A plan exists for every construction project, but not every construction project has a plan. A better way to say this is the old cliche’, “Fail to Plan; Plan to Fail.”

Once the Due Diligence has been performed to such a degree that the potential project is still feasible, the Planning Phase is the time to design the plan that will be implemented for the project. Designing the plan for the project is not only listing the steps required to complete the project, but also the specific details and goals for each of those steps.

As stated in the article

“10 Essentials For Your Construction Project” …

During the Planning Phase (or Schematic or Pre-Design Phase), the following items should be determined:
1. The scope of the actual constructed items. How large the development, how many structures, what type of building materials, or what type of special materials or applications are required?

2. A Preliminary Budget for the project. “A” preliminary budget should be determined, not “The” preliminary budget. Budgets created during the Planning Phase may change several times before the construction work begins. Many times Owners of a project try to determine all the costs for their projects during the Planning Phase - even though not all project information is known. Sometimes they ignore the “Preliminary” aspect of the preliminary budget, and attempt to make the project work for these initial, estimated costs. Given a limited budget or requirements of the proforma, an Owner should include large contingencies into a Preliminary Budget during the Planning Phase. Depending of the nature of the project, these contingencies could range from 25% to 50%. As more information is known, a preliminary budget becomes the Project Budget.

3. A Preliminary Schedule for the project. What is the anticipated completion date required by the Owner, what time of the year is construction to begin, are there any specific requirements or restrictions for construction activities, or are all materials readily available?

4. The Schematic Design. The Planning Phase is the time where the brainstorming occurs for the design and performance of the project. This portion of the Planning Phase is usually performed with one or more members of the design team. Many ideas and concepts should be created and discarded throughout this portion of the Planning Phase, unless the Owner has a specific idea for the design and performance of the project. In that case, the Schematic Design should be more focused on specific details of the project ( i.e. detention requirements, building facade height, materials, colors, traffic flow, amenities, landscaping, MEP performance, etc.).
Planning continues throughout the life of a project, but is most important during the initial phase of the project. The project scope will be defined, unknown factors affecting the project will be ‘flagged’ and investigated, meetings with governmental officials will be scheduled, preliminary design will begin, constructibility items will be discussed, and the schedule of all these events and the actual construction activities will form the basis for the Plan as the project progresses from the Planning Phase (Preliminary) to the Design Phase. The reason the Planning stage is the “Key to Meeting Your Project Goals“is due to the facts that during this phase you list and define what your project goals are. Without properly planning and defining these goals, you may be left wondering if your goals were properly met. A good plan takes the guess work out of your construction project.

If you have any questions about the Planning Phase of your project, please contact REDBUD Construction Services.