Self-Performing Contractors Better Manage Risks and Deliver More Value on Construction Projects

Construction projects are never simple, but the goal is always the same—successful delivery of a building that meets the needs and objectives of the owner, on time, and at cost. Doing so isn’t just about performing individual technical scopes well. It’s also about the entire team understanding and being invested in the project’s overall success, from start to finish. It’s about having a reliable workforce available to staff project teams and skilled at spotting potential risks. That is where partnering with a well-resourced self-performing general contractor (GC) can make a difference in the overall experience and delivery of a project.

Theragent became a champion of self-perform work (SPW) after seeing SPW tactics deployed on one of their biomanufacturing facilities in Southern California. Frank Luh, executive vice president at Theragent, saw first-hand the benefit of how having work done under one GC trickled out into all the trades, and ultimately, led to more predictable outcomes.

“Field workers are often part of a separate company or team, but being able to talk to people who are directly under the GC’s umbrella made it so easy and simple to relate, to understand what they’re doing and for them to understand what we as a company are doing in this mission and construction project,” said Luh. “There are so many benefits we were afforded by having people under a self-perform umbrella. All the folks on different teams fall under the GC’s general framework, and that made this process so much easier as an owner because it allowed communication, coordination, and planning to go fluidly without any mistakes.”

There is an array of challenges that a project might face over the course of construction, including:

One of the biggest benefits of SPW is that these in-house teams of trained tradespeople are inherently integrated in ways that make deployment of shared knowledge much easier. Their experience culminates into decades of creative problem solving to aid in highly detailed and specific scopes.

The Red Rum Data Center began construction in May of 2024 in Ashburn, VA, kicking off with demolition of an existing brick exterior and steel core to make way for a 24MW, 157,531-sq.-ft., two-story building designed by HED. Critical scopes included concrete, drywall, waterproofing and specialties. The owner, GI Partners, chose to work with DPR because of its robust self-perform capabilities for these critical scopes, which account for more than 35% of the project value. Target completion for the core and shell is spring 2025.

“The ability to have multiple trades working on the project at one time, and in different sequences, really helped us see the advantage to having a self-performing GC manage all those trades under one umbrella,” said Brandon Utz, senior manager at Worldwide Mission Critical, the owner’s representative on this project. “Being able to connect and coordinate with each other in person has not only let us get things done, but allowed us to see the comradery and the dedication in those workers who were here every day.”

A major advantage of SPW is the availability of experts at the ready to assist teammates in designs that require a great deal of scopes—regardless of local capabilities or experience. Concrete work on this project includes a data hall with four slab-on-grade pours and 60 tilt-up panels using a Dusty Robotics Field Printer to lay out lines for all the panels. To do this, the team tapped the expertise of Southeast-based DPR superintendent and expert in tilt-up panels, Chris Rambarath, to ensure accuracy of the installation and keep the schedule on track.

“Being able to rely on our own in-house experience made everything smoother and drove our schedule,” said Hesham Barazi, a senior project manager at DPR. “Adding in our field technology capabilities, led and executed by our self-perform teams, we have not made any mistakes. Everything has been exactly what was drawn on the plans.”

No matter the size or scope, a self-performing contractor brings a consistently managed and project-focused in-house team to every project—giving owners access to resources and expertise from across the company. With self-perform work, integrated knowledge and capabilities can be applied to each project to drive consistent outcomes.

“The difference was really our own internal resources providing certainty and consistency,” Barazi went on to say. “Knowing that we have ample resources and experience self-performing work on bigger scales with a larger workforce, is huge.”

For many owners building a project, speed-to-market is key, especially when their facilities are developing life-saving cancer therapies. Theragent needed a reliable and experienced team to get the work done on-time and without major changes on its contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) facility in San Deigo.

Converted from an older office space to a new manufacturing facility, the 26,000-sq.-ft. warehouse was redesigned and constructed to include two unique manufacturing areas: GMP-certified modular cleanrooms and supporting lab space. DPR self-performed concrete, framing, drywall, and assembled the prefabricated cleanrooms. With such delicate and precise requirements for these spaces, accuracy and timing was key. DPR leveraged virtual design and construction tools like laser scanning, 4D visual planning, and aerial capture to build efficiently and ensure safety. DPR also utilized a robotic field printer to print full scale models on the construction floor. This technology reduced errors, removed ambiguity from any work done by hand, and only required two people to monitor field progress.

“I think anytime you can minimize the number of trades that you have on a project, the more control you have over timing, quality of work and quality of craftsmanship,” said Jeff Masten, Chief Operating Officer at Theragent. “With our confidence in [the contractors’] ability to design and build the facility, and the more actual hands-on construction work that was offered, the better I felt about making sure that it gets done right.”

The construction of Theragent’s cleanrooms involved designing and installing an integrated cleanroom system, consisting of four pre-engineered, prefabricated modular “flex suites.” Work also needed to be done to support the new MEP systems that were necessary for the biomanufacturing cleanroom and labs. In conjunction with steel crane operators, the project team successfully installed thirty 220-ton steel beams to support new rooftop HVAC units. The team also constructed a new mezzanine level with the second story that provided auxiliary storage space and gave access to the walkable ceiling for maintenance access, while maintaining the integrity of the cleanrooms.

“SPW was so advantageous for us as a company, but also as an owner to get to know everyone involved,” said Luh. “It made this construction project so much easier because it allowed communication, coordination and planning to move forward without any mistakes.”

Having a GC with SPW expertise helps address building challenges in critical areas that might often see conditions beyond an owner’s control. Self-performed scopes are powering progress at a critical operations center near Tampa, FL, an area prone to severe weather and hurricane threats. The 150,000-sq.-ft. facility, designed by Gensler, will serve as the company’s primary operating center, housing heavy electrical, plumbing and mechanical equipment, as well as a data center, and command centers.

“We are in a hurricane region, so this is a hardened facility,” said Christina Huber, who serves as a project manager for DPR. “Standard construction isn’t enough; it’s meant to stay operational 24/7, to be capable of supplying the area with uninterrupted service.” Huber added these facilities are built to withstand a wide range of potential hazards and must be planned and executed to the utmost standards.

Being able to engage a self-perform work crew early on can be a real game changer for a project that requires more intensive planning and resilient building. If crews are given a playbook and are involved in planning and decision making before arriving on site, they’re able to get work done that much quicker and potentially run into fewer snags as work progresses.

“Four months before we started construction, we got together and vetted out duration, schedule, manpower, crew flow, logistics, and aligned on one plan as one team prior to putting a shovel into the ground,” shared Superintendent Nick Nieto.

Self-perform means that the general contractor—and therefore owner—are in control of scheduling crews and the most critical scopes. Having control over a project’s onsite workforce and execution of work also ensures greater certainty over key success factors: quality, safety, cost and schedule.

“From the integration of technology, with pre-task plan reviews to virtual dig boards to drone deploys, to meetings with our self-perform teams, this [SPW] team is very disciplined,” said DPR’s Lance Wafler, who serves a field operations lead. “One of the unique things we’re doing is reviewing a pre-task plan with the entire team for quality, pushing that integration mindset, it really shows in the strength of the project.”

At the end of the day, all owners seek a partner they can trust to deliver their project. The nationwide resources and in-house workforce offered by a self-performing GC can be an easier path to this goal.

There is an intangible value to working with a GC that can self-perform its trades. While schedule, cost and quality are critical to project success, the peace of mind that comes with having a partner who shares your commitment to excellence and makes project execution easier cannot be understated.