STAGE 2 SERVICES - PLANNING
"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe" - Abraham Lincoln
1. Construction Documents - BIM methodology
The construction documents set is essentially a set of technical specifications, 2D and 3D documents that will serve as the construction manual for the house. It will include highly detailed drawings of everything needed to build it. It will also incorporate a bigger team with several discipline trades, like architectural, interior, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, structural engineering, civil engineering and landscaping, the scope of this will be determined by the stage 1 services. As part of our integral full-service approach we will develop different discipline trade documents “in-house” that will include detailed 3D models of the M.E.P. system pipes for example. This will allow us to take full responsibility for the whole construction document set.
2. Programming
The project program is an essential planning and management tool that helps ensure the project’s success. The program will outline the scope of work, it defines the sequence of activities, the required resources, the timeframes for each activity and the whole project, the project cashflow, and the earned value management. Effective programming requires specifical technical construction know-how of the project to be built. Effective programming will serve as the tool to determine how and when the builder gets paid along the process, it is also the biggest contributing factor to optimizing, reducing and managing construction costs and creating an accurate budget for the project. Programing is the fundamental core and starting point of a detailed budget and never the other way around. A detailed budget without programming can never be considered a detailed budget but a mere estimate. In order for a budget to qualify as detailed it has to be derived from the project program.
3. Budget - BIM Methodology
A detailed budget is a technical document that will translate, the construction documents, the project program, the construction model to be executed and the technical specifications, into the sum of the respective costs of a sequence of activities. Each budget is singular because of its location, weather, environment, available hand work skillset, and the abilities of the professional team involved. A detailed budget is temporary, the costs associated with it are only valid for as long the prices used to elaborate the budget are valid. A contract detailed budget will break down of the costs and magnitudes of each one of the components and or activities that conform the project, the central administration, the margin of error, the profit, unexpected costs, the risks, and the taxes. It will detail the costs, materials and resource quantities for each project activity and or component, such as labor, materials, equipment and tools, machinery and all of the direct and indirect associated costs of that activity or component.
4. Bidding
First we will create a set of documents containing the bidding rules and the necessary documents and qualifications to bid, and secondly we will act as the judge for the the bidding process, where we will answer questions from the bidders, analyze and study their offers to select the right bids.
5. Permits
Construction permits are given by the local government. We will review all of the preliminary studies to make sure that all necessary paperwork that needs to be validated is done before we request permits for the project. Depending on the type project, additional requisites might be needed to apply for permits such as environmental permits (Viabilidad Ambiental). Although we will take control of the whole process to get the permits, time will be contingent on the efficiency of the government institutions involved for this particular project.