Pre-Construction Planning in Denver

What pre-construction produces

Pre-construction services in Denver cover the work a builder does before construction starts: pricing the design as it develops, checking that it can be built as drawn, planning the schedule and the permit path, and finding the materials that have to be ordered early. The output is not one estimate. It is a series of decisions made with cost and time information in hand, at a point when changing course is still cheap.

Estimates that tighten as design advances

A concept-stage estimate is built from area, building type and comparable costs. It answers whether the project is feasible and not much else. As the architect moves through schematic design, design development and construction documents, the estimate shifts from cost per square foot to building assemblies, and then to measured quantities and subcontractor pricing. Each round should be reconciled against the last so the owner can see what moved and why.

Constructability review

A builder reads drawings with different questions than a designer. Can the crane reach the far corner of the lot? Do the ducts fit in the ceiling space shown? Will the window head detail actually shed water? Is the sequence realistic on a tight urban site with no laydown area? A conflict caught on paper costs a revision. Caught during framing, it costs a stop, a redesign and sometimes a repeat inspection.

Baseline schedule and permit strategy

The baseline schedule covers design completion, plan review, procurement and construction, as well as the months on site. Permit strategy decides how the project moves through review: one full submittal, or an early site or foundation package ahead of the full building permit where the jurisdiction allows it. Inside the city, plan review runs through Denver Community Planning and Development. Other metro municipalities set their own procedures, and utility service applications often run on separate timelines.

Long-lead procurement

Some items take months to arrive after they are ordered. Electrical switchgear, transformers, elevators, storefront and custom windows, and rooftop mechanical units are common examples. Lead times move with the market, so they are confirmed with suppliers at the time rather than assumed. Pre-construction identifies these items, gets them specified early and, where the owner approves, releases orders before the construction contract is signed.

Investigating the site before design locks

Every building is designed for a particular piece of ground, and wrong assumptions about that ground are among the most expensive mistakes on a project. Three investigations normally come before the design gets far.

• A boundary survey fixes property lines, easements and encroachments, and a topographic survey maps grades, existing structures and visible utilities. Designers need both to place the building.
• A geotechnical report describes soil and groundwater conditions from borings or test pits. Much of the Denver area has expansive clays and claystone bedrock that swell when wet, so the report's foundation recommendations, such as drilled piers or a structural floor over a crawlspace, drive foundation design and cost.
• Utility locates show where buried lines run, which affects excavation, service connections and sometimes the building footprint itself.

What to expect at each design phase

Pre-construction deliverables change as the drawings mature. The table below shows a typical progression; on a smaller project some phases are combined.

Value engineering, defined honestly

Value engineering has a poor reputation because it is often a polite name for cutting scope late in the process. Done properly, it compares cost against function. The question is what an element needs to do, and whether a less expensive approach does that job as well or better.

Sometimes the answer is a different structural system that saves money and time. Sometimes it is a mechanical system that costs more up front and less to run, which is value engineering in the other direction. And sometimes the honest conclusion is that the specified item is right, and the savings would come back as maintenance or lost performance. Each proposal should state what changes, what it saves and what the owner gives up.

When to bring in a builder

Earlier than most owners expect. A builder can contribute once there is a site and a program, before the architect has drawn much. At that stage the builder can test the budget against the program and flag site issues before the design commits to them. Bringing a builder in at construction documents still helps, but most of the expensive decisions have been made by then.

Owners usually engage pre-construction either as a standalone agreement with a defined fee and scope, or as the first phase of a design-build contract or a construction manager contract. A standalone agreement lets the owner see how a builder works before committing to construction.

From planning to a contract

Pre-construction ends with a scope, a price and a schedule the owner can sign against, whether that is a fixed price, cost plus fee or a guaranteed maximum price. From there the work moves into general contracting on site and construction project management for schedule, cost and reporting. The full construction process lays out each phase in order, and the guide to building from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins is a good starting point for a site outside Denver city limits. When you have a site and a rough program, send us the project details.

Site risk is local, and pre-construction is where it is found. See geologic hazard studies in Colorado Springs, coal mining history under Erie and mountain-front structural loads in Golden, or every city we build in.