Typical Services for a Civil Constructions Company

Civil construction involves building, industrial and infrastructure construction. Building construction encompasses residential and non-residential building construction. Infrastructure development covers public works, highways, dams, bridges, water/wastewater and utility distribution.  Industrial construction covers construction of milling, refineries, processing chemical plants, power generation and manufacturing. Of all these, the most common is civil construction. Civil construction companies offer several typical services as discussed below:

image:huebertbuilders.com

1.    Project Design

A civil construction company comes with a design team whose work is to come up with the designs for any given project. These designs can then be translated into reality. Depending on the project, typical design team members are made up of architects, planning and architectural consultants, and civil, mechanical, electrical, structural and fire protection engineers. The team’s work revolves around planning the physical proceedings which are then integrated with other parts of the project. Once a design is available, it can be implemented by a construction or construction management company.  One-stop-shop civil construction companies provide construction services beginning with the design phase all the way through the implementation phase of a project.

2.    Project Management

Project management in civil construction companies includes overseeing of projects from design to project completion.  This entails day-to-day running of the project, which ensures that the given project is implemented accordingly. The company is fully responsible for the project including making major decisions.

Under project management, these companies come up with the project goals (both civil and environmental) and procedures. In-house staff, contractors and consultant management also fall under them. Additionally, they draft contract documents, schedules and budgets.  Project management also covers procurement of permits and access agreements. They are responsible for the design of water and wastewater treatment systems, sedimentation control facilities and solid and hazardous waste management facilities. Part of their duties also includes negotiating with regulatory agencies.  Project quality management and development of presentations aimed at public awareness also fall under project management in civil construction companies. 

3.    Financial Advice

The goal of such services by civil construction companies is to prevent financial problems that may arise from underbidding for a project. In effect, this ensures that adequate funds are available and do not fall short throughout the course of a project. With such measures undertaken, the project lifeline is sustained with adequate contingency plans from start to finish of the project in question. As is evident, for civil construction companies to offer all these financial services, they need the services of accountants, cost engineers, and mortgage bankers. Accountants handle the expected cash flows for the project. They also monitor payouts during the implementation of the project. Cost engineers are responsible for the proper valuation of the project by relating the work and materials needed for complete implementation of the project. Mortgage bankers, on the other hand, come in handy because the owner’s equity in the property is usually the source of funding for the building project.

4.    Procurement

Different procurement processes can be employed by civil construction companies. These are design-bid-build (traditional), management contracting and design-build processes. This stage of the project brings together all the activities undertaken for project completion. 

In traditional procurement, the architect or engineer serves as the project coordinator. He/she oversees the entire project which involves project design, specifications, drawings, tendering and management.  Design-build procurement, on the other hand, is where the client contracts one entity to oversee the whole project. This can include finding the site and organizing for project funding. Management procurement is where the client takes a contractual role and enters into separate contracts with the different professionals involved with any building project. These refer to the designer (architect or engineer), construction manager and stand-alone trade contractors. 

Civil construction companies offer different services all geared towards successful implementation of civil construction works.

Written by Hubert Builders, a full service commercial construction company in Columbia, MO.