Construction Management
Construction What ..? We outline a quick introduction for the uninitiated to Construction Management
An alternative Approach to delivering your construction project for Home Owners, Self Builders and Developers. At CCM Construction Management, we consider a complete construction managed approach is defined as :
“Delivering your build from design to completion in the most efficient manner”
So What?
Often for small to mid sized projects the first thought when undertaking Construction projects is to work with one Builder. This approach can often work well, they can act as a central point of reference and provide a solution to delivering what you want. It sounds easy, Right ?
Unfortunately there can be some disadvantages. The usual problems revolve around changes in pricing, delays in work being delivered in a timely fashion, the quality of work and most worryingly the risk of money paid up front before any work is completed! There is also the layer cake of hidden costs, inefficiency and risk that using one main Builder (Contractor) can create.
What do we mean by that ?
A Construction Managed approach can focus on achieving greater certainty in three important areas. Cost, Time and Quality are always central themes to any project, the relationship between these three areas should be complementary rather than conflicting and achieving this can be difficult. Applying some key skills from Quantity Surveying, Project Management and Operations Management, combined with harnessing technology can make a big difference in creating these efficiencies.
Design Stage
When designing your Build the consideration around cost can often be overlooked. Introducing a quantity surveyor at the design stage can help to provide alternatives in design whether you would like to increase the quality or work to a fixed budget.
Building Information Management (BIM)
Have you ever looked at Architects Drawings and wondered what the design would look like in reality or needed to find information about your build, only to realise it is littered in different email boxes? Building Information Management harnesses technology to provide 3D and virtual imaging of your Build Design, Centralise and make information on your build available and also offers many many more helpful features. This is useful in providing you with a better design from outset, which reduces cost in design changes alongside many other efficiencies.
Transparency
A Construction Managed Approach will tender each phase of your build to at least three sub contractors, with transparency to the fixed fee cost at each stage. The section can be confirmed with you as a client and decision made around quality, availability and of course cost. The fee for managing each phase is then added on top and unlike using a traditional builder, you will understand exactly what you are paying for.
Built In Systems & Controls
Construction Management embeds systems and controls to ensure objectives are met. Cost Management, Contracts, Reporting, Quality Control and Programme management are just some of the examples which enhance the service received over using a traditional building route. A common frustration is both communication and understanding of a build. Through a construction managed route reporting can be agreed to the clients preference. This can utilise 3D imagery or factual interim reporting. Why is that important ? It can deliver the right information. to clients for decisions to be made quickly rather than scheduling a client meeting, details progress or acts as a record for both quality and Build fabric for the future.
Efficiency
Well its a great word and is easy to use freely, but there are many areas within the Construction process where waste is very common. An example is procurement, often goods delivered to site are sourced without price comparison, not measured in the right quantity and when left at the end of the job simply disposed of. This inefficiency covers not only cost but is not a sustainable route where material wastage adds to land fill.
CCM Construction Management work in Kent, London and the South East, to engage with clients providing a solution that best fits the needs of the project and customer requirements. The focus is on avoiding the pitfalls and stress by structuring the appropriate approach for the Build. This can simply be providing cost consulting in the capacity of a Quantity Surveyor, providing project management support or taking on a construction managed approach. This will take you from Design, Build and Delivery to provide you with a completed build executed professionally, on Cost, on Quality and on Time.
