The concept for Plan North Partners was developed after many years of managing and designing projects for large corporations. At Plan North Partners, we take the same process and apply it to all projects. Nothing gets us more excited than hearing people’s business ideas and finding a way to move their projects forward. Our project management approach is broken down into five stages.
DISCOVERY
We want to meet you, hear your story, and learn about your project, so our process starts with a project discovery call where we gather information. Based on what we discover, we can often determine… is this project really feasible? After we have this discussion, we then create your high-level all-in project budget and project schedule for review. At this time, we set a regular meeting to stay in touch and hold parties accountable going forward. Our Ingenious.Build Project Management Software tracks your project from start to finish and is always accessible to your team.
DESIGN
We can manage the RFP process, host a design charrette, coordinate interviews, or call referrals. During this same project phase we coordinate a budget checkpoint after the schematic design is completed. We reach out to general contractors, consultants including MEP, (Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing) AV vendors, low voltage contractors, kitchen equipment suppliers, furniture vendors, and others as needed for real project costs. This is an important step because 80% of cost savings typically result from decisions made before construction starts, and we are here to find them.
BUILD
When the architect hands over their construction drawings, we initiate the process of finding GCs with the experience and capacity to tackle our project. This step also requires an RFP process, coordination of an onsite GC walk-through, and leveling of bids. We then negotiate an agreement with the selected construction team and award the project. If needed, we can review opportunities for value engineering with the GC on board. We will also obtain permits, log invoices and receive and review change orders.
FINAL PUSH / BUILDING ACTIVATION
This is the building activation phase of the project where fatigue often sets in, but we are here to move the project along. We walk the space with the GC noting punch list items and then monitor the follow-through and correction of these items. We review a move-in checklist to make sure all opening day activities are accounted for. We can also hire and manage vendors to help move equipment or contents. If you are moving out of an old space, we can manage the decommission of the old space according to your lease.
CLOSEOUT
At the very end of the project we assemble all guarantees, warranties, etc. needed and add them to the Closeout Folder. We assist in getting a final certificate of completion and final payment to the construction team. We can coordinate “as-built” drawings from the architect to keep on file for future use. We will print a project binder that will live at your new site and will house all important building related information.