Before beginning a building project, pre-construction planning needs to take place. Basically, there is a checklist of what will be done, prior to ground-breaking, to help analyze, plan and fulfill the needs for the building project. Here are important elements of the pre-construction checklist:

• Engineering Assessment
• Initial Design Development
• Roles and Responsibilities Scoping
• Budget Outlines
• Schedule for Construction

Engineering Assessment – Prior to other steps in the building process, assessments must be made of existing conditions of the building space. This includes examining plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems to determine their current state and if updates need to be made in the construction process. Understanding these can be a solid first step to the construction needs and guidelines.

Initial Design Development – After identifying engineering issues and infrastructure, designs can be started. Initial designs can be presented to the client and provide a representation of how the final building will look and feel. This can also help determine spacing for furniture, industrial equipment, special needs accessibility, etc.

Roles and Responsibilities Scoping – Through the engineering and design planning, the construction roles and responsibilities can start being defined. This helps clarify deliverables from the stakeholders – such as client, contractor and building owner.

Budget Outlines – With the above information, budgeting can start being outlined. Note that this is a preliminary budget and not a final bid. These budgetary outlines can provide an idea of what the building project costs may incur, based on the space and provided estimates.

Schedule for Construction – After the above work is completed a construction schedule can be generated. It may not be set in stone as absolute timing, but can be very helpful for decisions to be made. This schedule provides rough guidelines of the project and completion points for milestones and lead times during the building process.

A pre-construction checklist helps a building project run more smoothly. The checklist shows items to plan for before the construction process occurs, helping the client to better understand the process steps and how the contractor and other parties will be working together. This gives the client a more realistic vision of the capabilities and finished project in advance.

Want more? Read about Buildrite’s pre-construction services.