Our Approach

System 27 and Midwest Builders are committed to providing high quality, cost effective and timely project completion and services to our clients and tenants. We maintain these standards by effective management of your project needs, by understanding your objectives and applying our diverse and extensive experience to meet them.

Our management professionals will ensure that:

• Your facilities will represent the highest quality achievable within cost constraints.
• Your program is characterized by the most cost-effective combination of materials and methods, considering both initial investment and life cycle costs.
• The facilities are ready for occupancy on schedule.
• Operations are maintained, if necessary, without disruption throughout the duration of the program.

System 27 emphasizes the team approach to project development. We establish a cooperative working relationship among team members - including the owner, architect, and other consultants. We believe this approach is extremely important in maximizing each team member's effectiveness and productivity.

The use of a team approach can:

• Improve the quality of the project.
• Reduce the cost of the project.
• Decrease the overall time required for planning, design, and construction.
• Improve project coordination throughout both the design and construction.

The following is a description of our involvement and methods of our approach:.

Pre-Construction Phase

• Consultation During Project Development
  Schedule and attend regular meetings with the owner and architect/engineer during preliminary planning, programming and design.
  Provide recommendations on construction feasibility, availability of materials and labor, time requirements for installation and construction, and factors related to cost.
  Include costs of alternate design or materials, preliminary budgets, and possible economies of scale.
• Scheduling
  Based on the owner's occupancy requirements, develop a project time schedule that coordinates and integrates the architect/engineer design efforts with construction activities.
  Update the project time schedule incorporating a detailed schedule for the construction operations of the project.
  Establish realistic activity sequences and durations, including allocation of labor and materials and processing of shop drawings and samples.
  Identify delivery of products requiring long lead-time procurement.
• Project Construction Budget
  Prepare a preliminary budget as soon as major project requirements have been identified.
  Update as plans progress so that project costs are always current.
  Prepare an estimate-based quantity survey of drawings and specifications at the end of the schematic design for approval by the owner as the project construction budget.
  Update and refine this estimate as the development of the drawings and specifications proceeds.
  Advise the owner and architect/engineer immediately if it appears that the budget will not be met; make recommendations for corrective action.
• Coordination of Contract Documents
  Review the drawings and specifications as they are being developed.
  Recommend alternative solutions wherever design details effect construction feasibility, cost or schedule.
• Construction Planning
  Identify and expedite the procurement of long-lead items to ensure their delivery by the required dates.
• Bid Packages
  Make recommendations to the owner and the architect/engineer regarding the division of work in the drawings and specifications to facilitate the bidding and awarding of the trade contracts.
  Review the drawings and specifications with the architect/engineer to eliminate areas of conflict and overlapping in the work to be performed by the various trade contractors.
  Allowing for phased construction, take into consideration such factors as time of performance, availability of labor, overlapping trade jurisdictions, and provisions for temporary facilities.
• Bidder Qualifications
  Prepare pre-qualification criteria for bidders (and/or prepare a selected bidders list) in conjunction with the owner and the architect/engineer.
  Send out and receive pre-qualifications forms for potential bidders.
• Competitive Bidding
  In compliance with the project-bidding format (open-bid or selected bidders list), develop trade contractor interests in the project.
  As working drawings and specifications are completed, take competitive bids on the work from various trade contractors.
  Analyze bids and make recommendations for awards to the owner. This is in concert with "open book" review of proposals from trades with the owner/agent.

