The Trinity River Corridor project is in full swing and evidence abounds right outside of downtown Dallas. In fact, our offices are located right in the heart of development and signs of more progress are occurring every day. New strands of the Trinity River Trails are in progress and scheduled to run directly next to our facilities. We’ll post pics from our perspective as projects develop! Check out the DMN article on trail progress…

Commercial contracting is vastly different from the residential world. Working with commercial clients, the goals are: stay on budget; stay on time; and stay in touch. But, how do you know that will happen?

First, ask your contractor about mid-project change orders. Will there be additional costs – and get a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. Checking a reference takes time, but it will save you time and energy in the long run. Frankly, some contractors will stick to the outlined budget (unless you request changes mid-project) and some contractors rely on adding in ‘hidden costs’ throughout the course of the project. It boils down to trust and getting a reference is your best option if you haven’t worked with the contractor on prior projects.

Second, time is of utmost importance when dealing with lease terms or property sales. While every project will have unexpected challenges, they shouldn’t cost you a weeks delay. Ask your contractor about the last job they completed under a pressured deadline – then call the reference to get their feedback. Until you know and trust a contractor, it will be difficult to tell what their ‘style’ is and you don’t want to waste an expensive project on learning the hard way.

Third, get a feel for how your contractor communicates. Do they only take phone calls? Do messages go unanswered? Your contractor should give you options – text messaging, quick responses to voice-mail and email should all be options when communicating. Explore their website to see if they offer live galleries of their work so that you can keep up-to-date while a project is in motion, and test out several ways of communication. Quick responses through different formats of communication are a good sign that you will stay in touch while a project is underway.

Meeting the commercial client needs goes beyond simply building out to spec. This buildout project requires special treatment to get the client into the property in four (4) days. That’s a wall demo, well over 100 lsf of new wall, finish out, carpeting and more … on a deadline. Watch how it goes!

Prior to the make-ready work we performed on this commercial warehouse, it was not a pretty site. Interior paint, floor pressure clean and a newly built restroom have it ready for the client.

Commercial and Retail Make-Ready is our specialty. We work hard to get our client’s buildings ready for the market.

Getting a bid was nothing new to Roger. After all, he had been in the Commercial Real-estate business for 15 years now. Yet here he sat, staring at two bids laid out on the companies conference table, his eyes darting back and forth, trying to figure out which one was the right answer for this project.

Finding the right bid is never an easy process, and the stigma of General Contractors is a battle we constantly fight. How many times have you said (or heard from someone else say), “They  don’t show up on time OR communicate” or, “My proposal was ONE price, but I was billed so much more at the end of the project!” With a few pointers, you can get a little closer to figuring out which bid is accurate and which bid is hiding costs that might surprise you mid-project.

• General Square Footage Costs: A common way to bid, general square footage cost bids can sometimes be accurate. However, they often miss building specific issues that will lead to costly change orders mid-project and affect your final bill. Quick bids and spending very little time on-site are indicators of a general cost per sf bid and should lead you to ask some further questions. Make sure that the contractor is bidding your specific building and job, has spent some time on-site, AND details exactly what will be done during the course of the job.
• Building Specific Needs: Every job is different and it is critical that your Contractor not only spends some time on-site, but also looks at existing plans, knows city codes and understands exactly what you want. You may be using the project space in a totally different way than the previous occupant, which could require some big electrical or HVAC modifications. Ask the contractor if there are any changes needed at the electrical panel, with existing HVAC or if any code issues will impact work in progress. Make sure the contractor has walked the proposed space and compiled a bid based on the drawings/plans for your building.
• Commitment to Your Budget: A good Contractor will help you understand the needs of your building so that you can plan/revise your project budget up front. It is unacceptable for a Contractor to miss items that should have been in the original bid, items that hurt your planned budget when they pop up mid-project. Ask the Contractor if they are willing to commit to the price of their bid. Coming in on budget is important for you and only YOU should make requests that impact the final cost of your project.

Every bid looks a little different and they do not all compare apples to apples. Start with these pointers and you will be on your way to getting a true bid that shows an accurate cost of your project.

We take pride in our work so that you can enjoy the finished project!

This retail build-out in Carrollton, Texas came to us from out-of-town clients. Our first goal with the project was to make sure that the clients were comfortable with the work and with the progress of work being performed. We immediately setup a private online photo gallery and updated pictures on a weekly to bi-weekly time frame. Communication is important to us, especially as we do not make modifications to our bids unless the client requests it – that means if we miss something, we eat the costs. A few mid-project modifications were requested to alter the overall physical beauty of the space and this retail project turned out right on time and on budget.

We are proud to bid jobs accurately, stick to our quotes and complete our jobs on time. Whether you are looking to start from scratch or redesign your office, A Helping Hand General Contractors will get the job done to your satisfaction – guaranteed. You see, we feel that too many contractors today take advantage of changing their prices mid-project or take advantage of their clients by changing the job specifications mid-project. We do not do that. Our clients are continuously informed, always involved on any change orders and simply taken care from start to finish.