If you’re planning to start a brand-new restaurant, you’re not alone. The food and hospitality industry is one of the most rewarding if you run your restaurant well. However, before you take command at the restaurant’s helm and get all operations going, you need to first construct it.
Constructing anything from scratch is a challenge, but when it comes to a restaurant, it gets even more complex with many things to take into consideration. Going it alone or with an inexperienced construction company can significantly increase your chances of making mistakes along the way, which can be disastrous in the long run. So what do you do?
The answer lies in hiring a construction management company. Construction management companies define a wide variety of activities that are related to the planning, control and coordination of construction projects. In this post, we’ll take you through all the reasons why your up-and-coming restaurant needs a construction management company.
Restaurant construction challenges
Before we get to the reasons you should hire a construction management company, let’s talk about the challenges that you’re likely to encounter during the construction of your restaurant.
• Exceeding construction budget: Creating a budget for your restaurant construction is one thing, but sticking to it and making sure that the job gets done within it is another altogether. As construction is a dynamic process, there may arise a situation during the construction phase which requires you to put in more money for the desired results. For example, if you want a live music setup in your restaurant, your budget may be stretched during the final phase of construction. At this juncture, choosing to stick to the budget may result in the use of substandard construction materials.
• Failure to complete construction on time: Your restaurant construction project should have a master schedule and all construction activities should be planned and executed based on the master schedule. Failing to complete construction in a timely manner can impact not only the commencement of business operations but also the livelihood of the restaurant’s employees.
• Coordinating with contractors and sub-contractors: Restaurant construction is not a one-man job. Each restaurant construction project involves several contractors and sub-contractors, and they all need to operate on the same wavelength for the entire duration of the project. Even the slightest miscommunication between two departments is enough to cause misunderstandings and delays. The key to successful coordination with and between contractors and sub-contractors is to involve them all in the construction planning process. Doing this will ensure that everyone’s on the same page from day one. It also allows all stakeholders to put forward their opinions, doubts, and queries.
• Adhering to local rules and regulations: Restaurant construction isn’t only about putting the pieces together based on a pre-determined budget and schedule. It’s also about being compliant with the rules and regulations of your local municipality. Failing to comply with the law may result in costly penalties or a halt on the project until the appropriate changes are made.
How a restaurant construction management company can help
Now that you know the types and extent of construction challenges that you’re likely to encounter, let’s look at how a restaurant construction management company can help.
• Surveys of proposed site: A restaurant construction management company gets to work well before the proposed construction begins. The first thing that the company does is perform multiple surveys of the proposed construction site. The surveys provide clarity in terms of what’s feasible to design and implement and what’s not.
• Getting legal clearance: Once a restaurant construction management company performs the necessary surveys and drafts a basic construction plan, the next step involves getting clearance from the local authorities. Proceeding without legal clearance can be costly, but with a reputed construction management company by your side, you won’t have to worry about that.
• Realistic budgeting: When you hire a restaurant construction management company, you can expect the budgeting to be realistic based on your requirements. Simply put, the more realistic a budget is, the fewer chances there are of overspending later on. The best thing about a realistic budget is that it's flexible as well. So even if you do need to make adjustments later on, you can do it without much fuss or bother.
• Providing and managing contractors and sub-contractors: As mentioned before, every construction project involves multiple contractors and sub-contractors. Managing them all simultaneously is an incredibly tough task for one man. However, a construction management company consists of a team of professionals who can communicate and coordinate with the contractors. The pros also keep track of the money allocated to different contractors along with the progress they are making in terms of arranging the necessary materials and equipment.
• Supervision: An ongoing construction project typically features dozens of people in action. Supervising all of them at once is impossible for one person. However, restaurant construction management companies have dedicated supervision teams that are tasked with keeping a close watch over what each individual contractor team is doing on the ground. This ensures that mistakes can be rectified in real-time instead of in hindsight.
• Sticking to construction schedule: We’ve already stated how important it is to stick to the construction schedule. Well, a restaurant construction management company maintains clear and transparent communication with every department involved in the construction process to stick to the predetermined schedule. This ensures the timely completion of projects.
• Post-construction follow-up: A restaurant construction management company’s work doesn’t end with the completion of the project. Any reputed company offers a 1-year warranty period on its construction management services. During this period, the company performs follow-ups with restaurant owners to make sure that everything’s in order.
So now you know how a restaurant construction management company can help you realize your dreams of running a successful restaurant. We hope that you learned something valuable from this post and hire a company with a good reputation for your next project.
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