The construction industry has evolved and progressed significantly during the past few years in countries like the United Arab Emirates. The developed countries are promoting sustainable, efficient, and environment-friendly construction. Due to the new ideas and expectations of the construction industry, every stakeholder has to play his role efficiently from the initial stage. In the past, the owners of the construction project held absolute power over it and decided about all the matters. The got the building or project designed by some architecture and present it to the contractor to realize that sketch or drawing. However, time has changed significantly. Now, it is important to involve the general contractors in the project from the get-go to enjoy sustainable projects.
Explore this article in detail to learn why you should involve general contractors in the design phase of your construction project.
Top 8 Benefits of Including General Contractors during Design Phase
General contractors are an important unit of the construction project who hire the subcontractors, look after project development, and ensure proper time and budget management of the project. They are usually included in the project when construction work starts on the project site. However, they should be consulted and included in the project during the design phase to share their valuable input.
Here are the top benefits of including general contractors during the design phase of the construction projects.
1. Improved Constructability
The first benefit of involving general contractors in the construction project during the design phase is that it helps in improving the constructability of the project. It means that it helps fix the issues, errors and schedule delays in the project. Still, claim issues can emerge from any aspect. So, project stakeholders also involve construction claims consultants in UAE to immediately resolve all the issues and ensure timely completion of their projects.
2. Improved Collaboration
Collaboration in construction projects is crucial to achieving seamless success and progress. However, if the general contractors are not involved in the design phase of the project, they will not be able to share their input and insight according to their expertise. It will limit the collaboration of all the stakeholders. So, involving them early on is necessary to improve collaboration.
3. Improved Cost Estimation
Cost estimation is an important part of the construction project, which should be handled during the design phase. The contractors are the authorities who have expertise in the matter. If you make cost estimations after finalizing the design, you might have to invest more or request changes in design to fit the budget. Involving contractors earlier will help improve cost estimation.
4. Resolution of Issues Early On
Numerous issues can occur in the project if the contractors are not involved in the design phase. The issues can be minor as the unattractive direction of design, or major, like unsuitable construction site conditions. Exploring all these issues after finalizing the design will only waste the time of all parties. Involving contractors early on will help in resolving the issues earlier.
5. Improved Risk Management
Risk management is another important aspect of the construction projects, which needs care and attention from the very first stage. The design of the project can also be flawed or not feasible for the construction site. Involving general contractors during the design phase will help identify and mitigate the risks from the point of view of the professionals.
6. Improved Project Ownership
When the owner of the project exudes complete ownership of the project and does not give any authority to other stakeholders, they are left alone in the time of need. Therefore, it is necessary to include the general contractors during the design phase of the project, so they play their part in decision making. It will improve the project ownership and ensure its success.
7. Better Product Information
During the design phase, the architect and project owner often decide about the products that they want in the project. Including general contractors in the project will help them in getting better product information. Still, problems can occur in product identification. You can also hire construction claims consultants in UAE to tackle such issues timely so that they do not delay the progress of the project.
8. Design Expertise and Construction Knowledge
At times, the project owners think that contractors do not need to have a say about the design. However, they are the main figures to realize the design, and they are specifically aware of the flaws which do not seem problematic on paper. So, including general contractors, will benefit from design expertise and construction knowledge.
Adopt modern construction approaches to maximize ROI!
Involving general contractors during the design phase of the construction project is one of the modern approaches which limit waste and cost overestimation in the projects. The approach offers numerous other benefits; however, the most important of them all is that it maximizes the ROI. So, adopt this approach to reap the benefits. If you are worried about claims and delay issues, involve construction experts in your project to overview the progress and lend support in the time of need.
