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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 Risk Management

How Strategic Value Engineering Unlocks Your Stalled Construction Project

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.

Sharing Your Budget Streamlines the Pre-Construction Phase

When meeting a deadline is critical, here is one secret of the trade to save significant time during pre-construction. Give your contractor a ballpark budget before design and/or they start estimating. A building owner can take a shortcut in the preliminary phase and get to construction sooner when they have collaborated with their contractor on the budget to save time on over designing.

What is the Design Build Method of Construction?

Wolgast Corporation® has been a Design-Build Construction Company 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.

Using Communication to Get the Most from a Commercial Restoration Loss

As a business owner who owns their building, there may be a time that you have to face damages due to emergencies, fires, floods, natural disasters, or impact. To get the most from an insurance claim involving property restoration, it is best practice to openly communicate and collaborate with both your agent and restoration company. Collectively, you are all the team to see that your goals are achieved.

Revealing the Past: The Importance of Property Surveys

If you’re looking to purchase a property or building for your business, most financial institutions require you to have a property survey to qualify for their loans. Some owners who use a cash transaction don’t always get a property survey, but if they did, they could prevent many issues by knowing all the details and history about their property.

You Risk Paying Twice When Sub-Contractors Don’t Pay Their Bills

Liens Can Wreak Havoc on Funding

By Brian Stadler, Wolgast CEO

If you haven’t built a building in the last couple of years, you may be surprised when your banker tells you that they want to hire a Title Company to handle all of your payments to not only the General Contractor, but also directly to the General Contractor’s second tier Sub-Contractors.  On top of that, that they expect you, the owner, to guarantee to the Bank and the Title Company that the project will be lien-free during construction.

Preparing Your Business for a New Buyer

Bruce has owned his business for more than 30 years and he’s ready to retire.  He is five years under the retirement age and has no interested children to take over this operation.  He has poured his blood and sweat into his business for most of his life.  Bruce has a few options.  He can close the doors, walk away, and lay off his staff of 25, he can sell the business and the building to an interested party and use the money to supplement his retirement savings, or he can find someone who wants to buy the business and then lease the building to him or her, keeping rental income for continual cash flow.

Protecting Your Investment from Vehicle-into-Building Crashes

Without proper obstruction, motorists accidentally drive their cars into buildings 60 times a day in the U.S., causing damage and loss to businesses and homeowners.

Safety On Site - What It Can Mean For Your Construction Project

Safety is an important aspect of any business but especially in construction, where a little accident can have serious impacts to those involved; the trades people on site, the owner, and the contractor.  First and foremost, it is our concern to keep all of our workers healthy, so they can go home to their family each night and be a consistent provider both physically and financially, as well as a reliable contributor to our team.  That’s why it’s important to have a General Contractor who is not only following the codes and regulations, but has incorporated a culture of safety into their operations.

6 Questions Commercial Buyers Should Ask When Shopping a New Building

Once you’ve already determined the approximate size of the space you need, your budget, general location desired, and that the investment will fit within your business objectives, it’s time to start shopping for suitable building for your company changes.

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