Construction Phase

• Project Control
  Monitor the work of the trade contractors and coordinate the work with the activities and responsibilities of the owner, architect/engineer, and construction manager to complete the project in accordance with the owner's objectives of cost, time, and quality.
  Determine the adequacy of the trade contractors' personnel and equipment and the availability of the materials and supplies to meet the schedule.
  Recommend courses of action to the owner if requirements of a trade contract are being met.
• Project Site Staff
  Maintain a competent full-time staff at the project site to provide general direction and coordination of work.
  Establish on-site construction team organization and lines of authority to carry out the overall plans of the construction team.
  Monitor and ensure progress of the trade contractors on the project.
• Coordination
  Establish procedures for coordination among the owner/agent, architect/engineer, trade contractors, and contractor with respect to all aspects of the project.
  Implement and ensure compliance with these procedures.
• Project Meetings
  Schedule and conduct progress meetings at which trade contractors, owner/agent, architect/engineer, and construction manager can discuss jointly such matters as procedures, progress, issues, and scheduling.
  Document and distribute minutes of the meeting, which is an essential management tool for tracking responsibilities, maintaining accountability, and assuring timely closure of issues.
• Scheduling
  Provide regular monitoring of the schedule as construction progresses.
  Identify potential variances between scheduled and probable completion dates.
  Review schedule for work not started or incomplete and recommend adjustments in the schedule to the owner and trade contractors to meet the completion date.
  Provide summary reports of each monitoring and document all changes in the schedule.
• Physical Condition
  Provide all supervision, labor, materials, construction equipment, tools, and subcontract items which are necessary for the coordination and completion of the project, and are not provided by either the trade contractors or the owner.
• Cost Control
  Develop and implement an effective system of project cost control.
  Revise and refine the initially-approved project construction budget, incorporating approved changes as they occur.
  Develop cash flow report and forecasts as required.
  Identify variances between actual and budgeted or estimated costs.
  Advice the owner and the architect/engineer immediately whenever projected cost exceeds budgets or estimates.
• Cost Accounting
  Maintain cost accounting records on authorized work performed under unit costs, actual costs for labor and materials, or other basis requiring accounting records.
  Afford the owner access to these records and preserve them for an acceptable period of time after the final payment.
• Change Orders
  Implement a system for preparation, review, and processing of change orders.
  Assure all changes are analyzed to determine whether they were part of the original scope or were a reasonably inferable part of the trade agreement. Develop internal quality takeoffs and pricing to assure proper reasonable value for a change that is determined to be credible or where the owner has requested a change of scope.
  Recommend necessary or desirable changes to the owner and the architect/engineer.
  Review requests for changes, submit recommendations to the owner and the architect/engineer, and assist in negotiating change orders.
• Payments to Trade Contractors
  Implement procedure for the review, processing, and payment of applications by trade contractors for progress and final payments.
• Permits and Fees
  Assist in obtaining approvals from all authorities having jurisdiction.
  Track progress on a permit log.
• Inspection
  Inspect the work of the trade contractors for defects and deficiencies in the work (in addition to the architect/engineer's responsibilities for inspection).
  Pro-actively develop a "rolling punch-list" of items that are not deemed acceptable and coordinated completion.
• Safety
  Review the safety programs of each of the trade contractors and make appropriate recommendations.
  Inform the trade contractors of their responsibilities for the safety of person and property, and the penalties for noncompliance.
  Assure compliance with all federal, state, and local statutes, rules, regulations, and orders applicable to the conduct of the work.
• Document Interpretation
  Refer all questions for interpretation of the construction documents (prepared by the architect/engineer) to the architect/engineer and owner/agent.
  Follow-up to assure interpretation is clear and documented.
  Disseminate decisions/scope regarding interpretations to all effected parties.
  Maintain current a current request for information log for tracking questions and responses.
• Shop Drawings and Samples
  With the architect/engineer, establish and implement procedures for expediting the processing and approval of shop drawings and samples.
  Determine additional long-lead items that could not previously be identified.
• Reports and Project Site Documents
  Record the progress of the project.
  Submit written progress reports to the owner and the architect/engineer including information on the trade contractors' work and the percentage of completion.
  Keep a daily log available to the owner and the architect/engineer.
• Records Maintenance
  Maintain at the project site, on a current basis, records of all necessary contracts, drawings, samples, purchases, materials, equipment, maintenance and operating manuals and instructions, and other construction-related documents including all revisions.
  Obtain data from trade contractors and maintain a current set of record drawings, specifications, and operating manuals.
  At completion of the project, deliver all such records to the owner.
• Substantial Completion
  Determine substantial completion of work or designated portions.
  Prepare a "punch-list" of incomplete or unsatisfactory items and a schedule for their completion for the trade contractors, owner and architect/engineer.
• Start-Up/Commissioning
  With the owner's maintenance personnel, direct the checkout of utilities, operating systems, and equipment for readiness.
  Assist in the initial start-up and testing by the trade contractors.
• Final Completion
  Determine final completion and provide written notice to the owner and architect/engineer that the work is read for final inspection.
  Secure and transmit required guarantees, warranties, affidavits, releases, bonds and waivers to the architect/engineer.
  Turn over all keys, manuals, record drawings, and maintenance stock to the owner.