Tips from the Trenches to Avoid Cost Overruns on Capital Facility Projects
No one begins a construction project intending to have cost overruns. Unfortunately, cost overruns are often a product of how architecture and construction firms are incentivized to increase fees/revenues on projects. In the traditional Design-Bid-Build (DBB) delivery method, incomplete architectural drawings, poor timeline management by a project manager, and contractors submitting unrealistically competitive low bids […]
Eight-Step Process to Develop an Effective Capital Facilities Plan
Many Country Clubs experienced a surge in membership activity throughout the duration of the pandemic. Clubs became a place people turned to for safe socializing and exercising during a stressful and uncertain time. As Pandemic restrictions wind down and people return to their old patterns Clubs are considering how to capitalize on this greater feeling of […]
Project Schedules Affect More Than Your Occupancy Date
Project scheduling is more than delivering a project at the agreed-upon occupancy date. It is a strategic tool that affects project costs, funding, construction logistics, and, ultimately, project delivery. Most contractors seem to want to sum up projects with four words: on time, on budget. But rarely is their focus on if the budget was […]
When Should Value Engineering Take Place?
No one likes to fall in love with a design and then be told by multiple contractors that it’s is too expensive: time to value engineer. This painful process comes after planning and design and before construction starts. To Stanmar, this is an entirely avoidable process. It all starts with asking the right questions at […]
Supporting Inexperienced Clients
Owners typically fall into two camps—the owner that has ongoing facility projects, has a facilities department, and is very experienced in planning and delivering projects, or the owner that is new to the planning and design process because they have a one-time, “generational” project or will not build another facility anytime soon. In both cases, owners face […]
The Many Definitions of Sustainability
Stanmar’s approach to every project starts with understanding how the project fits into the client’s overall business plan. Once we understand how the building will help sustain the client’s operations, we also examine how sustainability fits into the client’s culture. Sustainability is not just “green design,” but also evaluating the program to determine the building footprint […]
