A Flexible Approach for Saving Owners Time and Money

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In this delivery model, the owner contracts separately with the designer and the construction manager early on in the process. The owner gains the benefit of early advice on design, cost, schedule, and constructability during the entire design process. This advice provides the owner with the best options for adjusting project costs, scope, and delivery.  With this form of project delivery, the owner’s involvement can be as much or as little as he desires. The construction manager typically provides a guaranteed maximum price and details on the proposed quality of work and completion date. The accounting system for the project is typically an “open book” system. The design and construction phases can overlap.

Considerations and Advantages:

• The owner receives early cost estimating input, sometimes as early as conceptual design.
• The owner can take advantage of special services such as:
  • Feasibility studies
  • Value engineering
  • Life cycle costs
  • Identification of Long Lead items and their pre-purchase
• Significant time can be saved because the construction manager can begin before the design is complete. An example of this type of saving is that the site work, footings, foundations, and structural work can commence while the designers are completing interior design.
• Architectural and engineering fees can be reduced by the early involvement of a construction manager.
• Construction management fee is established at the onset of the project.
• Construction costs are minimized by incorporating constructability reviews into the process and by the designers incorporating materials, methods, and systems that the construction manager knows are more cost effective.
• Capital costs can be reduced, as constructability reviews allow for clearer and better coordinated construction documents, which should minimize the incidence of change orders that impact both cost and time.
• Misunderstanding between the parties is minimized when the owner, designers, and construction manager work together as a team during the planning stages of the project.
• The owner’s risk is minimized, and also shared with the construction manager.

To learn more about Construction Management, please contact us.