We often look at Boston’s construction and development boom on a larger scale, focusing on a new 500,000 square foot office/retail building here, a 25-story residential, retail/restaurant building there. But let’s not forget the “last mile” construction services that transform these spaces from white box to modern office space, trendy bar, or eclectic restaurant. When working on tenant-fit outs a few common themes come to mind, time management along with attention to detail. These high demand fit-outs often come with strict constraints perhaps from a property owner or even the tenant themselves. With over 70% of construction projects finishing over budget and past schedule how do we at Hemenway Construction ensure our projects don’t fall into this majority. 

As a general contractor, it is key that we have the processes in place to avoid late design submissions, insufficient RFI responses, and late trade deadlines. These hiccups, big or small, can cause costly delays throughout the process. To avoid these common pitfalls we opt for a variety of solutions. First, we strive to follow the Lean construction method. This method focuses on removing waste, finding ways to continually improve and generate value, and focuses on process & flow. While a tenant fit-out might seem like a small project, we are still actively monitoring these jobs to ensure any waste, whether its time or materials, is eliminated and improvements discovered are put into action. Respect for people is a key value of Lean Construction as it is the people on your team that transform ideas and materials into final useful value. Over the years we have built a team of experts across all trades that bring their knowledge to our fit-out projects, adding value for our customers with their unique skill sets.

While having the right team in place is key for any project, we also find utilizing the many advancements in today’s construction tech also helps ensure success. In particular, ProCore allows us to streamline communication across all project team members. By uploading new drawings or photos, the entire team immediately has access to the new data, eliminating those all too frequent never-ending reply-all email chains. The software also allows for real-time RFI’s speeding up that process as well.

Often times, the most difficult part of these custom fit-outs is special order equipment or custom items needed to get the look “just right”. With retail, restaurant, and office rents skyrocketing across Boston businesses want to ensure their space looks perfect before welcoming customers or employees. To make sure these fit-outs are completed on time for opening day or night, communication is key. It is the general contractor’s job to bring the client, designer, and construction teams together to ensure the scope of work is in order, any questions on custom items are handled early and in turn, the trades are scheduled to deliver the project on time.

At Hemenway Construction, we have honed our fit-out skills over the past 15 years, working on projects from high-end retail fitouts on Newbury Street to healthcare office renovations. During this time we have learned the keys to completing projects on strict time constraints and on budget. For more information on how Hemenway Construction can help with your next fit-out visit their website at http://www.hemenwaycm.com/ or contact Chris Hemenway at chris@hemenwaycm.com