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Wolgast Blog - Construction Trends, Tips and Information

Get commercial construction questions answered by a professional contractor sharing building trends, tips and information

Posts about Dental Office Construction (2)

How to Make Owning Your Medical Office More Lucrative

For most business owners, the short-term benefits of leasing their building are attractive, but we’re guessing that most owners would favor owning their building and having control of their business use at a fixed cost. For doctors who own their own practice and will likely stay in their location for 7 or more years1, owning their building can be a great investment for their future while allowing them to have a fixed expense until the building is paid off. As a contractor who specializes in both construction and leaseback services, we can educate doctors on how to leverage programs, accounting processes, and legal structures to make it more lucrative to own your medical office.

Why Design Build Works Well for Healthcare Practices

 
In this blog, I’ll explore how the Design-Build method of construction is well suited to medical doctors, more so than general construction.  To start, the D-B method was really created to suit the needs of busy business owners, which includes doctors, because it requires less attention from an owner and that owner can set their involvement as much or little as they see fit.  Some customers like to be more engaged in the process than others and we are happy to accommodate each client’s unique desires.

The basic difference of D/B over general construction, is the relationship between the architect and builder.  In this project delivery, they are on the same team.  A doctor only needs to work with one entity to design and then build his or her office.  Also in this scenario, the doctor is protected from any discrepancies from the architect’s drawings to contractor’s application.  With D/B, the contractor and architect are consulting on budget, application and material quality throughout design, so when construction starts there are very little interruptions or change orders.  Should there be a discrepancy, the design-builder will work it out without involving the owner unnecessarily.  This protection is valued by doctors who oftentimes aren’t as familiar with construction, nor have the time to deal with these issues on site.  All of these reasons are exactly why Design-Build was created as an alternative to general construction.

Popularity Increasing for Design Build Construction

As an update to this blog originally posted a few years ago, we have new information to add  from the June 2018 Design-Build Utilization Report funded by Design-Build Institute of America. Findings in this report determined that popularity continues to grow for this delivery method. The results showed, "Design-Build Construction spending in the assessed segments is anticipated to increase 18% from 2018 - 2021", and will likely represent 44% of construction spending by 2021. Researchers determined that the education of building owners on Design-Build benefits is gaining traction, and more owners are experiencing enjoying the benefits first hand.  Additionally, FMI Corporation, a management consulting and investment company, had released a report in March 2019 titled 2019 AGC/FMI Risk Management Survey, whereby they found that "38% of contractors were <planning> to increase their in-house design capabilities last year and 43% this year".  So there will be more collaboration, less risk, and more competition among design and construction moving forward.

Original blog article:

According to the May 2013, “Design-Build Project Delivery Market Share and Market Size Report” by Reed Construction Data and RS Means Intelligence, Design-Build construction delivery method has taken an additional 9% of the construction market since 2005 and General Construction has lost 10% of the market share in that same time.

What is the Design Build Method of Construction?

We've been providing Design-Build services for almost 40 years and we're curious if it's a well known term among those who haven’t previously been involved with the construction of a commercial building.  Have you heard the term before?  In a nutshell, it’s a method of construction delivery in which the building owner executes a single contract with one entity to provide architectural/engineering and construction services.

Construction Scheduling for Dental Offices

Continually meet with patients throughout construction

Dentists sometimes put off improvements to their building space due to the anticipated disruption of their business.  Determining how to remodel their office or relocate to a new space when a practice can’t survive without an active patient load can feel like a big risk.  However, I’m here to tell you that it's possible to remodel, renovate or relocate with minimal impact to your practice when you use a professional contractor.

Investigating Ancillary Services for Your Practice (a White Paper)

Adding a new, complementary service to your existing business structure can help increase your revenue during your regular business hours.  This is especially helpful for businesses that feel they have reached a maturity or decline stage.

Succession Planning & Your Building for Medical or Dental Professions

Remember the good old days—a few decades or so ago—when a doctor could practice for 30 – 40 years and then sell his or her practice to another doctor when they were ready to retire, or better yet, have a son or daughter to take over the practice.  Jump forward to present time and it’s not as easy to find someone to take over a medical or dental practice.  The reality is there are far fewer doctors graduating than there are practices out there and doctors should start succession planning well before they’re ready to retire.

Why Convert a House into a Dental Office?

 

Especially When Commercial Space Is So Efficient

Tips for moving into your new Medical/Dental Office

As your new medical/dental office is about ready to be moved into, are you ready? Here are some experienced helpful tips from Wolgast to make the move go easy and not impact you or your employees in a negative way.

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