The Construction Process
The Process
- What is a General Contractor?
- Where do we go from here?
- What is a Specification and Cost Analysis (SCA)?
- What do you have in mind?
- Why discuss your budget.
- Designing - the fun part.
- Materials and Products - so much to choose from.
- What are Specialty Contractors?
- Bringing it all together - the "almost" finale.
- Finally the Schedule - When will it be finished?
- Glitches and Changes.
What is a Specification and Cost Analysis (SCA)?
The SCA is a definitive comprehensive document stating the final costs, allowances, material selections and all particulars of the project. All SCAs include a complete set of plans and specifications. An SCA can be compared to a "brief" in the legal profession, which is defined as "a document containing all facts and points of law pertinent to a specific case.” Preparing this document takes a tremendous amount of a professional's time.
Preparation for an SCA includes evaluation of all aspects of the project along with current building codes. Creating an SCA takes anywhere from several hours to several weeks or months, and involves completing designs, meetings with specialty contractors and material suppliers, estimating and preparing for permitting and inspections. The "estimating" process involves many hours of line-item costing for every single operation of each phase to determine the final cost. It is also based on each specialty contractors’ and materials suppliers’ fixed bids.
Depending on the project and its particulars, the fee for an SCA can be from $500 for a bathroom renovation, to over $1000 for a major 6-figure project. As the cost and square footage of a project increases, so does the time needed to create an accurate SCA - and accuracy is critical.
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