So, you’re in a position where you’ve decided to commission a totally new commercial building. I bet you didn’t see this coming when you first started your business! Although you obviously have good reasons for commissioning a project on this scale, the process is going to have all kinds of obstacles and complications which you’ll need to chew through. If the whole process is seeming especially daunting, here’s some advice to get through it all with your sanity intact!
Ask Questions
If you hire a contractor with any significant experience, they’re not going to expect you to know everything. You’re obviously going to have little qualms and uncertainties about the project ahead of you, so don’t pass the opportunity to ask questions. When you take steps to ensure that you’re well informed about the project, you’ll reduce the chances of any irritating changes that need to be made later on. You’ll also have a better understanding of the project as a whole, and why each phase is needed. Particulars about the approval process is always a good thing to ask about, along with additional fees which could crop up.
Communicate
Good communication is one of the most basic principles of project management for commercial construction. A good relationship with your project team, along with open dialogue, is key to the success of any large construction project. Once you’ve settled on the contractor you’re going to use, one of the first things you should do is to establish a point of contact between you and the team in charge of construction. As always, applying the right technology can make things a lot easier here. A cloud-based construction management program is usually a pretty safe bet.
Have a Strict Schedule in Place
Like any task, big or small, your commercial construction project should have a target date for completion from the very beginning. A construction team who don’t have a specific, time-constrained goal in mind won’t perform nearly as well as they should! Have your contractor draft a more detailed, small-scale schedule to make sure everything’s being completed on time, and have them update this monthly. I hate to be the one to tell you, but not everything will go according to plan. Materials can take longer than expected to arrive, and little unforeseen difficulties can set the whole project back significantly. However, a good schedule will do a lot to keep everything moving as it should.
Expect the Unexpected
No, I mean it, not everything will go according to plan! No matter how great your contractor is or how carefully you’ve chosen all the particulars of your project, there will be unexpected delays which can throw everything into the air. Obviously, you’re not going to be able to predict the future, but you can still take steps to create a safety net around your project. Start building a cash reserve for unexpected costs, and rearrange your schedule so that laborers will have less chance of being rained off. When things go awry, it’s important to be able to act quickly!