Do you know the best way to build a new building?  We do!!  Most people call it design build.  Being new to the construction experience, you might wonder what is that.  It is where you choose a an architect or a general contractor to create what you want and work with those whom you have chosen.  Instead of putting the project out for bid.  Design build is typically a faster process and you are more likely to get the building you need and want.

How do you start?  Choose an Architect or a General Contractor that you feel is best suited for your building and your needs.  Do you trust them, are they reliable, how is their reputation, do they have an actual office, and so on.  Some choose an architect or contractor whose jobsite signs are more prevalent.   Some choose them from referrals from friends, family, or associates.  One way to look into an architect or  contractor is to look at their website.  You can tell a lot about a company from their website.  Do they show detailed pictures, do they have more than one page, do they update it often, and so on.  The next is a big one, check their affiliations, such as the Chamber of Commerce or the Builders Association.  Check their Better Business Bureau rating, reputation.  Next, how big is the company, do they have one employee or a dozen? The larger the company tends to distance itself from the more personable experience for the client.  Smaller companies can not do what some larger companies can, like 5 million plus projects.  You have to choose this decision usually on your own.  Newer architectural firms rely more on newer technology and 3d design and conceptualization.  Do you need that?  You will most likely pay for these additional features they offer, same goes with a general contractor.  It’s common business sense, the more they offer, typically the higher the overhead which they will make up on cost or quantity.

Most people do not realize the cost of the project rates the architects fee.  The higher the cost the more they make, which is fair.  However, going the Design Build approach, your contractor helps you cut costs where you don’t need them and lets you know where you might want to spend more for durability and so on.  Architects know designing buildings very well. However there are things that get missed and installed on buildings all the time, that didn’t need to be.  All in all this just costs the clients more money.  Things like the architect spec’s a certain type of lighting from a non typical brand and the light requires specialty bulbs that you cannot buy without special ordering.  Would you want a light bulb that is easy to replace or one you have to call a electrician everytime. The ceiling grid is speced with revealed edge tile.  It looks nice, however do you want it, because it costs more.  The architect specs a specific door hardware that require mortise locksets.  Which means the doors have to be specially prepped and the lockset is usually about double vs a regular lockset.  They have special features, but do you need them?

A lot of building and business owners do not understand this approach of design build.  Instead of taking the time into putting the project out for bid for the one lowest bidder.  You spend more time with one contractor designing the building how you want it and can afford.  The contractor will usually be upfront with their markup.  Usually it is around 7 to 12 percent of the project.  It usually depends on the size of the project.  The lower the percentage for the larger the project.  Some contractors will advertise or show they are bidding at 5% or lower on projects under 1 million dollars.  DO NOT BELIEVE IT!!  They are marking up other trades on their bid to get their margin, it’s a slight of hand trick.   It is not as straight forward as a bid, we at Friga Construction Co give our clients.  Once we get the contract that the client chooses us to build the project, we show them a detailed breakdown of costs.  Then at the bottom we show our percentage.  So if the client wants to do the painting we will take off the painting and they will save also from our margin.  We are not always the least expensive General Contractor out there, however we choose to build quality not quantity.  If you are looking to build a Commercial building or do some commercial remodeling to an existing building, check us out and give Eric Friga a call today @417-887-7134.