Preconstruction Services
The decisions that set a project's cost are made long before construction starts. Preconstruction is the window in which those decisions are still cheap to change.
We provide feasibility analysis, conceptual and phased budgets, constraints and constructability review, and procurement strategy for large projects across San Diego and Southern California.
Establish the real number while it can still change the design
By the time a project reaches bid, roughly ninety percent of its cost has already been determined by decisions about site selection, grading strategy, building footprint, infrastructure phasing, and material systems. A contractor bidding those documents can affect the last ten percent. Preconstruction is where the other ninety lives.
Our preconstruction work is built around one deliverable that gets progressively more precise: a budget you can defend to a board, a lender, or a partner, delivered with the assumptions it depends on stated in writing.
Estimates at three design milestones
We recommend a formal estimate at three points, because a single estimate cannot track a design that is still moving.
Site conditions drive Southern California budgets
On most Southern California projects the earthwork determines the outcome. Rippability, groundwater, expansive soils, cut and fill balance, import and export volumes, and haul distance move budgets far more than finish selections do. We read the geotechnical report as a cost document, not a compliance document.
Agency conditions matter almost as much. Storm water requirements, habitat mitigation, traffic control, utility undergrounding, and improvement conditions of approval each carry real cost that rarely appears on a schematic drawing.
Constraints analysis
Alongside the budget we produce a written constraints analysis: what limits this project, what would have to be true to remove each limit, and what removing it would cost. Owners use this to decide where to spend design effort and where to accept the constraint.
A well defined scope of work and an accurate budget are the two resources that keep a project on track through design and bidding. Everything else is downstream of them.
Procurement strategy
Preconstruction ends with a recommendation on how to buy the work: which delivery method fits the project, how to package the scope so bids are comparable, which contractors are genuinely qualified and available, and what the bid schedule should be given agency review timelines.
Preconstruction scope
- Site walk and existing conditions assessment
- Geotechnical and civil document review for cost impact
- Order of magnitude feasibility budget
- Design development and bid document estimates
- Cut and fill and earthwork quantity analysis
- Utility, drainage, and dry utility cost modeling
- Agency condition and permit cost identification
- Constraints and constructability analysis
- Escalation and contingency recommendations
- Delivery method and packaging strategy
- Bidder qualification and market availability review
- Cash flow projection tied to the schedule
What you receive
Every engagement is scoped in writing before it begins, so you know exactly what is being produced and when.
Feasibility budget
An order of magnitude construction budget with a written scope narrative, stated exclusions, and the assumptions that would change the number.
Phased estimate series
Estimates at schematic, design development, and bid documents, with a reconciliation showing what changed between each and why.
Earthwork and quantity analysis
Cut and fill balance, import and export volumes, haul analysis, and the cost consequences of alternative grading strategies.
Constraints report
A written list of the physical, regulatory, and market constraints on the project with cost and schedule implications for each.
Cash flow projection
Monthly construction spend projection tied to the anticipated schedule, suitable for lender and internal capital planning.
Procurement recommendation
Recommended delivery method, bid packaging strategy, bidder list, and bid schedule aligned to agency review windows.
Questions owners ask about this service
When should preconstruction start?
As soon as you have a site and a concept. On land acquisition, we are often engaged before close of escrow so the buyer knows what the infrastructure will cost before the price is fixed. On vertical projects, engaging at schematic design captures the largest available savings.
How is preconstruction different from estimating?
Estimating produces a number. Preconstruction produces a number plus the strategy that makes it achievable: how the project is phased, how it is procured, how risk is allocated, and what has to happen in what order. Estimating is one component of preconstruction.
Can you do preconstruction if we already have a contractor selected?
Yes, and it is often more valuable then. When a contractor is providing preconstruction services under a CM at-risk or design-build agreement, an independent owner side estimate is the only way to validate their numbers. We regularly serve that role.
What does preconstruction cost?
It is typically a fixed fee scoped to the deliverables and the size of the project. On most engagements the fee is a small fraction of one percent of construction value, and it routinely pays for itself in a single avoided design change.
Do you produce estimates in a format our lender will accept?
Yes. We deliver estimates in CSI or agency standard formats with the level of detail lenders, boards, and public agencies expect, including a clear statement of what is and is not included.
Talk to us about Preconstruction Services
Send us the project details and we will tell you what a defensible scope of work looks like and what it would cost. Initial consultations carry no fee.
Send us the project
Tell us the site, the scope, and the deadline. Initial consultations carry no fee and no obligation.