Read our intensive article on how your company can plan better and win in precon.
Winning in precon ensures that all stakeholders are constantly checking the feasibility of the project by analyzing;
To win in preconstruction, you must ensure that your company stands out by involving the right people. The familiarity of the team working together will significantly influence the project's outcome, so keep communication channels open. Avoid communication barriers using one technology platform where stakeholders can share essential details and freely discuss all precon functions.
The preconstruction phase gives all stakeholders the activities they must undertake to complete the construction project successfully. Everyone has a role to play, whether installing or designing, and all project components are explained in detail.
To win in precon, contractors must understand the outputs of preconstruction. They are;
Table of Contents
The first step in preconstruction is defining a project scope where the vision is documented. This information is vital to all stakeholders who can better understand design specifications, plan for risks, and set goals.
After defining your project scope, you can start calculating your costs. Get the most accurate estimations by adjusting and updating prices where needed to suit your company and client's goals.
After defining your scope and coming up with a budget, you can now delve into the project's finer details, such as the number and type of materials needed, project drawings, and building systems and strategies.
Schedule
A schedule helps construction workers meet their goals with all the details for documentation, permits the submission, and works report time.
Once you have determined your scope, details, schedule, and budget, you can choose your project team. Choose a group of employees who will positively affect the outcome of your project.
Identify the number and type of materials you will need before you begin constructing, and know which materials to pre-order to avoid delays.
Construction projects need to pass inspections to get permits. Therefore, ensure you get all the required licenses before building on your site.
Clear communication channels should be employed for the precon phase to succeed well. There needs to be a good platform for stakeholders to discuss project information and sort issues if any arise.
When potential clients fully understand your value—your niche expertise, commitment to quality, resource availability, technology expertise, industry reputation, and other differentiating factors—pricing, while still necessary, can be offset by intangibles that swing the decision in your favor. The key is to determine your brand—and your proposal-- in a way that helps your company stand out from the competition.
Rather than isolate your teams with unproductive information barriers, use one technology platform as a centralized hub for all your precon activity. By eliminating information siloes early (and supporting the kind of internal collaboration that leads to higher quality), you can expect your bids to be more thorough, accurate, and more competitive—and the odds of winning increase exponentially.
More and more, knowing how and when to use technology offers a distinct advantage for precon—a proven way to ensure bid quality, meet deadlines, and control costs. When your company can demonstrate a working knowledge of the best technology available, project owners and evaluation teams will know that you will bring more to the table than less tech-savvy competitors, even if they come in at a lower price.
Concerning precon, the benefits of mobilized teams are clear: using smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, vital information can be communicated and shared quickly and easily, even when project stakeholders are scattered across projects and office locations. In addition, without constant face-to-face interaction, time-sensitive proposals can be created, reviewed, revised, and approved in full and on time.
Remember that if you take the time to build positive long-term relationships with project owners and evaluation teams, it's more likely that there will be more opportunities in the future to bid and win. The first step is to reach out and begin a dialogue; the more you know about prospective clients—how they work, who they work with, where they do business, and other relevant details- the better you'll be to succeed.
Like most contractors, you have a substantial bid history—some lost, some won—that you can use to understand why some proposals were winners and others weren't. A reporting feature in your precon software can track past bids by the customer, project type, location, competitors, and other designations and help you develop valuable benchmarks. By evaluating your track record against the entire landscape, you can decide to bid only when you have a reasonable likelihood of success.
No contractor, regardless of size, has unlimited precon resources. When chasing projects that aren't ideal for your company, you may miss out on jobs with a higher potential for success. Every bid will take time, money, and effort, so it's essential to focus on appealing, realistic, and relevant projects. If it's not a fit, consider actively looking for it.
More contractors will win project bids when the preconstruction phase is done correctly. Let your company stand out using the proper techniques and having the best team. As construction companies are becoming more competitive, make sure that you discuss all project details with your stakeholders before starting the project.
