If for your next open-heart surgery - scheduled to be performed in a public clinic - you could bring your own cardiologists to monitor your operation… would you feel more at ease?
Construction is a high financial risk activity and yet many constructions are carried out without professional Construction Supervision or Management. But, what is the function of Supervision?
The dictionary says that to supervise means:
“To monitor or direct the performance of a certain activity by an entity with authority or capacity to do so.".
In the field of Construction, the Supervision or Construction Management is the person or company that you as a Client designate as your authorized representative to monitor and coordinate that all team members, whether they are designers, contractors or suppliers; perform their work correctly, safely and orderly; ensuring that the objectives of Time, Cost and Quality are met; within the technical, legal, financial, administrative, environmental, etc. frameworks; and making the whole process transparent through meticulous documentation of the events of the construction..
It is certainly possible to build - and this is how it is done most of the time - without using the services of a Supervision or Construction Management. Many clients decide to save the cost that this represents and contract directly with their trusted contractor. Which is not bad, if you have all the time, the willingness and the sufficient knowledge to monitor and document what your contractor is doing and you fully trust that this construction company puts your interests before its own.
But let’s look at the alternative... we, the Supervisors or Construction Managers, are professional specialists in the wide range of aspects that construction encompasses, with the mission of watching over your interests, full time, so that you have the peace of mind that your building is on the best possible path. Also, given the nature of our work, we provide participants with the transparency that comes from carefully documenting each step of the process.
The minimum scope that a construction supervision should cover will be the following:
Preconstruction:
Review of the project and recommendations for improvement.
Construction scheduling.
Construction execution:
Control and monitoring of progress.
Control of costs and volumes of work.
CBudget control and monitoring.
Administration of construction contracts.
Supervision of: time, cost, quality and safety.
Quality control of materials and labor.
Control of safety and hygiene of the work.
Post-construction:
Integration of construction files.
Settlement of contracts.
Basic operations tests
Here you can see the different services and scopes that we offer at BFC Architects.
In an upcoming article, we will analyze how much this peace of mind is worth and whether or not it is profitable for your next construction. See article: How Much Does Construction Management Cost?