How Should I Plan for My Commercial Building Construction?
Whether you’re planning to build a new facility from the ground up, or looking to remodel your commercial building, it’s important to plan for the building process. When you work with commercial construction services, a contractor will undoubtedly provide project management services—including advice and instructions on how to prepare. It’s always nice to know what to expect ahead of time, however. Read on to learn more about the construction process and how you can help the process go smoothly.
General construction planning overview
There are three major steps to planning for commercial construction: developing a building plan, estimating the final cost and selecting the right construction crew. Often, this involves working with engineers, architects or a design and build team, so the steps may be performed out of order.
It’s always smart to start with a budget and your overall goals for the project, whether that’s $100,000 to perform remodeling services or millions of dollars for a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility built from the ground up. When you know your goals and budget, you can work with design professionals to develop your building plan. At this point in the project, your designers, engineers and architects will make suggestions about how to cut costs while still meeting your overall goals.
If you decide to go with a design and build firm, congratulations—you can hand your project over to the commercial construction project manager and let them take over from there. If not, you’ll need to select a reliable and skilled commercial construction services provider. Your design professionals may have suggestions, or you can use word of mouth, online searches and referrals to find the right team.
Other questions and processes
Even though a project manager will handle the day-to-day issues that arise during construction, clients often have questions about other details. For example, you might wonder who is responsible for getting permits, preparing the site, laying the foundation, hiring inspectors and more.
Typically, these questions will be answered during the main planning process. Most construction teams or project managers will handle these issues. Industry professionals are far more experienced at cutting through red tape to get building permits. They’ll also know how to prepare the job site, including excavations, leveling, filling, foundations, soil testing, adding utility access and other necessary tasks.
Once these preliminary tasks are completed, the construction can begin. Again, your construction or design and build team will take care of the vast majority of these issues, although it’s always wise to confirm those details before you hire a team.
Preparing for your commercial construction project not only helps you understand what’s required of you (and what isn’t), but it’s also a great opportunity to get expert advice, ask questions and work through any potential issues at the outset. With careful preparation and planning on everyone’s part, the construction process will go smoothly.
If you’re in need of commercial construction services, WSL Incorporated can help. Call us today to learn more about our complete design and build offerings.