As author Dale Carnegie said, “An hour of planning can save you ten hours of doing.” That’s the essence of the preconstruction phase — planning out every moment of a construction project to improve the build process, save valuable time and money, and streamline construction management.
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What This Guide Covers:
What Is Preconstruction?
Preconstruction is the preliminary planning stage of the construction process. Owners work closely with the project (PM) or construction manager (CM), architects, contractors, and other design and construction professionals to create an action plan to strategically and efficiently complete a build.
During this phase, team and project leaders:
- Ensure project viability
- Create and confirm designs
- Craft comprehensive budgets and cost estimates
- Establish positional roles and responsibilities
- Develop communication avenues
- Verify the procurement and completion of all legal paperwork
Phases of Construction
Before breaking down the intricacies of the preconstruction process, let’s briefly look at its position in the overall construction life cycle. Though listed separately here, the first four phases often fall under the larger umbrella of “preconstruction.”
- Conception: The owner, sometimes with the assistance of the PM, finds a site for their project and secures financing.
- Design: Architects, engineers, construction (AEC) and other design professionals develop designs and plans for each part of the project.
- Preconstruction: The PM handles the project’s legal requirements. Workers prep the job site while subcontractors and contractors submit bids. The teams work together to estimate costs, create a budget and determine a completion timeline.
- Procurement: The PM awards contracts to the winning bidders and acquires all the needed materials, equipment and labor.
- Construction: This is the phase most thought of when people think of building construction. Teams work together to create the physical structure.
- Commissioning: The PM evaluates the quality and functionality of the structure and its systems.
- Closeout: The owner and PM perform a final walkthrough to ensure the structure meets the owner’s needs. The PM provides the owner with all project documentation and other items required to maintain and operate the building.
Why Is the Preconstruction Phase Important?
The planning, scheduling, organizing, fact-finding and defining that takes place during the preconstruction process ensures a smooth, fast and safe build, if construction happens at all.
It may be the case that during the preconstruction phase, when the PM presents the owner with the construction feasibility study and construction estimates (more on that later), the owner decides the project is too costly to move forward. Though frustrating, abandoning the project before breaking ground saves all parties significant time and expenses.
Should the project move forward, all stakeholders and laborers know precisely what they need to do and when, minimizing the chances of miscommunications and oversights leading to time and cost overruns.
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Goals & Outcomes
The goal of preconstruction is to consider every aspect of a project, how to fulfill them and possible stumbling blocks that can delay their completion.
Define Scope
A scope of work is an agreement between the owner, PM, designers, contractors and others involved in the construction process. It establishes:
- The overall end goal
- The roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder
- Quality expectations
- The overall project timeline and how long each aspect will take to complete
Discussing and establishing these variables early in the process lays a solid foundation for the project’s success. All teams and personnel know their role in the build, their work expectations and how to orient their efforts to accomplish the shared goal.
Draft Designs
The owner and PM work with the design team to draft blueprints, schematics and models. These designs not only represent the final product’s appearance but also the finer details, such as:
- Dimensions
- Materials
- Style
- Floor plans
- HVAC, electrical, plumbing and other systems
Digital tools like building information models (BIM) enhance collaboration during the design process by creating a digital single source of truth. Essentially, all team members work on one central model so they can view the project as a whole and ensure their designs will function as intended within the structure once built.
View area calculations alongside 2D models using a VectorWorks Architect, a BIM solution. Source
Create a Budget & Schedule
After finalizing the designs, the PM, designers and other construction professionals use that information to create budgets and schedules for individual aspects of the build and overall project. It’s wise to also consider other possible solutions to satisfy project completion and the associated costs.
Budgets should include the price of materials, labor, equipment, vehicles, legal requirements and insurance.
Estimating software, such as electrical estimating solutions, can streamline the budgeting process by incorporating previous expense data from similar projects and creating accurate totals by automatically pulling dimensions and other build information from blueprints.
Assess Risks & Viability
The PM assesses the risks of the project, including safety concerns, environmental impact, legal issues, possible production delays and more. The PM presents the risk assessment and design, budget, and schedule information to the owner, who then decides if the project moves forward.
Keep in mind that the viability process is fluid and the owner may consider a project unviable before (or after) all the prior steps are undertaken.
For example, during conception the PM and/or the owner will visit the prospective site and discover the space is insufficient for the project’s size. Or, due to legal restrictions, the project won’t be able to obtain the proper zoning permits.
The owner and their chosen PM need to establish trust and effective communication early in the process, as the owner relies on the experience and opinion of the PM to form an understanding of the project’s details and make effective decisions.
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Establish Teams & Personnel
The PM creates bid packages for the various build aspects and sends requests for proposals (RFPs) or invitations to bid (ITBs) to potential contractors with the expertise to complete the work.
