How To Get a Good Lease Step 4/10, Part 2
With your design in hand, it’s time to get construction pricing. If you’re intimidated here, you’re not alone. There’s old contractor joke: Cost, Time, Quality — pick two. Unfortunately, it’s too true to be funny. Let’s jump in.
Step 4b: Construction Introduction and Estimate
Again, your broker or landlord will hopefully have a commercial general contractor (GC) to recommend. The GC need an understanding of complex construction while managing smaller budgets and tight schedules. These GCs have developed a particular set of skills to quote Lian Neeson.
Selecting Your General Contractor (GC) 👷♀️:
Your GCs role is the planning and execution of the work. This includes ordering the materials and coordinating all the trades to show up at the right time to get everything done correctly. This is easier said than done. But the GCs biggest value is the relationships they maintain with the subcontractors to make this all happen.
Once you’ve selected the contractor, you’ll provide: your test fit drawing, inspirational images, construction documents, and tour the future space.
Getting Your Construction Budget & Schedule:
At this stage, you’ll receive a rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimate. Ask the GC about any current or recently complete projects and ask for the client contact as a reference.
Here’s a few questions you could ask the client references:
- Was the project completed on time? On budget?
- Was the construction quality what they had anticipated?
- How was the communication? With you? With the landlord?
- Were any change orders?
In my experience, general contractors are the hardest working, smartest, most creative, and down to earth people.
That being said, there’s a reason you hear horror stories. So do your homework to ensure your GC has a quality reputation. Pay attention to see if they ask valuable clarifying questions that demonstrate that they’re listening and beginning to build your project out in their mind.
Your role is to project manage of the design & construction.
This is where I see a lot of entrepreneurs get overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task and exasperated by the time and cost it takes.
Alright folks, so obviously I’m struggling to fit into this tiny format. I wrote out a whole list of tips at this stage that doesn’t fit🤦♀️
DM me ‘tips’ and I’ll reply with the list — promise. See you tomorrow for Step 5 😊
Read this post and more on my Typeshare Social Blog
