3 Reasons Why a Turnkey Solution Should be the Answer to your Next Construction Project

The next 10 years is expected to see an unprecedented volume of ‘change of use’ construction projects, as the continuing rise of remote working and remote shopping necessitates the repurposing of office and retail space. At the same time, the construction industry is expected to make major reductions in waste, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, as the UK – and indeed the world – strive to achieve their net-zero targets.

Each new construction project, whatever its scale, presents an opportunity to adopt new technology, implement new efficiencies and apply new regulations that will help to bring about the improvements in sustainability, compliance and cost that will be required to meet the standards of this new era. As commercial building owners respond to the ‘new way of working’ and the ‘new way of shopping’, the time has come to embrace the ‘new way of building’.

What is the new way of building?

Construction has traditionally been a hierarchical industry, in which tier 1 contractors employ tier 2 specialists. Each specialist is a separate company with its own expertise, values and culture, and all are distinct from the main contractor. Keeping all these separate entities working compliantly and harmoniously is difficult and prone to inefficiency.

With the new way of building, the tier 1 contractor and the specialists are one, a multifaceted construction company with the expertise to provide specialisms like M&E, HVAC, fit out etc., all from the same source. So how does this benefit you as a building owner? Let’s take a look at the advantages of this approach in terms of those key considerations.

1 Economic efficiency

The one-stop construction approach opens the door to saving costs through increased operational efficiency, particularly in terms of time management and procurement.

Coordinating various specialist sub-contractors to dovetail efficiently and work to tight schedules is notoriously difficult. When those specialists are all managed from the same source, it becomes much easier, avoiding costly delays and disputes regarding culpability.

The new way of building also facilitates combined (or collaborative) procurement, which benefits clients by streamlining this major overhead. Combined procurement increases purchasing power and economy of scale, as well as removing complexity from the supply chain, thus reducing the risk of weak links.

2 Sustainability and Compliance

Environmental sustainability is both a compliance issue and an economic one. New regulations intended to control the drive to net zero require building owners and construction companies to implement equipment upgrades and energy and waste standards that meet increasingly stringent targets. Instead of regarding this as added overheads, however, it can be seen as an opportunity to save cost.

Increasing the energy efficiency of building systems, while involving an initial capital cost, will reduce operational costs over the long term. With a turnkey construction solution, where the main contractor also provides building systems and equipment expertise, the most cost-effective options can be advised and specified right from the planning stage, ensuring that complete efficiency and compliance are built into every step.

This, of course, applies to all compliance matters. With fewer links in the supply chain, managing compliance becomes a much more efficient and reliable process.

3 Quality and innovation

With multiple contractors combining to deliver construction projects, the emphasis is nearly always on cost and time. This means subcontractors are under pressure to deliver as quickly and economically as they can, leaving little or no breathing space for innovation or added value. Moreover, the commitment to innovation is a cultural attribute that not all companies embrace, either because it isn’t relevant to their core service or it’s just not part of their ethos. As a result, no matter how committed to innovation the main contractor may be committed, bringing the whole supply chain alongside can be a challenge.

With one contractor managing the project and delivering the specialist components too, quality and innovation can be embedded in the culture, not just of the company but of whole projects. With construction and technical specialisms under one roof, a culture of innovation and quality naturally spreads within the company and applies organically to every aspect of the construction work they undertake.

Simplifying the future

Innovation is about making things simpler, less wasteful, smarter, and better. In construction, in particular, these are the traits that must apply as we develop a built environment that serves to protect rather than destroy the natural environment, as well as serve the evolving needs of workers and consumers. The days of complex construction hierarchies are numbered. This is the age of the simple, turnkey solution.?