Unlock Agile, Skilled Labor in Specialized Construction Spaces

Every general contractor has team members with skills and materials to build a wall in a ground-up facility. But, if you’re renovating inside an occupied, operational facility, there are other factors teams need to consider to build that wall.

This is where crews working for a self-performing GC can stand out. Self-perform work (SPW) teams are experts in working in all kinds of environments, from a 500,000-sq.-ft. data center, to a 2,000-sq.-ft. office fit out, to a 500-sq.-ft electrical room adjacent to and powering a hospital’s ICU. All three environments require a skilled workforce, and have their individual and unique sets of parameters for construction.

These are the kinds of environments we consider “special”—occupied or specialized spaces that perform a specific function of a larger facility. In construction, they can range in size, scope and price. These specialized projects are not necessarily less complex, less difficult or less risky, but they do have unique priorities, requirements and challenges.

Every construction site has challenges that will arise, including those on specialized sites, and a self-performing GC, with its own team of tradespeople, uses their skill and technical expertise to minimize those challenges.

SPW tradespeople who work on specialized projects are often cross-trained in multiple trades to be able to move from one space to another seamlessly between projects of varying sizes and scopes, with shifting schedules and teams moving in and out, all while maintaining quality and craftsmanship.

The most important element SPW crews have in these environments is control. Many times, work must be done at certain times of the day to minimize disruption or keep others that may be occupying the building safe. As members (or employees) of the GC, these crews have better control over scheduling, communication and productivity.

These SPW experts not only have an agile knowledge of how to build and what tools to use, but can identify opportunities for SPW to add value. An example is taking a traditionally framed ceiling soffit and, through collaboration with trade partners and in-house prefabrication teams, fabricating this offsite with SPW resources. This process saves onsite time, increases quality control, minimizes disruption to the tenant, and increases safety.

Self-performing GCs have crews that are trained to assemble and install prefabricated elements of construction. Prefabrication is widespread on ground up projects, but not quite as common in specialized spaces, mainly due to timing, sizing and resources. However, the perk of prefabrication on any size construction site is that it not only frees up storage and assembly space by being assembled offsite, it also cuts down on the number of individuals present on that site, drastically improving safety, cleanliness, quietness and speed. SPW crews that are versed in assembling and installing prefabricated construction elements improve quality and eliminate the need for rework, which is disruptive in an occupied environment.

As the experts onsite, SPW crews see the challenges and are driven to solve those challenges. Their decades of creative problem-solving experience culminates in mitigating project risks. Coupled with a clear understanding of the owner’s goals, the sensitivities of active environments and their occupants, and commitment to succeed, that translates to innovative solutions tailored for the project at hand, and a pathway for continued professional development. SPW tradespeople can climb the ranks within the company, utilizing their hands-on knowledge of how things get sequenced and built effectively, and applying it to a larger scale of coordinating multiple trades. Moreover, they have unique and powerful influence and growth opportunities to teaching newer generations of tradespeople how to build.

Specialized construction sites present their own sets of challenges, but due to the nature of these projects, having SPW crews onsite promotes enhanced integration between trades and the GC. With limited space, it allows for fewer people on site, which leads to higher efficiency, better communication and safer project sites. The training and expertise of these tradespeople, along with their ability to be agile across all scopes of work, gives owners the assurance that, even with a unique construction scope, work will be done with the highest quality.