This makes our approach to construction even more critical.
The last two years have brought a great deal of disruption to the construction industry at a time when we’re already seeing great change and innovation.
Further investment in technology such as BIM, AR/VR, and modularization are met by volatile material costs and supply chain issues resulting in schedule challenges. Disruption, however, can often bring meaningful change. And from our perspective, the increase demand for coordination among owner, design team, and contractor early in the process has made our approach to construction delivery on all projects even more critical to their success.
This relatively new delivery method approaches projects differently than the traditional design-bid-build process, offering a higher level of cost control from the start and greater balance between design intent and budgetary constraints. As the CMAR, the contractor is brought in early in the planning and design process, working closely with the design team as the owner’s advocate, and assessing each phase of design in real-time for constructability, budget alignment, and schedule adherence. This increase in collaboration yields greater ability to handle scope changes and reduction in change orders during the construction phase.
With schedule in mind, CMAR delivery offers the opportunity to “fast track” construction, even before design is complete, by way of phased design packages for items like deep foundation, structure, and envelope. The purpose is to shorten the overall project timeline.
Put simply, for an increasing number of owners, CMAR is quickly gaining acceptance as the delivery method of choice when it comes to mitigating risk and increasing efficiency where projects often require a high level of constructability input due to multiple phases, technical complexity, and multi-discipline coordination. DonahueFavret has a long and successful history managing these complex projects for many of our region’s well-known institutions, including Tulane University, Franklin Foundation Hospital, Thibodaux Regional Health System, Children’s Hospital/LCMC, Lakeview Regional, and St. Tammany Parish School Board, to name a few.
