Preconstruction in Columbia

At each step of design, we prepare budgetary pricing exercises so that owners can always stay in touch with their project budget. Assembly takeoffs combined with our database of unit costs, historical comparison projects and our network of trade partners help us analyze and create these cost models.

At any point, if the project budget is exceeded, we have the capability of performing value engineering exercises to keep the project budget on track. Using comparison projects and database costs, we like to establish a conceptual budget when a conceptual floor plan and/or site plan has been prepared. This sets early expectations for a project’s overall cost. At the end of design development, we prepare a detailed control budget that itemizes the projects’ costs by trade package. This ensures the project is still on budget, as well as gives the project team the ability to release early bid packages or long lead materials. It also helps the project team optimize value and identify where a project might be experiencing “scope creep.”

Some of the largest costs a construction project can either save or incur are in early design decisions. Coil’s industry experts know how to recognize areas of risk and expense, from selecting the location of the building to choosing the systems that go into it. We review the existing conditions of a site and the feasibility of conducting construction activities. When selecting building systems, our experience in a variety of construction projects gives us firsthand knowledge of which systems work well in certain applications. Coil performs regular constructability reviews of plans alongside owners and architects. We offer a builder’s advice and cost/benefit perspective on constructability methods, installation timeframes, lead times, and value.

Some projects lend themselves to more complex timelines and phasing plans. In that case, it is sometimes helpful to visualize the entire project (or campus of projects) at completion and develop a schedule working backward from preconstruction. This can be helpful when meeting tight deadlines or orchestrating around occupied facilities and/or tight spaces. A phased project is sometimes necessary to align with an organization’s funding stream and evolution of space needs (like growing enrollment or increase in growth/sales).

Coil has experience in leading owners, building occupants and project teams through complex logistics and time-sensitive puzzles with our preconstruction services in Columbia. Specialty equipment and products with long lead times (such as electrical transformers, emergency back-up generators, HVAC equipment, etc.) become project milestones that we build our schedules around. This helps the project team identify when to make critical decisions, when to complete plan sets and when to order materials in order to meet overall project deadlines.