Lower commercial renovation costs by reducing all the costly problems

We have often heard that problems are inevitable during a renovation project. And that, renovations always cost a lot more than originally expected. Although both of these statements are far too often true, they don't need to be.

Before introducing Contractor Watchdog Services, we spent many years:

• Designing and drawing custom house plans for owner/builders and contractors.
• Design/build custom residential and commercial construction (General Contracting).
• Specialty renovation design and heritage building restoration.
• Project management for insurance restoration (emergency renovation) projects.
• Consulting to Insurance companies for building damages. This included: damage analysis and reporting, repair specifications, mediation and negotiations, expert witness testimony.
• Civil Engineering research and development.
• Solving construction problems.... caused by incompetent renovation contractors!

Lowering renovation costs means reducing the potential for problems

Good project planning lowers costs. After you start a renovation project, unexpected problems can multiply your final costs. Taking the time to plan your project carefully, allows you to anticipate where problems might arise. Renovating a commercial building has very little in common with new commercial construction. All commercial buildings need to be safe and functional for all the people who work, conduct business or shop in any commercial space. Existing commercial buildings may no longer provide the level of safety that modern building are required to have. This can create serious renovation problems and increased renovation costs.

Causes of common renovation problems (and cost overruns)

There are many obvious causes of renovation problems. From unskilled an incompetent trades people, poorly executed contracts and agreements, supplier shortages or simple shipping errors, they are all well known.

Although all these problem causes can significantly increase your costs, they are not the most common.

The most common cause of unexpected renovation problems:

ASSUMING is the single most common (root) cause of most renovation problems.

• Assuming that you already know what to do first (or next).
• Assuming that there is actually a going rate for contractors' prices.
• Assuming that the lease space will actually work for your business.
• Assuming that the Landlord will provide or pay for...
• Assuming that the commercial leasing agent gave you the true dimensions.
• Assuming that there are no serious problems with the building.
• Assuming that your contractor knows what they're doing.
• Assuming contractors tell you the truth, before and during the project.
• Assuming that your contractor is licensed and has liability insurance.
• Assuming that contractors provide everything.
• Assuming that the City will allow you to open a business (in that building).
• Assuming that your renovation will pass inspections.
• Assuming that your initial budget will cover all the costs.

There are many more and we've all been guilty of assuming. Many business owners also assume that there is an established procedure for leasing and renovating a commercial space and its the only way to do it.

The established procedure follows (1) of (3) methods:

Option (1): You hire an Architect: An architect will design the project, produce the engineered drawings and project specifications, accept quotes for a general contractor to obtain a building permit, hire the various sub-trades and organize the daily site work. In addition, they will produce the contract documents for the general contractor and be responsible for the engineering and the over-all site management until completion. Usually the most expensive option on a relatively small project. Economy of scale often determines whether this option is cost-effective. When you're planning a multi-million dollar project, an architect's fee becomes a relatively small percentage of the overall project cost. On some commercial renovation projects, you will have no choice but to retain an Architect.	Option (2): You hire an Interior Designer: Once again, they will design the project. However, they will usually omit all the technical/structural details that the architect would include. The specifications are usually limited to materials and colors. They will arrange for a general contractor, to manage and be responsible for EVERYTHING until completion. Depending on the complexity of the project (and the contractor), this could be even more expensive, than hiring an Architect, when the technical or legal problems get out of control.	Option (3): You hire a General Contractor: Unfortunately, the most common choice! You find a general contractor and either you or the contractor produces a drawing (or project plans), so the contractor can obtain a building permit (on your behalf). They hire all the sub-trades (or perform the work themselves) and supervise the project. For a fixed price (usually vague) agreement (with a provision for any unexpected extras and for a percentage fee), they will handle everything for you. If you remember that they now have all the authority and control, while you retain the responsibility, you will hopefully recognize this as is the most financially dangerous option.

We reduce potential costly renovation problems, before they begin

When you retain Contractor Watchdog Services:

We ensure that you know and understand your rights and responsibilities when dealing with the Landlord and the building, your service providers: contractors, engineers, City Hall, building inspectors, etc. BEFORE you start the project.

From your design concept: We produce both the concept and working drawings, sub-trade detailed drawings (where required) and detailed specifications . After assisting you to locate the various trade component contractors, to provide accurate quotes (not estimates), we help to produce the detailed service agreements ( contracts ).

Note:

Before you sign any service agreements, we assist you to obtain your city building permit. Once the scheduled site work begins, we monitor the progress, conduct progress inspections and answer any contractor procedural questions. By keeping you fully informed of the progress and any developments, you maintain consistent control of the project.

On completion of each sub-trade component, we inspect the work for contract compliance, ensure that the appropriate authority has approved the work and arrange for the contractor to sign a release before final payment. Our fee-for-service is based solely on the amount of assistance you require (not the dollar size of the project). Since you only pay for the time we expend on your behalf, you aren't wasting money for a general contractor's extra profits. We make it safe, cost-effective and practical for any business owner, to legally perform as the General Contractor for their commercial renovation project. How? By providing them with all the detailed information to make informed decisions from concept to completion.

From the above, you can see how easy it is to save money, reduce your risks and know the final result you'll get, (before you even start the project).

Contractor Watchdog Services was formed because the current system simply doesn't protect commercial tenants and Landlords from:

Related Renovation Design and Lease Space Planning Information

• Important Renovation Planning Steps
• Your Legal Responsibilities
• Design a Retail Store
• Planning Tenant Improvements
• Common Renovation Myths
• Good Restaurant Designers

---

We provide commercial renovation project planning and design services to lease space clients in Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Delta, Richmond, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, BC.

---

Find more information about local commercial renovation costs, by pressing any of the search engine names listed below.

Find Multiple Search Engines including: Google . Ask.com . Yahoo.com . Yahoo.ca . Msn.com . Msn.ca . Alta Vista

with a Gigablast search for commercial renovation costs in Vancouver ...