When the bidding process begins, there is already a pool of contractors who are knowledgeable of the project’s needs, understand the extent and expectations of the work, and have made themselves available for the timeframe.
Once the bidding window opens, contractors submit bids detailing their anticipated costs, production timeline and availability. After evaluating the submissions, the PM awards contracts to the contractor and teams best suited to tackle the job.
Tools like construction bidding software assist PMs throughout the process by quickly generating comprehensive bids, including timelines, pre-qualification requirements and non-completion penalties. The solutions track bids through their life cycle and allow PMs to quickly compare competing contractor bids.
Create unique bid packages using pre-built templates in construction bidding systems like Procore. Source
Secure Materials
The PM or contractors identify, obtain and schedule the delivery of all the materials, equipment and vehicles required for project completion. During this step, it’s critical to anticipate long lead times for some materials, in particular specialty assets.
Improper scheduling of materials or equipment for one aspect of a build can cause a domino effect of delays and cost overruns for every subsequent aspect, leading to devastating time and cost overruns.
Acquire Permits, Inspections & Other Legal Needs
During and after site evaluation, the PM addresses the necessary legal concerns for the project, primarily permits and zoning. Beyond just the needs of the owner, a project adheres to requirements, regulations, ordinances and more from local officials and state and/or federal government agencies.
The project requires regular inspections for:
- Safety
- Site conditions
- Environmental impact
- Compliance
- Quality
This step of the preconstruction process goes hand-in-hand with risk assessment and will more than likely be a continual process throughout the majority of the project life cycle.
Prepare Communication Channels
All stakeholders work together to develop a communication strategy. As odd as it may seem, it’s essentially a plan for how to talk.
Certain teams and personnel have preferred methods of communication. By crafting a strategy, teams and departments know how to best deliver information and questions to one another.
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Primary Benefits
Depending on the project, the preconstruction phase provides a host of unique benefits to all involved parties. However, regardless of the type, size or complexity of a project, you can expect the following advantages.
Protect Margins
Supply chain issues and fluctuating material prices continue to plague the industry. Small delays and unexpected price hikes on a single material or piece of equipment can quickly send a profitable project into the red.
Planning for long lead times and budgeting for alternative material source options during preconstruction protects margins from the ravages of unanticipated operational hiccups.
Deliver Projects on Time
Construction delays can happen for various reasons. Every day that a project goes beyond the agreed delivery date takes money out of the pockets of everyone involved.
Defining scope, roles and responsibilities before breaking ground ensures that each stakeholder knows exactly what they need to do.
Plus, crafting comprehensive and accurate schedules during preconstruction helps maintain completion timelines and provides the flexibility to adjust production processes when issues arise.
Improve Communication
As projects grow in complexity, they require more personnel, increasing the chances of poor communication. Without the proper channels between teams and contractors, communication breaks down, leading to delays, safety risks and costly change orders.
Establishing proper communication channels during the preconstruction phase minimizes the chances of miscommunication slowing or halting progress when issues arise during physical construction.
How Software Helps
Though preconstruction involves preparing a project to avoid problems, the process itself comes with its own unique challenges. Investing in construction management solutions helps solve these issues by simplifying processes, creating a centralized information source and acting as a communication platform.
For example, you can create a list of all permits and zoning requirements for a project and track their progress in real time, keeping the project always above board.
Keep every design and schematic in a single digital location accessible by approved stakeholders, allowing everyone to use the same data sets. When changes occur, instantly notify team members via automatic emails and in-app alerts.
Most platforms let users tag others or add notes to any document or task, eliminating the chances of miscommunications and oversights.
These features, and the others mentioned throughout the article, are only the tip of the iceberg. Discover all capability options and find out what you need from a system with our requirements list.
When you’re ready to start shopping, check out our guide to building an RFP for software to ensure you find the best fit.
FAQ
When does the preconstruction phase take place?
As the name suggests, preconstruction occurs before the physical construction of a project starts in earnest. The preparation and communication during this phase ensure a smooth and efficient building process.
How long does the preconstruction phase take, and how much does it cost?
The cost to complete the preconstruction processes depends entirely on the size and complexity of the project. Though also dependent on these factors, the preconstruction phase usually takes anywhere from a couple of weeks to a few months to finish.
Next Steps
The preconstruction phase involves planning, material acquisition and other preliminary actions crucial to the successful construction and delivery of a project. Construction management solutions simplify this process by tracking documents, enhancing collaboration and streamlining communication.
But how do you find the right system for your company? Kickstart your search with our helpful comparison report to get an in-depth look at the top software on the market.
Did we miss anything? How does your preconstruction help your builds? What tips do you have for improving the process? Let us know in the comments below!