Mark Bacha,  Director of CM  Preconstruction   Jeff Baxa,  Vice President Preconstruction

The success of our projects is rooted in our emphasis on preconstruction planning. The earlier the planning begins, the more opportunities there are for time and budget savings. Our quarterly client surveys definitively link early preconstruction planning to complete owner satisfaction.

Preconstruction
Our Preconstruction Group handles 100% of conceptual civil, structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical and systems controls estimating and value engineering in-house. They average 18.8 years’ experience as professional estimators.

Our estimating approach reflects the maximum level of detail known about any component of the project and understand how costs in one area affect the project as a whole: We create cost models to predict a building’s ultimate content in advance of completed construction drawings. Our modeling process combines information from past projects and proprietary data bases, in addition to project-specific information. This model serves as a check on the cost of the project as it progresses from schematics to design development to contract documents.

Comprehensive estimates
We analyze all aspects of a project with a cross-disciplinary team - mechanical, electrical, building controls, and civil estimators meet to discuss their findings. In this way, we know how choices in one area affect another, and can deliver a well-tested estimate.

Continuous linking of scope and budget
Using our cost modeling process, we monitor changes as design evolves. Reconciliation reports highlight the line-item differences in scope, and their cost impact. This is a powerful tool for keeping budget in line.

Maximizing program value
Seldom are scope and budget in balance at the outset! But once we thoroughly understand your goals, we'll detail the workable options, so your budget buys the maximum program. This "value engineering" is often described as dollars saved, but it in fact serves a larger purpose: cost-effective evaluation of options for long and the short term, to ensure the comfort and efficiency of building users.

Constructability review
We will assess construction documents for completeness, ability to achieve product quality, and construction logistics. In other words, we look at the details from a builder's perspective, supporting, but not assuming, the duties of the designer. The result is an uninterrupted construction process and reduced number of changes.

Budget control
Working from an extensive and continually updated data base of costs, sorted by building type, project type and locality, we know what a specific project should cost in a specific market. This confidence in pricing is a powerful check on project costs.