Preparing for Inclement Weather

Preparing for Inclement Weather

While the height of construction season is around the corner, there are still the remaining months of Winter and the upcoming rainstorms and tornadoes of Spring.

Mother nature gives us beautiful, sunny days, but she’s also unpredictable. When it comes to executing a construction project, weather is one of the most notorious factors that causes unpredictability and inhibits progress on the construction site.

For those of you beginning projects during these seasons, our team of pre-construction and project management professionals compiled a few pointers to avoid unwanted delays and unplanned cost increases:

  • Assess the weather conditions in the project location.
    Before beginning any construction project, our team researches and identifies possible weather delays. They explore the climate of your project’s location and find the most common weather patterns in the area. More importantly, you will learn how impending inclement weather may run affect the projected timeline.
  • Make recommendations and adjustments given weather trends.
    Depending on your company’s timeline and needs, we may suggest making changes to the project’s start date in order to minimize weather-related risks. Time is often an uncalculated cost in construction. At DBG, we understand that avoiding delays means your business opens and becomes operational, earning returns on your investment as soon as possible.
  • Plan on-site fixes for anticipated weather challenges.
    If you’re planning to begin construction during rainy season, for example, our team will recommend incorporating specific types of equipment – such as plastic sheets and storm drains – and develop flooding contingencies for your construction site. The overall costs of extra equipment and exigency panning are less than being caught unprepared by an onslaught of weather conditions.
  • Create a realistic budget and timeline considering common weather patterns.
    Our team develops a projected schedule accounting for probable weather-related delays, and how long these delays could last in your area and time of year. With our 10 years’ of experience as a general contractor, we predict how much these weather patterns may affect your projects progress; we create a timeline that takes realistic weather projections into consideration and develop a budget that is prepared for whatever the weather brings.

Although we can’t control mother nature, we have an impeccable record when it comes to dealing with the unexpected and delivering projects with quality in timely fashion.

Contact us today to learn more about how our professional pre-construction services can help your commercial project.

Starting a Construction Project: Permit Considerations

Starting a Construction Project: Permit Considerations

When beginning a commercial construction project, it is uncommon to be able to break ground and get started immediately.

The vast majority of commercial projects require you, or your general contractor, to apply for a permit from local municipalities.

Depending on the project’s scope and location, the complexity and requirements of the permit will vary.

 

Things to keep in mind when applying for a permit:

  1. Permits take time before receiving approval.
    City permit offices can get backed up, particularly at the peak of construction season. When developing a construction plan, keep in mind that even a simple permit can take several weeks to get rubber stamped. A qualified and respected general contractor that has well-developed relationships with local municipalities can often speed up the approval process by knowing who to contact and how to monitor the permit’s status.
  2. Inspections or meetings may be necessary.
    As a part of their due diligence, some city committees will need to inspect your building, property, or construction plans before approving them and providing the permit. You may even be required to share your plans with a city planning committee at a live hearing. To ensure a seamless approval process, have your plans reviewed and inspected by a general contractor before presenting to a committee.
  3. Your construction project might need revisions.
    Your permit may not receive approval upon the first review – especially if the committee or city has concerns that the property or existing infrastructure may not be able to sustain the project size or type. Your permit may be delayed by other concerns including neighborhood disruptions. Sometimes you’ll also need to re-submit for simple reasons like not filling out the paperwork quite correctly. Be prepared to work with the city to alter plans, or possibly consider a new site.

There are consequences to not acquiring the correct permits that not only affect your timeline but also your finances.

If discovered without a permit, or with the wrong one, your company may be fined or asked to halt the project until obtaining the correct permit through the correct approval process. These types of delays increase costs for any business, preventing them from opening up their doors and accessing customers.

As a local general contractor, DBG has spent 10 years working alongside municipalities and planning committees to achieve timely permitting.

We have the resources and the reputation to apply for permits in a way that maximizes your project’s odds at rapid approval.

If you are considering a project that may require permitting, contact us for help today!