For new capital construction projects, industrial facilities often face the challenge of finding multiple qualified single-disciplined contractors, each with skilled craftsmen, to meet a project’s schedule, budget and safety goals.
With decades of experience, multi-disciplined contractor Standard Constructors has a unique ability to identify opportunities that enhance the overall project — opportunities that many project teams might not even recognize.
Why is this important? A contractor that can self-perform multiple scopes saves both time and money, especially when involved early in the planning and design phase. The insight Standard Constructors has gained by self-performing has been transformative for its clients, improving schedules, lowering overall costs and enhancing safety. Companies that don’t use multi-disciplined contractors must source, manage and coordinate multiple contractors, adding complexity to achieving project goals. A multi-disciplined contractor’s advantage lies in creating synergies and stacking disciplines without the difficulties of coordinating multiple contractors in the same area.
Otherwise, using single-discipline contractors can result in overcrowding, with teams blaming one another for delays. Managing a single contractor simplifies coordination, removing the need to juggle multiple parties with conflicting schedules and competing resource demands. A self-performing, multi-disciplined contractor can also add significant value by finding constructability solutions the owner or engineer might not have considered.
An example of this is railroad construction. Typically, rail contractors handle the subgrade and up — ties, rails and ballast — while another contractor manages drainage and subgrade work. Often, the rail contractor subcontracts subgrade work to someone else. If problems arise, both parties blame each other. Even when resolved, the process wastes time because neither contractor has expertise in both areas. Hiring one contractor to manage both rail and subgrade eliminates these issues, making the project more efficient and cost-effective.
Time is money. The primary goal of any project is to achieve excellence in safety, budget and schedule. A contractor capable of handling multiple scopes will have crosstrained craftsmen and management who can find opportunities to improve the schedule, all while maintaining a cohesive safety program. This leads to greater efficiency and reduced time, with only one mobilization, one management team and one contract. The request for proposals and contract negotiations are streamlined, saving time and costs. Using a contractor that can manage multiple turnkey scopes reduces strain on the contracting team and allows faster mobilization and better schedule optimization.
Solution-oriented. Contractors understand project details better than anyone. They’re often required to provide detailed lump-sum pricing to two decimal points within weeks, while the design team may have worked on the project for months or years. The contractor’s role is to become the project expert. With experience and turnkey capabilities, it can quickly value-engineer a project to optimize both schedule and cost for the owner’s maximum benefit.
For more information, visit standardconstructors.com or call (713) 941-1232.
