Steps in Project Planning

The process of defining the project and creating a plan to complete it.

The first step is to ascertain the scope of the restoration. Securing the property, to protect it from further deterioration or damage, is given a separate budget. Once the property is secured, the contractor and the property owner conduct a walk-through in which the contractor explains the scope of the project and discusses any upgrades or remodeling that the property owner would like to coordinate with the restoration. Coordinating upgrades and remodeling with the restoration saves both time, since the crew will be on site, and the property’s wall interiors and structural members will be accessible during restoration.

The next step, usually taken in tandem with the first, is to define each task related to restoration, which is listed out using the insurance adjusting estimate program. Doing so sets out the project in terms and in a format that the adjuster understands. Once the estimate, consisting of a task list and the cost of each task, is accepted by the insurer and the property owner, the sequencing and calendaring of the project begins.

Task sequencing follows this general pattern:

• Structural framing and exterior restoration;
• Interior systems, including the rough-in of electricity, plumbing, and HVAC while the walls are open. “Rough-in” refers to any work or installation of system features behind the walls. Electrical outlets are roughed-in because all of the work is behind the wall surface.
• Any interior framing.
• After the interior framing is completed and the systems are roughed in, insulation is installed and drywall hung.
• Once the walls are sealed in, the contractor addresses the finish carpentry, trim work, flooring, tile, and final electrical and plumbing. All of these features are “outside the walls.” The finish carpentry and trim work are outside the walls, similarly the final electrical and plumbing consist of items that are outside the walls, such as electrical outlet covers, sinks, and faucets.

Once the work is in sequence, the project as a whole is calendared. The contractor also includes in the project calendar inspections conducted by the city or county that issued permits for the work on the property. These inspections are conducted at each essential stage of the project – once the structural framing is complete, once the mechanic systems are roughed in, and after the walls are closed and the finish carpentry and final electrical and plumbing are complete. The property owner is also involved in calendaring: the pace and property owner’s availability all have a bearing on the project’s calendar.

With the tasks defined and calendared, the project is executed to the project plan. As the work is done, the contractor gets paid so that he can continue to the next milestone. The result is a restoration within budget and specification, as close to the anticipated time line as circumstance allows.