bridge the gap.
When an estimate comes in higher than your budget, our team conducts a detailed, line-by-line analysis of the design and specifications. The goal is to maximize the project's long-term utility and return on investment (ROI) while minimizing initial construction costs.
Lowering Expense Without Sacrificing Value
The core of this service lies in a deep, expert evaluation and research of material selections, construction methodologies, and system applications. Our professionals leverage decades of local market knowledge and vendor relationships to make intelligent, verifiable substitutions.
|
Evaluation Focus |
Strategic Action for Savings |
Practical Substitution Example |
|
Material Selections |
Evaluating material options for less expensive, yet functionally equivalent, substitutions. |
Using polished concrete flooring instead of high-end terrazzo or choosing an alternate brand of structural component with identical performance ratings. |
|
System Applications |
Optimizing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems for efficiency and lower installation cost. |
Reconfiguring complex ductwork routes to reduce material quantity or replacing an expensive variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system with a high-efficiency rooftop unit (RTU) where appropriate. |
|
Construction Methods |
Reviewing the build process for efficiencies, speed, and reduced labor on site. |
Recommending a shift to prefabricated wall panels instead of traditional stick-built framing to accelerate the schedule and minimize on-site labor costs. |
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Design Standardization |
Reducing the number of unique material types or sizes specified across the entire project. |
Limiting the variety of colors or sizes of ceramic tile used in different areas to simplify procurement and streamline installation. |
We present you with clear data on the cost-benefit analysis of each recommendation, ensuring every change is intentional and value-driven.
The Benefit: Bridging the Financial Gap
Value Engineering is the bridge that transforms a financially unfeasible project into a workable one. It is a vital part of the pre-construction phase that achieves critical project goals:
- Financial Alignment: It identifies verifiable savings that bring the project back in line with your financial target.
- Quality Maintenance: It ensures any proposed change maintains the required performance of the building, preventing a "cheapening" of the final product.
- Schedule Reliability: By addressing cost management early, we cut the need for extensive, time-consuming design revisions or project re-scoping, which keeps your overall schedule on track.
By engaging in this process, you are not just getting an estimate; you are getting a strategic financial tool designed to deliver a high-quality facility within your defined budget parameters.
