Preconstruction for Data Centers and Mission Critical Systems
While sometimes taken for granted, the preconstruction process is important. At XEC, we work with you to make the initial, critical decisions that impact the budget, schedule and quality of a project. Our goal is to deliver a satisfactory outcome that meets your objectives and maximizes your budget. Through our five-step process, we aid in design decisions and subsequent costs, value engineering and analysis, scheduling, constructability reviews, permitting, land acquisition, life cycle costs, and more.
This stage is when the teamwork begins. Our first step is to gather all critical parties and conduct a thorough review of the project and its intricacies. Collaboration meetings are utilized as interactive brainstorming sessions where we leverage each other’s specialties to ensure an innovative, successful project. With these meetings we aim to understand your vision so completely that it becomes our own.
The partnership continues with coordination across multiple disciplines to ensure project goals are being met. We are continuously reviewing the design for constructability, quality and working to promote communication from the drawings to the “doers” in the field. Throughout the project we continue to review for cost saving opportunities that ensure cost control without sacrificing design intent.
Keeping a project on budget is of utmost importance to XEC. We will prepare a construction estimate including all elements involved in the project, which will become the foundation for the overall project budget. We will continually update the budgets throughout the construction process and identify opportunities for savings. You can expect regular budget updates and ongoing dialogue between all parties.
The construction schedule is the backbone of the project. It allows the project team visibility of the design and construction process and provides accountability for us, our subcontractors and the design team. Our schedule is a living document that is constantly updated and reviewed with the owner as we move through the project. In the preconstruction phase, we will create a preliminary schedule focusing on milestones, long lead items and on items needing immediate attention once construction has begun. We are experts at identifying and procuring the equipment associated with mission critical construction projects.
During preconstruction, our team engages the subcontractor market to drive interest in the project and ensure competitively priced bids. The more excitement we bring to the project, the lower the cost will be. We also focus on eliminating scope gaps which can result in unexpected cost escalation during construction. We successfully manage scope gap by writing thorough scopes of work for every trade.
Value Engineering
We use value engineering as a way to work collaboratively with the design team to solve problems. Our value engineering approach works best when started during the design phase, where we consider availability of materials, site limitations, planning and organization, costs, etc. By identifying and then subsequently eliminating unwanted costs, we are able to improve function and quality.