We came across a statistic the other day that is a cause for concern in our industry: 70% of construction companies nationwide are having trouble finding qualified workers, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. A recent NPR story points out that American high school students are foregoing high-paying trade jobs in favor of four-year university degrees, a trend that contributes to the shortage of qualified construction workers and skilled tradespeople. This, of course, is driving labor costs up, which means higher overall project costs.
Fortunately, Bobbitt’s business model enables us to offset escalating costs in several ways. Here’s how we’re keeping budgets under control for our customers:
Savings with design-build
We approach our projects using turn-key design-build, a construction method that provides numerous benefits to building owners. One of those is cost-savings. Design-build compares favorably to traditional bid contracting, in which an owner commissions an architect or engineer to prepare design specifications and separately selects a commercial construction contractor by competitive bid. With design-build, our architects, permitting coordinator and construction team work together seamlessly all under one roof. This is rarely the case with architect-led projects and traditional general contractor models.
Our comprehensive in-house capabilities result in a streamlined process and lower overall costs for our customers. In fact, studies show that design-build results in up to 33% faster project delivery and 6% lower cost to design and build commercial facilities.
Highly motivated and invested employees
In addition to our efficient design-build delivery method, Bobbitt has strategies in place to hire and retain top-notch workers. Ours is a company where people come to stay, and employee ownership is a big reason why. As a 100% employee-owned company (ESOP), every employee at Bobbitt has an ownership stake in the business. We’ve built an environment that attracts highly skilled people, fosters teamwork, and motivates workers at all levels to perform their best every day. This results in a very low employee turnover.
Financial strength and stability
Because of our ESOP status, we take a fiscally conservative approach to our finances and accounting. We have to be managed more tightly than other privately held companies. Like a public company, Bobbitt is required by law to maintain healthy reserves and undergo regular audits. Our financial strength directly benefits our customers by enabling us to take advantage of early purchase discounts and keeping jobs moving on schedule.
Subcontractors that keep coming back
The construction industry is notorious for subcontractors not showing up on time and not performing consistently. Bobbitt is able to attract reliable, high-quality subcontractors, in part because of our financial strength. We are known for paying our subs on time, which isn’t always common practice in our industry.
Our subcontractors also appreciate our onsite superintendents at every job. We keep our subs well informed of the schedule, so they arrive only when we’re ready for them and can make the most of their time. This is crucial when labor is scarce. In short, if our subcontractors have to make a decision about where to show up on a given day, they choose Bobbitt.
Controlling cost of materials
The rising cost of construction materials is another issue our industry is facing. We strive to control the cost of materials by right-sizing each job – making sure there’s no excess. With our design-build architects, civil engineers, project developers and superintendents working closely with our schedulers and estimators, we can better estimate our jobs. And our solid financial position allows us to lock in prices for materials earlier in the process.
In summary, while Bobbitt Design Build can’t make inflation go away in today’s bullish commercial construction market, our customers can rest assured that we’re doing everything possible to manage costs and deliver top-quality commercial facilities.
