Commercial construction projects can be unpredictable. Control what you can, plan for the unexpected.
There will always be something outside of your control, like the weather. You can’t stop it from raining, but you can manage the risk through risk analysis and contingency plans.
If you opt for owner-furnished, contractor-installed (OFCI) components in your commercial construction project, you need to accept the challenge of managing something you don’t control.
How To Manage Elements Out Of Your Control In Your Commercial Construction Project
There are some compelling reasons to opt for owner-furnished items (OFIs), such as needing highly specialized equipment or wanting to ensure uniformity across multiple sites.
If your project is part of a larger construction plan, you may want to take advantage of economies of scale by using one vendor. The vendor you choose becomes known as the owner vendor. They will supply a certain trade, material, or equipment instead of having the contractor provide it.
As a result, the owner or owner vendor needs to coordinate well with the general contractor to ensure the project runs smoothly. It also means that there will be some things out of the owner’s control, which are important to keep in mind. Here are the considerations to take into account:
Assign A Party To Be Responsible For Overseeing The Project
It is crucial to assign responsibility for specific aspects of the project. Each stakeholder must know their role and how it fits into the project scope. When working with OFIs, you will need to have a dedicated project overseer.
This person will need to be responsible for coordinating between owner vendors and your contractor. By opting for OFCI components, you are taking on additional responsibility because the contractor has less control.
Typically, your contractor would work with subcontractors they know and trust. By using different vendors, there is a greater chance of miscommunication or delays. These issues already plague commercial construction, with 98% of projects finishing over budget and over schedule.
Part of commercial construction risk management is ensuring clear communication and the overseer will need to liaise between the contractor and the owner vendors to prevent issues.
Understand The Timelines
One danger of OFCI materials is that the contractor and the vendors will have different timelines. And unlike subcontractors, your vendors are not under contract to your contractor.
This means that your overseer needs to communicate everything clearly in the planning phase. Owner vendors need to understand the project timeline and sequence of events to ensure that materials arrive on time.
If an owner vendor misses a deadline, your entire project can end up delayed, costing you time and money. One strategy to sidestep this kind of preventable construction delay is to build in float, which is the industry term for buffer time.
But if there are supply issues or the vendor fails to deliver materials, you may need to spend unbudgeted money on a last-minute alternative. This drastically increases stress, and can also increase installation time if builders have to work with unfamiliar materials.
Finishing projects on time is a challenging goal, but it is possible. It requires detailed planning, and selecting the right contractor. You need to select good vendors that will cooperate with your contractors.
The more moving parts there are, the greater the chance for something to go wrong, which is why you must think carefully about whether the benefits of OFCI components outweigh the potential risks.
If you require specialized OFIs, opt for a contractor that has experience working with owner vendors to guarantee success for your project.
Plan Out The Shipping And Storage
Shipping and storage are a key part of commercial construction, and you need to ensure that your vendor’s plans don’t interfere with your contractor’s schedule.
The person overseeing the project needs to check that deliveries arrive at appropriate times and that there is storage space for them. Some building sites don’t have sufficient storage space or can’t accommodate some materials until a certain time.
Normally subcontractors handle the entire fulfillment process, including shipping, storage, handling, and delivery. With OFCI materials, you now take responsibility for that workflow.
This is why communication and good relations are so important within commercial construction. Without them, it is challenging to liaise between stakeholders.
To reap the benefits of OFCI components, you need a robust and detailed plan that can adapt to new information.
Lean scheduling is an excellent technique to achieve this. It breaks every task into detailed sub-tasks and assigns specific responsibilities to individuals. By investing time in planning upfront, you can avoid delays and mitigate risk.
Conclusion
There are many ways to manage what you don’t control in commercial construction projects. You need proper planning and active project management to prevent delays and overspending.
Good planning starts by selecting the right contractor. Contact Chad Fisher Construction for your next commercial construction project to see the benefits of the perfect contractor.