April 2017

14 BUILD / April 2017 , Build It and They Will Come Build-It Construction is a commercial construction company located in SouthernNH, serving the greater NewEngland (US) area. Our primary disciplines are Construction of: Corporate Office, Institutional (Schools) Multifamily and Pharma/Biotech spaces. We are a team of expert planners and hands on builders to bring projects from conceptual design through the final CoF (Certificate of Occupancy) process. With a staff of twenty members, we draft, estimate, procure and prioritize procurement of materials, equipment and resources that are required to construct a project. The Build-It team is fortunate to also self-perform many of the subtrades for projects with our clients and our investors. A great example of pulling resources together was at Atwood Ave in Johnston RI was the turnover of a 39,000SF Office Space. From ‘white box’ to full build out space for a Global Health Care Provider. The project schedule was carefully tailored and beautifully executed on site to turn over the 39,000SF of space in 16 weeks (approx. 2,500 SF of full fit out per week). Although this project was achieved with a compressed schedule, ALL of Build-It’s projects follow a similar process. Starting with site identification, lease negotiation, design development of the space layout, and directly to the formal planning/permitting with the local jurisdiction. The next step of our process is constructability, where we carefully identify the materials, equipment and resources required for your project. Discovery of any lead time constraints enables us to create and adhere to a project schedule that will fit the turn over date required by the customer. All information and data gathering is performed thoroughly and disseminated through our paperless electronic tracking system. As the trades are placed under contract and we begin mobilizing the project site, safety and consideration for adjacent tenants, staff, faculty and neighbors are high priority. Our team of Superintendents, Project Managers and Estimators are well versed with all pre- construction phases and each provide significant input during the pre-planning process. By force of hand, we have immersed ourselves to understand all facets of construction in order to be a starting and ending point with our customers. Our focus is and continues to be customer retention. Repeat work brings forth an inherent knowledge of not only our customer’s wants/ needs/business operations but allows a in depth understanding of their architectural and infrastructure standards, which we incorporate to our modeling when building their spaces. This process does not arrive easily, takes years to master and is not possible without a great support team. We employee real people, with goals, families and pride. These folks are what keep Build-It moving forward every year and more importantly attract our customers to negotiate with us down the road for the next project. Our management style provides all the tools (software, hardware, social area at office space, remote access and other non disclosed incentives) for autonomy of tasks and management of projects. As a manager, my Co-President, Joseph Castellano and I have a no nonsense approach that everyone at Build-It is an adult. They will be provided enough rope to make the right decision, at all times, with a recurring reminder that resources are constantly available in the event the rope begins to tighten. I always draw the comparison of managing a team of staff to managing a family. Although emotions differ in the two styles of management, the end result is provide an environment where the members are able to reach the objective. Anyone can hire a back-office team, bid ‘construction work’ and label themselves as a Construction Manager. However, what are they managing? A vendor? A material? A schedule? Sure, easy enough…. Quite the contrary- As a service industry participant the managing is not only the fiscal and schedule success of the project, it’s the fiduciary commitment to the customer. Thus we grade ourselves with our customers on items such as: How pleasant were the vendors? How can we assist in the next project by procuring owner materials? What milestones on the schedule would have made the customer supplied items easier to install for them? Obtaining this feedback, recording it, and implementing into our ‘process’ it for the next project with that repeat customer is how we achieve our repeat work. As tempting as attracting new customers is- your repeat customers should NEVER be put on cruise control. Just because a company feels as though they have mastered their customer’s standards and procedures does not mean that their customer’s business plan is on cruise control. I bet you they are continuously streamlining or strategically growing portions of their business to better serve their customer. As a Construction Manager it’s paramount to remember this, or you will be begging those ‘new customers’ as a means to survive. In the Northern New England market we are optimistic for an insurgence of industrial and warehouse construction to support continued advances in medicines and technology that this great country is blessed with. Multi and single family home construction is and will continue to be necessary, however the market rates are redefining themselves in accordance to the last 5 years or so of ‘newer’ inhabitants. The term ‘median income’ is growing further from ‘market rent’ rates in and around the major cities. Thus correction will raise its weary head in the next five years to realign this gap. Corporate office purely speculative construction has 1704BU01