Contractors love the CMAR/CMGC project delivery methods, where they offer design-assist services such as value engineering, constructability reviews, quantity reconciliation, and open book project risk analysis. The owner controls the design, but the contractor has significant influence over the design in an effort to reduce risk and set the project up for success once under construction. As the design is progressed, the contractor offers the owner an Opinion of Probable Construction Cost (OPCC), and eventually a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) to build the project. If the owner is satisfied with the GMP, then the contractor is issued a contract for the construction phase. This sort of preconstruction collaboration tends to create strong working relationships between all project stakeholders and leads to true partnerships during construction.

There is no doubt that the CMAR/CMGC delivery methods can be amazing for all involved, but objectively speaking, there are some things for project owners to consider before selecting one of these forms of alternative procurement:

1. Preconstruction Service Fees – The fee for preconstruction services can be as high as 5% of the overall construction budget, but more commonly 1% to 3%.

2. Independent Cost Estimating (ICE) Fees – The fees associated with an owner-retained ICE to validate contractor OPCCs and GMPs can add another 1% to 3% to the overall project cost.

3. Conservative Cost Estimates – CMAR/CMGC cost estimates are more conservative than traditional design-bid-build estimates because the contractor does not need to competitively bid the work, and they only need to come to terms with the owner and their ICE team. Contractors can typically gain 2% to 3% more profit through production gains during construction (beating their conservative estimates in the field).

Project owners and the taxpayers pay a little more up front for CMAR/CMGC project delivery, but with that tends to come more cost certainty than a traditional design-bid-build, because less change orders and claims are realized during construction. With less cost change management, comes a higher degree of focus on important things like quality, safety, and partnering among project stakeholders. Therefore, many owners are a huge fan of these delivery methods once they have had a taste.

So, what if we told you that project owners can enjoy the benefits of contractor involvement during design for a fraction of the cost, while still receiving competitive bids from a pool of qualified contractors? Does that sound too good to be true?

Introducing: D-RISK

D-Risk is Dynamic’s signature preconstruction service, where our goal is to de-risk projects before they go out to bid. We work with project owners and their design consultants to verify quantities, identify inconsistencies or discrepancies in the bid documents, offer value engineering concepts, constructability input, and independent cost estimating. Dynamic has retained top industry talent from some of the best and biggest heavy civil contractors in the United States, allowing us to provide contractor insight to owners in a true best-value fashion. Our services are guaranteed to help reduce project risk and strengthen cost certainty during construction. We offer full turnkey preconstruction service packages and al a-carte options to fit the needs of any client. In any case, our fees are significantly less than the cost associated with the CMAR/CMGC delivery methods and can easily be incorporated into any project.

We can work directly for project owners through on-call contracts, or through design consultants as subconsultants. Reach out today to find out more!

Here is what one of our satisfied clients had to say about our signature D-Risk service:

“Jesse’s tenure in the heavy civil industry uniquely qualifies him to analyze and identify risks so that public agencies avoid costly impacts during construction. He recently identified several discrepancies on a Town of Marana project that would have resulted in budget busting cost increases. Dynamic Preconstruction is a highly recommended partner to agencies seeking to identify and resolve problems before construction starts.” -Brian Frazier, CIP Division Manager, Town of Marana