Businesses move for many reasons - for example to accommodate growth, save money, get closer to consumers, or possibly secure a better value of a new building. Additional perks can also happen when relocating including improving your service and also advancing new growth. It’s all about using the move as a promotional opportunity. Encouraging your existing clients to move with you is a must, but you also want to attract new ones, so here are a few tips that will help anyone take advantage of their new business location:

Certain building materials or products that have to be ordered, imported, and/or manufactured specifically for a building can take longer than the natural progression of a construction schedule.  These are considered Long Lead Items (LLIs).  They commonly occur with pre-engineered buildings, elevators, generators, mechanical equipment that is heavy enough to need a helicopter lift, electrical switch gear, fancy finishes, or imported products to name a few.

For both Design/Build and Construction Management delivery methods, the start of Pre-Construction Phase is Architectural Design and it’s a very exciting time for most building owners.  They love the ideas, options, and decorating aspects for their building.  And then, when drawings are done, the owner is eager to get to the other main event of Construction Phase.  But there is so much more happening during Design than they know and a lot more to be done before this Pre-Construction Phase, “Pre-Con”, is complete.  This is also when the contractor gets organized to save the most time and money during construction.   

When you’re a small business owner who is responsible for your building, you likely don’t have a budget for a facility manager. Building maintenance probably isn’t something that hits your to-do list very often, but is still very important to the longevity and cost of building operation.  Having a building maintenance strategy can help you proactively catch repairs, leaks, and heating deficiencies with way less expense out of pocket.

Architects and engineers are smart people who are dedicated to taking the information their clients provide them and designing an aesthetically pleasing and functional building to meet their client’s goals.  In their design specifications, they include specific products for building finishes, which they’ve researched or have experienced, to match the desired outcome expressed by their client.  Typically, these materials or products have also been discussed with and accepted by the client.

There aren’t many businesses that remodel every six years, so chances are that if you’re currently ready for an update, you have the potential to save a considerable amount of money by investing in modern, energy efficient products and installations. 

The 2015 Michigan Energy Code, as directed by Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), went into effect Sept 20, 2017.  The changes to the code involve lighting controls of new commercial buildings and remodels with more than 50% lighting alterations in an effort to increase energy savings.  In a nutshell, different areas of a commercial building will need both sensors and a wall switch or dimmer to control lighting.

In 2015, there were roughly 53 million Americans¹ who were disabled either in mobility, in hearing, or with their vision.  Moreover, there are the aging baby boomers with special needs, mothers with strollers, and an increasing number of people using service dogs who each have different accessibility needs to public places.  Whether you are a restaurant, retailer, bank, medical office, or school (to list a few), you likely already have Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards to meet when you build a new building or remodel your existing one; however, if you aren’t already regulated by Title II or Title III, there are still benefits of planning your building for access to everyone, also known as Universal Design, which is different from ADA.  Some are considering Universal Design an emerging concept of good citizenship, much the same way LEED has done for reducing a company’s carbon footprint.  Compared to ADA which is mandated by the government to provide accessibility for disabled people within publicly used buildings, Universal Design is a choice that a building owner makes to include accommodations not regulated by the ADA to provide easy accessibility to everyone.