One of the most challenging elements of pre-construction and budgeting is working with minimal information to develop an early-stage budget that comes close to the final contract number without eroding the established profit margin goal.  Our client partners come to us with a scope description, limited drawings, and possibly specifications, to assist in developing the budgets required from their client owners. Keeping the end user and architects design ideas, expectations, and concerns at the forefront of the budget process is critical.

While general contractors often have an idea on cost, they need us to use our knowledge of similar projects to produce a price that validates the budget and identifies items that may cause budget issues as the project documents are developed.  To be exact would be nearly impossible but we know we must be within a tolerable margin over/under the final value to best serve the needs of our clients. To combat these obstacles our team has many tools in the toolbox:

• Drawing from personal and team experience
• Historical estimating data
• Evaluation of market trends to avoid misses in material and labor escalation costs

Our team has done a fantastic job of documenting previous project estimates and pulled important information into an easily digestible spreadsheet to help our customers feel confident in our pricing.  Utilizing an experienced group of people that have been in the AZ construction market for many years, K2 is able to help our clients reach their end goal of a successful project that balances the design team’s intent with the owner’s budget constraints. Building confidence in our clients with persistent effort, reliable communication, and accountability is the key to creating a genuine working relationship.

I think that technology is underutilized in many construction organizations. There are many new software and hardware resources in the marketplace that could benefit the industry. Computer vision, deep learning, and virtual construction just to name a few.  Companies now are leading a charge toward equipping the field with a whole new suite of tools that utilize some of these newer technologies.

Here at K2 Electric, one technology that has fundamentally changed how we handle constantly evolving construction drawings and field documents is called “Plan Grid.”  It allows our field team to always have access to the latest set of documents in real time. They can get on their laptop, pull up a print, and immediately be notified if a new revision has been posted.

Through the pandemic, mobility has become the name of the game. K2 launched a full work from home fleet right as the stay-at-home order hit. We were prepared for the situation with all the right remote tools at our disposal. We even saw our best year, right through the middle of a chaotic time. I have seen massive improvements in efficiency and tooling since being at K2.  As the IT Manager I strive toward making everything as clear for the employees so they can use the tools without fighting the technology. It gets increasingly difficult as the whole landscape of technology shifts faster than things can be taught, but I remain confident that K2 will stay ahead in its plans to be the best equipped electrical contractor in Arizona.