You may be familiar with the concept of “pre-construction,” where a general contractor works with the ownership, development, and architecture team during design by cost estimating to help keep the budget intact, finding areas to increase value for the same cost or reduce cost while maintaining the same level of value, and identifying constructability issues early to minimize changes during construction. This is an area where a competent general contractor can provide significant value to a project, much more than they may charge for their services.
But have you heard of the term “free-con”? It’s a play on words of the term pre-con, and at Rafn we use it tongue-in-cheek to refer to the free advice and estimating that people receive on their way to determining the potential cost and duration of their project without the commitment of hiring a general contractor before construction starts.
There are many reasons someone might hesitate to commit to a general contractor. Sometimes, it is as simple as having no idea how real their theoretical construction project is. So, they search for enough of an idea to decide how far to go before making any significant commitments.
Or it could be a non-profit that wishes they had a general contractor on their team early, but knows their funding sources will require some form of competition in the future procurement process. More often than not, it is the person between these extremes – someone who would like a general contractor’s input but isn’t quite ready to commit to one partner.
So, what should you expect when you ask a general contractor for pricing input, knowing they are likely aware you are also talking to others?
Option A: You get the one willing to throw out a lowball estimate as a teaser to “pick me!”
Option B: You receive a responsible pricing effort, but it has so many qualifications that it is easy to read between the lines that the end cost will not resemble this initial number.
Option C: You are met with cold feet. The contractor who is relentlessly seeking more information before they are willing to give you a price.
At Rafn, we strive to be Option D. We will always try to ensure we have enough information, such as location, timing, neighbors, residents, utilities, structure, financing, and level of service, to get you as close to a realistic price as possible. We believe in taking the time to fully understand your project, avoiding vague cost-per-square-foot estimates based on a simple sketch or phone call (although some may manage to extract a rough range from us). We also try hard to get a sense of your priorities through this process, whether you’re seeking the least expensive path, the most cost-effective, or want a long-term investment-grade hold.
We want to understand your vision of what your project could be. Imagine someone walking into a hair salon and asking for a haircut. The chances of the hairdresser being successful are far greater if you walk in with a color photo of what you want it to look like.
At Rafn, we are going to work hard to keep you out of trouble. We are going to strive to get to the correct number (or darn close). And we will give you a list of factors that need to be addressed before you can realistically request a “real number.” Our top priority during “free-con” is to earn your trust, regardless of who you ultimately hire to be your general contractor.
Steve Buerk
Steve is Rafn’s Director of Business Development and Pre-Construction. During pre-construction, our goal is to gather a sufficient amount of reliable information that accurately predicts your final project cost. A complete understanding of your goals and the design team’s vision is our first priority. Establishing the roles and responsibilities of all the team members is our second priority. And building a custom schedule of deliverables is next in the hierarchy of project focus.