What Preconstruction Actually Is
The most expensive mistake on a CMAR or Progressive Design-Build program is treating preconstruction as a formality — a period of CM engagement before the ‘real’ project starts. Preconstruction is not a courtesy invitation. It is the core delivery mechanism through which progressive contracting produces better outcomes than traditional procurement.
Everything that makes progressive contracting superior happens in preconstruction — or it does not happen at all. Design decisions get informed by construction knowledge. Costs get tracked as they develop rather than discovered at tender. Risks get identified and mitigated while there is still design flexibility to address them. The GMP reflects reality rather than optimism. When preconstruction is done properly, construction proceeds with fewer surprises, fewer disputes, and better alignment between the cost committed and the cost delivered.
Five Core Preconstruction Activities
Constructability reviews are the foundational preconstruction activity. The CM’s construction specialists review design documents at each milestone with a single purpose: to identify design decisions that will create problems during construction. Not aesthetic issues. Not scope additions. Design decisions that are going to be difficult or expensive to build as drawn, or that will create safety, sequence, or access problems in the field.
The value of constructability review is almost entirely a function of timing. A constructability comment at schematic design — before structural and mechanical systems are sized, before details are drawn — costs almost nothing to incorporate. The same issue identified at 90% design development requires a change to coordinated drawings, updated structural calculations, revised specifications, and a change order notice. The same issue identified after construction starts costs a change order, a delay, a crane stand-down, and a relationship problem. Early identification is where the value is created.
Cost estimating in preconstruction is not a point-in-time activity. It is a continuous process, run in parallel with design development, that maintains a current and accurate assessment of where the project cost is tracking against the owner’s budget. The CM’s estimating team builds and updates the open-book estimate as design decisions are made, keeping the project’s financial trajectory visible in real time rather than as a surprise at GMP establishment.
Value engineering is one of the most misunderstood activities in preconstruction. Genuine value engineering is not cost cutting. It is a structured analysis of design alternatives that identifies ways to achieve the same functional outcome with a different approach — one that costs less, takes less time, carries less risk, or is more buildable. When done properly, it produces alternatives that the designer and owner evaluate on their merits. When done poorly — which is common when the CM treats VE as a GMP negotiation tactic — it produces a list of scope reductions that the owner rejects and the CM uses as justification for a higher contingency.
Schedule development in preconstruction means building a construction programme that reflects how the project will actually be sequenced and executed, not a theoretical schedule that satisfies a contract requirement. The CM’s planning team should be developing the construction method and sequence, identifying the critical path, and calibrating the programme against the resources that will actually be available. A schedule built this way is actionable. A schedule built to show the owner what they want to see is noise.
Procurement planning addresses the materials, equipment, and subcontract work that need to be initiated before construction starts. Long-lead items — mechanical equipment, specialty materials, manufactured components — that require 16-24 weeks of lead time after order need to be identified and potentially ordered before the GMP is established, or the procurement timeline will control the construction schedule in ways that no amount of good programme management can resolve.
GMP Timing: When to Commit
The question of when to establish the GMP is one of the most important decisions in CMAR delivery. Establish it too early — at 40-50% design development — and the estimate is too uncertain, contingency is too high, and the GMP does not reflect reality. Establish it too late — at 95% design development — and the benefit of early contractor involvement has been largely consumed without the price certainty that the owner needs.
The industry-standard range is 60-90% design completion, calibrated to the specific project type. Complex underground infrastructure warrants waiting for higher design maturity before committing. More straightforward above-ground programs can establish the GMP at lower design completion with acceptable contingency levels.
Failure Modes
The CM treats preconstruction as business development rather than delivery. They are focused on winning the GMP rather than producing value during preconstruction. Constructability reviews are thin. Cost estimates are padded. The schedule is aspirational. Problems that should be resolved during preconstruction arrive as construction-phase change orders.
The owner is not available to make decisions. Preconstruction requires the owner to participate, not observe. When the owner’s governance process requires six weeks of review for every design decision, the collaborative tempo that makes CMAR valuable is impossible to achieve.
The designer and CM do not genuinely collaborate. Constructability review degrades into a formality. The designer presents completed design. The CM comments. The designer’s response is minimal. The opportunity for genuine improvement is lost.
For Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure programs — where the pressure to compress timelines and accelerate delivery is constant — the temptation to shortcut preconstruction is real and persistent. Resist it. The cost of rigorous preconstruction, typically 2-5% of total project value, is repaid many times over through cost certainty at GMP, reduced construction-phase change orders, and better schedule performance.