Blueprint Tour: Season 1, Episode 1: Making Construction Personal with Stuart Evans Construction
Guest: Stuart Evans, a seasoned expert from Evans Construction, dives into the often-overlooked aspects of construction that significantly impact projects, including the value of deep client relationships, navigating financial solutions like SBA loans, and the critical role of coordination in construction planning.
Highlights:
Trust and Relationship Building: Stuart shares insights on the importance of trust between clients and contractors. A good General Contractor (GC) goes beyond construction duties, consulting on financial aspects like SBA loans, which can be pivotal for the project’s success.
Coordination Challenges: The conversation delves into the intricacies of project coordination, especially in design-build processes. Stuart emphasizes the necessity of realistic expectations regarding contingency budgets, particularly in adaptive reuse projects where surprises behind walls can lead to unforeseen expenses.
The Value of Experience: Discussing the design-build approach, Stuart highlights the benefits of working with experienced professionals who can provide a realistic picture of project outcomes, helping to navigate potential pitfalls and ensuring that contingency budgets are adequately planned.
The Pitfalls of Design-Bid: Stuart critiques the design-bid approach, noting it often attracts bids focusing on initial low costs that can lead to higher expenses due to change orders and unforeseen issues. He argues for design-build superiority due to the direct relationships and trust between the client and the construction team.
Communication is Key: A significant part of the episode centers around the essential role of clear communication among all stakeholders in a project. Clear and honest communication can prevent many common project issues, whether it’s ensuring the contractor understands the full scope of work beyond simple drawings or navigating the specs.
A Call for Quality Over Quantity in Hiring: Stuart touches on the critical aspect of hiring for construction projects, advocating for prioritizing quality and experience over merely filling positions to expedite processes. This approach ensures smoother project flow and mitigates risks associated with underqualified personnel.
Tune in to this insightful episode with Stuart Evans to better understand the nuanced world of construction, the pivotal role of trust and communication, and how a thoughtful approach to project management can lead to more successful outcomes.
Where to find Stuart:
website: https://www.eci-inc.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evansconstruction
Where to find PermitZIP:
website: https://www.permitzip.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/permitzip
Making Construction Personal