Private owners discovered long ago that the best way to avoid claims and cost overruns was to hire a general contractor at an early stage of design; and, in some cases, before the design consultants had been hired. This early integration of the contractor into the team eliminated the ‘them vs. us' mentality and has, instead, created a more successful team relationship. With 70% of our work being negotiated, we are deeply involved and successfully manage the budget, materials selections, constructability, and schedules. In more technical projects, jobsite personnel are potentially on site for nearly a year before actual construction commences, checking as-built conditions, dimensions, and conditions of existing surfaces scheduled to remain or be re-used. Typically, we will review materials and how they will be used, review drawings for the coordination of primary consultants and perform dozens of cost comparisons for alternative materials and methods. Below are the typical activities we perform during the pre-construction phase:

• Project budgeting and estimating
• Identifying and preordering of long lead items.
• Project scheduling (includes pre-construction activities)
• Design review and commentary
• Design team meetings
• Document coordination
• Constructability review and commentary
• Life cycle cost analysis
• Value engineering
• Construction phasing, sequencing and site logistics
• Permitting, subcontractor preparation and packaging