Back to the Future: Construction Returns to the Basics

"If you're proactive, you focus on getting ready. If you're reactive, you end up focusing on repairing." John C. Maxwell.

Just like that science fiction movie in which the protagonists jump from the past to the future trying to solve their conflicts, construction has experienced different moments, techniques, and procedures up till now, when it has gone back to the future or back to basics, addressing to two key issues: the figure of the contractor and preconstruction.

In the 1980s, a change was generated in the industry that was generalized from the US: the project manager. This was the axis around which the different aspects of a project were coordinated, subcontracting budget items in search of supposed savings and improvement in the quality of the projects.

The formula works until it is time to account for flaws and manage the details or guarantees related to delivery, in which no one accepts the obligation to review, as each participant contributes from a specific point beyond the integrity of the project.

Forty years later, the construction industry is returning to the basics, strengthened by new technologies that further emphasize the preliminary aspect of a project, led by a contractor who organizes everything from engineering to architecture, in addition to the price catalog and budget to fit the project with the financial run and above all, to have a single person in charge. The preconstruction model and the early contractor involvement is "back to the basics."

It is essential to have a team of professionals who have the experience and technical preparation to provide on time and truthfully: programs, costs, alternatives to construction systems, and materials that help to make better decisions and achieve the highest profitability, matching the needs and demands of the end user.

An integrated preconstruction service includes BIM technology support, in which 3D models are created to coordinate, detect conflicts, analyze construction processes, and schedule in a detailed and orderly manner each stage of the project. In addition, it must have an interdisciplinary team of associates, use Revit, Navisworks, and TEKLA, among others, as well as an internal control system incorporated into BIM (VSControl).

Preconstruction should have three stages of pre-project planning and delivery. This means robust planning and design during the early stage of the project life cycle, when project changes and adjustments have the greatest impact and minimum cost. 

At Grupo Casgo we also have three working schemes:

• General Contractor

• Early contractor involvement

• Turnkey

A general contractor is an integral solution in the conceptualization, design and construction of real estate developments and infrastructure, where we take responsibility for the construction from start to finish, in a simple way, on time, and with technical/economic improvements so that the investment generates returns immediately.

Early contractor involvement, or ECI, is our early involvement in a construction contracting method that allows a builder to be involved and potentially work before the design of the project has been completed, offering these benefits:

• Completes the project more quickly than the conventional lump sum 

• Completes the project faster than the conventional lump sum

• Builder input is obtained while the design is being developed

• Transparent creation of commercial and subcontractor pricing

• Maintains flexibility and adaptability to value engineering

Turnkey, which with Casgo Group means placing total project responsibility with a single general contractor. This service covers the execution of all project items, from the preliminary stages to the finishing touches, and this is part of our company's DNA.

Since our birth, Grupo Casgo has had a clear objective: to conclude excellent projects that allow us to transcend, not only for us with our work but also for those involved in the whole process: investors, associates, suppliers, and end users. That is why an essential part of our success is based on preconstruction, where there are the best opportunities to have a positive impact on the cost, schedule, and value of the project long before construction begins.

We establish a professional and trusting relationship with our clients, optimizing their involvement, and responding through time guarantees in each of the construction processes, resulting in a project ready for operation. 

The result: to ensure the future success of the project in its entirety, starting from the past and taking care of every moment of the project until its completion. In short, we can define preconstruction, just as Marty, the main character in Back to the Future, confides to Emmet Brown about the engineering behind his time machine: "This is heavy duty, Doc; this is great."