It takes a lot of things to come together to build a school, senior living facility or even a hotel or apartments. Minds have to come together to plan, design, alter, change, redesign, agree and finally approve the project. There are lots of folks involved in the job from start to finish. If one thing goes wrong in the process, it could mean disaster.

Usually an idea starts with an investor and developer combination. The investor may have the money to fund the project, and the developer may already own the land, or is waiting in the wing to prep the land for use. Sometimes the developer funds their own ideas and projects.

The next step is to hire an architect to design a visual depiction of what the owner wants. The owner can be a totally separate person from the investor and developer. The architect may have some leeway in what he or she can depict, but usually the owner has certain specifications that must be met. The specifications are first bound by code. As long as they are within those guidelines, they may have additional design specs that must be shown. The architect will then come up with drawings showing each stage and part of the project.

The plans are then sent to the city for approval. This process could be lengthy. The plans may get sent back for revisions based on code violations. Once these violations are fixed, the plans are then sent back to the city for approval.

Next, a GC or general contractor will be hired to run the project. They will be responsible for all of the sub-contractors that will be doing the work. Some GC’s self-perform certain tasks, like the excavation of dirt, or even concrete. Usually separate companies are hired and act as subs for these jobs. The GC will then pass out a set of plans to all of the subs that want to bid on the project. The subs present proposals to the GC in hopes of winning the job. Subs are chosen because of their quality of workmanship and the ability, based on their price, to allow the GC to stay within budget.

As this is happening, or sometimes even before, dates are set and a master timeline for the project is created. This timeline will be followed by the GC and subs to ensure they are all staying within budget and that the project is completed on time. Finally the project starts. Sometimes projects get behind schedule. It is the GC’s responsibility to get the subs to make up the time and get the project done, within code, and on time.