A building project is a big investment. At times it may seem impossible for a large project to stay on budget. However, with solid planning, effort, and determination, you can stay committed to your initial budget, no matter how difficult it may seem. One of our priorities at Huff Construction is keeping your building’s project budget under control. Below are a few simple, yet effective tips we’ve found at Huff Construction. These tips can pave the way for a smooth project, and help avoid a headache and costly turmoil of an over-budget project.
A Project that Makes Sense from the Start
The old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” might be a cliché, but it’s certainly one to follow, especially with large building projects. A thorough, complete, and above all, honest upfront assessment of your project, location, and costs, is a critical first step. Time spent in planning is paramount for reducing and eliminating financial risks, and for identifying and addressing potential issues before they become real problems. Take time to really sit down and consider every aspect of your project before it even begins. Careful and realistic planning can prevent “scope creep,” where more and more things are added in response to dealing with a setback, instead of the problem being worked out in the planning stages. At Huff, we use our design-build delivery method, a very thorough upfront planning process to drive shorter time frames and cost savings.
Knowledge is Power
Remaining on budget requires expert knowledge of yourself, your capabilities, and your construction partner. Know your revenue streams and workflows like the back of your hand. Read and review all construction loan documentation provided by your financial institution. Ask questions from the appropriate party if you’re ever unsure about something, or don’t understand why something is in place. Create new mandates and new processes to meet any needs of the project if you find something lacking. Constant communication with your construction partner is critical so that you can keep up to date about the status of your project. This is an area in which Huff Construction truly shines. Over the years we have recognized the value of communication and have built processes to facilitate better communication like weekly meetings between our team and our clients. After all, consistent, up to date information about the progress of a project is vital to knowing whether a project is going ahead smoothly and on budget.
Monthly Project Budget Reviews
You can’t know if your project is staying on budget if you don’t know how much it’s costing you per week. Set aside some time every week for an overview of the project and review its current budget thoroughly. Keep an eye out for any large changes, or any issues that have put an extra drain on your resources. If you see anything out of the ordinary, be sure to note it and discuss it with your construction partner. This is why your choice of construction partner A trustworthy construction partner that cares about customer service is one that’s going to deal with any problems head on to ensure your satisfaction. An experienced builder has likely encountered a similar issue and will be able to suggest and implement a tested, cost effective solution.
Keep Change Orders in Check
Unexpected things happen despite your best efforts and plans: it’s part of life. It’s important to factor in a little leeway in your budget to make some allowances for the unknown and unexpected, but be sure to keep any change orders monitored to avoid scope creep. Scope creep is slow and insidious, but can easily run over your budget if it cPay close attention to change orders, and ask yourself and your building partner why they’re happening to see a change. Was it a change in reaction to something you missed during the planning phase, like a noise permit or a materials issue? A great construction partner with experience and expertise will usually be able to provide you with suggestions and potential solutions that can stop scope creep in its tracks. But you need to be able to identify it first and figure out why it is happening.
Stay Determined
The ultimate deciding factor in staying on budget is you. It’s your initial planning, your commitment to staying informed, and your decision to make any changes during construction that ultimately make or break your ability to stay on budget. Prepare as much as you can for what you can, communicate frequently with your construction partner, and stay focused and determined to stay on budget. With effort, knowledge, and willpower – and an experienced, trusted construction partner like Huff Construction – staying on budget is completely possible, even for large building projects.
Design Build
One way that helps for our clients to stay within their building’s project budget is to take advantage of Huff Construction’s Design Build Process.
For those clients who choose to take advantage of Huff Construction’s design-build delivery method, our thorough process, which includes weekly team meetings, leads to numerous benefits such as:
- Shorter design time frames
- Design cost savings
- Minimal stress on the owner as we act as a single point of contact
- Maximum cost control as we establish a budget up front with the owner and design towards the budget
To find out more about our Design Build Projects follow the link.
