Are you considering a major construction project, but not sure if it fits into your budget? How can you protect yourself from going too far down a path only to find out that you can’t afford it? Too often we hear about owners getting unrealistic budget numbers (or not even getting a preliminary budget cost), spending a significant amount of money on architects, engineers, and construction documents, and finding out after they’ve already invested thousands that their plan is over their budget. Let us help you make sure this doesn’t happen to you!
For large (and small) construction projects, a good starting point is to get a realistic budget from an industry expert. A good general contractor will be able to provide ballpark line item costs for your project based on their knowledge and experience from past projects. Many contractors do charge a fee for these services. In an ideal world, we like to get involved with a construction project as early as possible during the planning phase and work with the architect to provide our clients with the best experience and service possible.
Why should you pay for budget pricing up front? Think about it this way: you can either a) pay a minimal fee up front to a contractor to get a realistic budget for your project and adjust your plans as necessary or b) make a significantly larger investment to get full-blown design drawings and risk finding out that your project is over budget before it even starts.
So, how does it work? Our process is simple:
- Set up a meeting to get the full rundown of what you’re looking for. If you have an architect on board already we would meet with them as well to discuss your needs and collaborate to come up with the best path forward.
- Propose a conceptual floor plan and detailed written scope of work. Modify as necessary until all of your needs are met. During this phase, we’ll provide suggestions and feedback to help make your project the best it can be.
- Put together line item budget pricing for the agreed upon scope. This budget will give you a realistic idea of where you stand, and an idea of where you can make additions or deletions if needed based on your budget for the project before it goes out to bid.
Once you have a budget and a solid plan, your contractor can move forward with putting a hard number together for you. It’s always better to make any changes to your plans before construction starts to minimize change orders and additional construction costs.
Proper planning is critical to the success of any commercial or residential construction project. We want to see our clients have the best experience possible throughout all phases of construction. Let us use our decades of experience and expertise to guide you through your project to an end result you’re 100% satisfied with.