The steps below outline how OMC can bring your project from concept to reality. Bringing us on early through the GC & Fee process, does not only save tremendous amounts of time and money, it also helps our clients capitalize on opportunities & prevent future cost overruns.
Preconstruction & Estimating
In preconstruction, our goal is to provide our clients with a defined basis to make an informed decision. Our intense preconstruction process takes out many of the unknowns of a project and reduces risks for our clients. We do not believe in simple square footage budgets which have become the norm in our industry. At OMC we believe that putting in the extra effort upfront by performing site walks, involving our subcontractors, and collaborating with the team, we can provide a detailed project specific budget within a 3-5% variance of the actual costs. The clients we work with like to evaluate the different scenarios upfront and require a defined path to construct the project prior to funding approval. When a client has a vision which is beyond their budget parameters, we work with the team to find alternate materials to meet the budget without sacrificing the design intent or the functions they must satisfy.
Once a budget is approved, OMC will put together an RFP with project specific bid instructions and send the project out to bid to at least four prequalified subcontractors in each trade. Once bids are received, OMC will review them in detail for completeness and compare them to the quantity surveys prepared by our estimating staff to ensure the bids reflect a thorough understanding of the project documents and requirements. This type of detail ensures zero change orders for the approved scope of work.
Schedules & Procurement
In building our schedules early on, we first identify critical decision points based on our preliminary in-house schedule. These decision points include engaging engineers, consultants, furniture vendors and other project specific vendors. As the project moves along, we collaborate with our entire project team and take into consideration weather, street closures, holidays, out of country manufacturer holidays and many other items which can impact our schedule. We are meticulous upfront in exploring lead times and establishing concrete commitments with our vendors, subcontractors & manufacturers so that we can provide our clients with real time forecasted construction schedules. If procurement of long lead items becomes a challenge and preordering is not an option, we explore acceptable substitutions with the design team. In an effort to mirror client schedule software, we use Microsoft Project to form our Gantt Bar Chart and Critical Path Method schedules.
During construction, our subcontractors are required to submit daily logs to our superintendent documenting manpower and what activities were accomplished. Our Superintendent then reviews the logs with the subcontractor at the end of each week, so that manpower adjustments can be made, if required to stay on schedule. Our schedule is published weekly along with progress job site photos, so that team members who cannot attend the meeting, can see real time progress. We always keep the entire team apprised of the schedule status.
Procurement is established during preconstruction and programming. Many projects require ordering of materials and equipment in advance of construction. OMC is extremely diligent in tracking these procurements.
Project Management & Site Supervision
At OMC our project managers are involved in all phases of the project from preconstruction through closeout. In this executive role, our project managers control cost, equipment and material procurement and make sure that submittals adhere to the approved contract documents and specifications. Our project managers attend weekly meetings and keep the team informed with weekly meeting minutes, pictures & updated logs (RFI, submittal, change order & drawing).
Our site supervision includes a minimum of one laborer and one superintendent per project. At OMC a clean job is a safe job. Our laborers make sure that the space is always clean and that protection in common areas is in pristine condition. Should an emergency arise, our laborers are always prepared by keeping exit ways clear and knowing where all the project shut of valves are located. Our Superintendents are experts at quality control, safety control and making sure that subcontractors do not deviate from the contract documents and specifications. Additionally, our superintendents coordinate all daily subcontractor and vendor activities to maintain proper flow and progress to meet our schedules. This coordination includes working with the landlord for shutdowns and tie-ins as well as coordinating local jurisdiction inspections.
Punch List, End User Training and Project Closeout
At OMC we believe that sometimes you need a second set of eyes to help see what you don't see. For this reason, towards the end of every project, our project managers walk a pre-punch list with our superintendent, to review every onsite detail prior to the formal client and architect punch walk. By doing this, we take advantage of the subcontractors who are still onsite minimizing punch list completion time.
In an industry where technology is always at changing, our superintendents make sure that they schedule proper end user training on equipment and space functions at, or prior to move in. They also stick around after move in to trouble shoot anything that may arise.
At OMC we make sure our clients are not surprised with change orders late in the game. We enforce strict change order response time frames so that a project can be financially closed out in a timely manner. By doing this, it allows us to move along the close out documentation of warranties, manuals and as-builts so that a retention payment can be processed.
Pre Warranty Expiration Follow Up
When an OMC project is complete, we set a calendar reminder prior to the end of the warranty period, allowing us to follow up with our client to see how everything is working. If something needs attention, we work with our subcontractor to make sure it gets resolved prior to the expiration of the warranty. Additionally, This follow up also allows a client the opportunity to extend service agreements they may have in place.