The Five Steps: General Construction

We're getting closer to the grand opening.  This step is where things get active from a "we can see things happening" standpoint.

General construction consists of:

• Managing the construction of the project.
• Responding to city inspectors.
• Responding to landlord and owner questions.
• Addressing change order requests.
• Scheduling the site walkthrough with the owner.
• Reviewing facility mechanical operating instructions with the owner.
• Satisfying all items on the "punch list".

Managing the construction of the project is the biggest bite of this step.  Within this componenet, there are a number of "to do" items, including:

• Acquiring building permits.
• Monitoring the construction schedule.
• Ordering and scheduling furniture, fixtures and equipment.
• Monitoring the actual construction.
• Installing furniture, fixtures and equipment.
• Visiting the building site.

With your preliminary work (steps 1, 2 and 3) done and done accurately, this step moves smoothly toward the grand opening.

The Sykes Team

The Five Steps: City Planning and Building Code Review

It is the third of the five steps on the way to a grand opening.  This step really needs your attention.

City planning and code review are critical. You can't proceed between steps without proper permitting.

The steps you need to take to ensure compliance during this phase include:

• Submission of drawings and documentation to the city (or municipality) for review and comment.
• Finalization of the construction schedule.
• Addressing city review comments.
• Receipt of notice of construction permit approval.
• Assurance of building and systems code compliance.
• Finalization of construction budget.
• Approval and sign off of final construction contract with owner.

Once this sequence of events has taken place, you can move on to the next step: general construction.

The Sykes Team

A Real World Postmortem: Northern Tool & Equipment

Recently Sykes completed a build-out of the newest Northern Tool and Equipment store in North Texas, their Plano location.  We used our 5-Step Process throughout the project and it culminated in a project-completing postmortem analysis of the store.

The team (pictured on the left) featured project management and executives from both of our companies.  As a natural part of this process, we took these steps:

• Reviewed the build-out process
• Discussed what worked and what didn't
• Applied the "lessons learned" to the next project
• Discussed next steps (in terms of this project and future projects)

This meeting had extra benefits, too:

• Nothing replaces face-to-face contact. Since Northern Tool is a Minnesota-based company and Sykes is located in North Texas, meeting face-to-face made communication easier and more clear.
• Recommendations and referrals were more natural for both sides.

We highly recommend the postmortem meeting as a way to cement the bond between contractor/designer and customer/end user.

The Sykes Team

The Postmortem: The Last Step in the Buildout Process

It is as an important element of a project as any part of the implementation.

The postmortem.

At the end of any project, the team needs to talk about the course the project took. Recently, Sykes completed a project for Northern Tool and Equipment, a Minnesota-based retailer.

The attached pictures are of the attendees at the first Northern Tool and Equipment project postmortem meeting conducted by one of their suppliers. The project was their new store in Plano. This was a first because previously few of Northern Tool’s contractors conducted a meeting of this nature.

The meeting agenda covered:

• Business processes
• Lines of communication
• Coordination with multiple work responsible parties.

The good news is that conducting meetings like this results in an open dialogue. For example, our conversations in this environment resulted in the opportunity to bid on two new projects in Oklahoma.

The Sykes Team