> Preconstruction Services

The success of any project is directly related to the quality of the effort invested from day one. In the preconstruction department, we put the experience of our staff and our state-of the-art equipment at the service of our clients, from project inception through to procurement/buy-out.

We start by nurturing the collaborative team spirit among the major players and rallying the involved parties behind the project goals they have helped set. Our next efforts generally materialize in the creation of a schematic budget for one or more of the alternatives under consideration.

Once the project scope is defined, MCN Build conducts budget checks and constructability reviews at interim phases in the development of the design documents to ensure the team stays on track with respect to the project goals.

The end result of the preconstruction effort is a solid project budget in line with the goals pre-set at inception and the establishment of a cost control mechanism that allows for continuous checks and balances through the construction phase.

Value Engineering

To maximize the value of the project to the Owner, we take a seven-step approach to value engineering that is among the most detailed and thorough in the industry:

Step One: Information gathering
Step Two: Investigation/Analysis

• Conduct function analysis: FAST Diagrams
• Conduct Pareto Cost Analysis: 80/20 rule
• Develop estimates of cost (actual cost to perform a function) and worth (least cost to perform a function) for major basic functions
• Calculate the Value Index (ratio of cost of each function divided by worth) and judge the value accordingly to focus team effort in most effective direction

Step Three: Speculation/Creativity

Generate numerous alternatives for accomplishing the basic functions while delaying evaluation for later

Step Four: Evaluation/Judgment
• Select the most promising alternatives for further analysis and refinement by answering the following questions:
• Will it perform the basic function?
• Is it feasible? Consider cost and constructability
• Impact on life cycle cost including operation cost maintenance cost, salvage, etc.

Step Five: Development
Further develop selected alternatives (will it work, will it meet all requirements, are there implementation problems, what are the benefits)

Step Six: Presentation
Present the best alternatives to persons having authority to approve proposals

Step Seven: Implementation

Team Approach

During the preconstruction phase, the field team who will ultimately build the project is selected and is then responsible for providing constant construction input in terms of constructability, site logistics, early procurement of long lead items, safety, etc., to the preconstruction team to insure continued continuity into the construction phase.

We firmly believe in hiring the right people for the right job. Our buy-out process starts with a careful selection of the subcontractor based on the individual requirements of each project. Pre-qualified subcontractors are screened and then evaluated based on their previous experience with similar projects, their present work load, the cost competitiveness and their financial stability.

A potential subcontractor’s scope of work is thoroughly investigated through our requirement of subcontractor bid packages, in which we examine past projects for any potential gaps in coverage. In this way we can peremptorily limit the opportunities for future claims and cost increases.