Commercial construction projects involve designing, building, and renovating structures for various types of businesses. These can include restaurants, retail stores, shopping malls, medical facilities, hotels, institutional buildings, office buildings, and sports facilities.

Because of the nature of commercial construction projects, they involve many moving parts, including equipment and personnel. Commercial construction projects are lucrative for general contractors, subcontractors, architects, manufacturers, suppliers, and engineers. In fact, one of the most important parts of a commercial construction project is assembling the right team.

The challenge for those working in commercial construction, though, is getting information about upcoming projects as well as those in the early stages. Often, contractors and suppliers don’t find out about commercial construction projects until late in the project. So, ideally, you want to get leads during the early stages of a construction project.

Stages of a Commercial Construction Project

Project managers are responsible for overseeing a commercial construction project from start to finish. These are the stages they go through to turn their idea into a finished product.

1. Development and planning

The first part of a construction project is finding a location. To do this, project managers need to consider many things, including zoning regulations, convenience for customers, infrastructure in the surrounding area, water and sewer lines, and environmental contamination. Sometimes, project managers will bring in an experienced contractor at this early stage to ensure they situate their new building in the right place.

2. Budgeting

Determining a budget can be challenging, especially in today’s world of rising construction costs. Commercial building costs can range from $16 to over $50 per square foot. Contractors brought in before or during this phase can help building owners create a realistic budget by taking all the expenses into account. Once the budget is set, there may not be much room for negotiation, especially for government projects.

3. Pre-design

By this point, the project manager will need to bring on an architect and general contractor if they haven’t already. The pre-design stage involves determining the building’s orientation, figuring out how to get amenities into the building, and determining the overall size of each room in the building. This is the stage where contract bidding usually begins.

4. Design

Based on information gathered from the pre-design phase, contractors, architects, and engineers can work together to produce a complete set of drawings for the project. The drawings should include final specs with the cost and timeline listed for each subsequent stage.

5. Pre-construction

This is a time-consuming but essential stage. This is where contractors obtain building permits and insurance, get bids from vendors, and finalize the construction team.

6. Construction

This is where the magic happens. First, the site gets prepped. Then, the foundation is laid. After that, the rest of the building commences, including framing, roofing, siding, and constructing the interior and exterior. Every construction team member needs to work together to ensure the project stays on budget and on time.

7. Post-construction

When the building is complete, the lead contractor will do a walk-through with the client to create a punch list of anything that needs more attention before the project can be officially considered complete. Once those items are taken care of, a building inspector can come in for a final check.

The Importance of Getting Leads for a Commercial Construction Project Early

Contractors win commercial construction contracts through the process of bidding. The bid is a proposal for how the contractor will build or manage the project. This is also the process subcontractors use when they want to pitch their services to a general contractor.

A bid is a final price you’ll charge the customer. It takes into account your business expenses, overhead costs, and other internal costs.

Bidding requires a lot of research and knowledge about the project. You’ll need to consider elements such as materials, cost of subcontractors, time, and contract type.

The most important part of a bid is to use accurate cost estimates. Ideally, you want to submit the lowest bid compared with your competitors. However, not every owner wants to take the lowest bidder automatically. Other factors such as having a track record of successful projects, bid capacity, and experience might be considered equally or more important to the owner.

In general, the sooner you can get in a bid, the better. Building owners and project managers don’t want to waste time and won’t keep the bidding process open forever. If you can access leads during the first three stages of the construction process, you will be well-positioned to win the bid.

The best way to get leads before your competitors is with Construct-A-Lead. Our unique software lets you set the parameters for your ideal projects. Then, we’ll alert you every time there’s a new project available that fits your requirements. In addition, Construct-A-Lead integrates with your existing CRM and includes direct contact information for every project.

With Construct-A-Lead, you can spend less time chasing bids and more time creating accurate proposals that win contracts. Get started with a free trial of Construct-A-Lead today to access five quality leads.