Construction Management is the ideal delivery method for large, complex construction projects, such as those for School Districts. School Boards and Superintendents rely on their Architect and Construction Manager (CM) to form dynamic teams to fulfill a project’s goals and seamlessly deliver their buildings on time and within budget. Team cohesion is the goal on each of our projects. Taking into consideration that we are possibly working with new and diverse players with each new School District, this takes effort and coordination to achieve. An experienced CM typically will have vast resources and relationships with a wide variety of Prime Contractors, but when bidding projects, an unfamiliar contractor may be more suitable in achieving the schedule, budget, or meet proximity requirements of local contractor, therefore, we have tools that we use to initiate them onto the team as a cohesive member.
Posts about the Wolgast Way (4)
Four Things to Know When Planning a Groundbreaking Ceremony
When building a new business or relocating, it pays to start your publicity early. An inexpensive way to create buzz is to host a groundbreaking or a “kickoff” ceremony at the beginning of your project. I’ve had clients who’ve broke ground both before starting a project or soon after a project has started, with construction being the backdrop during the ceremony. We call it a project “kickoff” instead of “groundbreaking” when we renovate an existing building.
Tips to Pass a School Bond Election
We have found that there’s not a single formula to passing a school bond vote. Every community is different in regard to their support of their school district, so each campaign needs to be tweaked and managed. However, Wolgast's School Facility Specialists have discovered a couple of tactics over the years as former School Superintendents on how to give every bond campaign a better chance for success and offer their expertise as part of our Pre-Bond Services.
First, the most important aspect of a successful millage election is staff and community involvement in the planning process. With that said, the likelihood of the passage of a millage proposal is determined days and even months prior to the election. The development of the bond proposal, the inclusion of groups that will be affected by it, along with the marketing plan and execution are all key ingredients that will help lead to a successful election.Four Steps for School Boards to Plan a Construction Project
So, you’ve been elected to your District’s School Board and have four years (or so) to help make the best decisions for the students and staff. You likely anticipate facing many issues that’ll require research plus your life experience to decide what’s best for your School District. One of those issues could be the maintenance, remodel, rebuild or relocation of school buildings. Do you know where to start? Below, we explain the steps you should take to have a successful construction project.
Michigan Businesses Rely on Wolgast for Construction
For our 100th blog, I wanted to do a special feature about our roots and coverage of the great State of Michigan. We have ties to resources and communities from unsalted coast to unsalted coast. Even though we continue to add to our registrations and expertise within other states, we love the nuances of working within the familiar regulations of Michigan, from scheduling to accommodate anticipated weather patterns to known earth types of the Mitten State.
4 Reasons Why the Preconstruction Phase Is Key to Project Success
For both Design-Build and Construction Management delivery methods, the start of Preconstruction 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 Preconstruction Phase, “Pre-Con”, is complete. This is also when the contractor gets organized to save the most time and money during construction.
The Best Way to Speed up Your Building Restoration
Having a Restoration Company and a General Contractor on the Same Team
The team of Wolgast Corporation and Wolgast Restoration was created to be a high level provider of full-service restoration services to deal with all of your challenges when mayhem strikes your building. Wolgast Restoration specializes in residential and commercial restoration when it comes to structural damage from water, fire, wind, or other mishaps. And Wolgast Corporation is a commercial contractor who has specialized in buildings of all shapes and sizes since 1948.
The History of Wolgast’s Construction Management Division
Experts claim that a form of Construction Management (CM) construction delivery was used in ancient times as far back as the pyramids. However, according to Construction Management Association of America, CM became known as a distinctive construction delivery option in the 1960s1. The need for a new construction delivery method at that time was due to more “sophisticated” systems being designed for large, complicated buildings and stricter regulations. It was a growth time for the HVAC industry with the introduction of air conditioning and computerized control systems2. More complex applications increased the role of the contractor to be more involved with the “specification of equipment and parts”. There eventually was a shortage of HVAC installers and with the increased desire for air conditioning, shoddy applications led to many problems. A problem which was well suited for CM advocacy between the Designer and the Contractor.
The Benefit of Design Build Phase I Drawings
Preliminary plans, such as those provided in a Phase I of the Design-Build process, are the most efficient and economical means to determine the budget for your construction project.
While there has been a shift in the numbers1, there are still many business owners out there who are skeptical of the Design-Build method of construction. They are more familiar with the traditional Design-Bid/Build method where they hire an architect, then have general contractors competitively bid the project, and the contractor with the best price/value builds the project.
The Story of Wolgast’s Speed
Speed is one of the most coveted aspects when it comes to commercial construction and nothing improves speed like doing a project right the first time. You could argue that cutting corners can sometimes make it faster, and that’s true until it causes rework, back tracking, or failures down the road. Our founder, Jerry Wolgast, had the philosophy of “do it right the first time” and that is still instilled in us today. However, we have implemented programs to help us consistently meet or exceed our deadlines rather than just hope that everything falls into place.