You have been developing your business plan. You have determined your objectives, project timeline, and proposed spending. Now you are ready for the preconstruction phase. While it may seem tempting to invest only a little time or completely skip this part, you should understand the preconstruction phase importance. In addition, the preconstruction planning phase includes all stakeholders: owners, engineers, architects, and contractors.
Properly planning your project is a crucial step. Your project needs precise planning for big decisions to ensure that you can handle unforeseen obstacles easily. This takes a high level of foresight. Preconstruction phase planning requires three elements for precise execution: scope of work, budget, and schedule.
Scope of Work
The scope of work is is a document that clearly spells out specific activities, timelines, and deliverables for your project.It is the most crucial document for the meticulous execution of your business activities. You need to answer questions such as:
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What is the objective?
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Is it described clearly?
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Do all stakeholders agree?
The scope of work should have a high level of detail. At a minimum, it should include the step-by-step method that will be used to attain your objectives. The scope of work is a key factor in the preconstruction phase importance and should not be missed.
Budget
You need a well-defined budget to support the scope of work. Doing this enables you to determine what type of subcontractors to engage, what type of materials to purchase, and where your project site can be. It is also important to delineate how you developed the budget and include supporting documentation. You want to ensure that your budget, especially at the preconstruction phase, is based on sound estimates and reflects your actual resources. As you keep track of the budget, you should be able to trace everything back using the punch list.
Schedule
Developing an accurate schedule is crucial to ensuring that your project remains on time. You need to assign a deadline to each milestone task. The result is a clear blueprint that holds everyone accountable and keeps the project on point. The essential questions to ask:
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How did you develop the schedule?
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Have you verified the proposed timeline with vendors and contractors?
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Have you identified key milestones and constraints?
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What actions will be taken if milestones are not met?
Although you will need to address other elements that are important to your preconstruction phase, these three elements are absolutely required, and they need to be established in relation to each other. As your project progresses, your team may discover obstacles that could significantly challenge the project’s success. You will need to address them before moving forward.
Incorporating the Three Key Elements
For the most effective planning, all three of these elements should be highly detailed, based on facts, and be related to each other. Therefore, the task in the scope of work will include the corresponding value from the budget, and it will be listed in the schedule. This provides a foundation for better decision making since you have a more comprehensive view of the project. It will help you avoid being focused on only one area.
When you break out a project into a series of tasks and decisions along a timeline, you are much better prepared and far more likely to make the best possible decisions at the right time.
If you want to ensure a successful construction project, you cannot underestimate the preconstruction phase importance. This is an extremely important step to complete prior to breaking ground. Use the preconstruction phase to plan, analyze, and develop the expected needs and obstacles for your project.
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