In the world of industrial construction, timing really is everything.

According to the Construction Industry Institute, 70% of construction cost overruns stem from issues that could have been identified and resolved during the design phase.¹ Yet surprisingly, many project owners continue to follow the traditional design-bid-build approach, bringing contractors on board only after designs are complete and bid packages are ready.

The Real Impact of Design-Phase Decisions
McKinsey & Company’s research reveals that while design typically represents only 5-7% of a project’s total cost, design-phase decisions influence 70-80% of the total project cost.² This dramatic multiplier effect occurs because design decisions determine:

• Material specifications and quantities
• Construction methodologies and sequences
• Equipment access and placement requirements
• Labor productivity and crew sizes
• Schedule durations and milestone dependencies
• Long-term operational and maintenance costs

When experienced contractors aren’t involved in these critical early decisions, projects often suffer from what the Project Management Institute calls “optimism bias”—the tendency to underestimate costs, schedules, and complexity while overestimating benefits and simplicity.³

Constructability: The Bridge Between Theory and Reality
Constructability reviews represent one of the most valuable contributions contractors bring to early project phases. The Construction Industry Institute defines constructability as “the optimum use of construction knowledge and experience in planning, design, procurement, and field operations to achieve overall project objectives.”⁴

Common Constructability Opportunities:
Equipment Access Considerations:
Consider a processing unit where major equipment requires periodic maintenance. Without construction input, designers might position equipment where future maintenance would require specialized heavy-lift cranes costing $50,000 per day. Early contractor involvement could identify opportunities to adjust layouts for standard equipment access, potentially saving millions in lifecycle maintenance costs.

Piping Design Optimization:
Picture a refinery expansion where the initial design requires hundreds of field welds in confined spaces. An experienced construction team might suggest reconfiguring for modular assembly, potentially reducing field welds by 60% and saving weeks of schedule. Industry data shows that each field weld costs 3-5 times more than shop welds when considering labor, quality control, and schedule impacts.

Electrical System Routing:
Imagine discovering during construction that designed cable pulls must pass through an operating unit’s hot zone, requiring a shutdown that could cost $500,000 per day in lost production. This scenario, caught during design review, could be rerouted for safer installation, avoiding costly shutdowns and safety risks.

The Construction Industry Institute’s research demonstrates that constructability reviews typically reduce total project costs by 10-15% and field rework by 65%.⁵

Supply Chain Intelligence in Design Decisions
The post-pandemic construction environment has fundamentally changed how we must approach material specifications. According to Associated General Contractors of America, 93% of contractors reported material delays in 2023, with lead times for some components extending beyond 52 weeks.⁶

Early contractor involvement brings critical supply chain intelligence to design decisions:

Material Availability Mapping:
Understanding which materials have extended lead times allows designers to specify readily available alternatives. For example, if a specific valve type has a 40-week lead time, early contractor input might identify an equivalent with 12-week availability.

Vendor Relationship Leverage:
Established contractors bring pre-qualified vendor relationships that can secure materials faster and more reliably. These relationships, built over decades, can mean the difference between on-time delivery and costly delays.

The Quantifiable Benefits of Early Involvement
Research from the University of Texas Construction Industry Institute demonstrates that early contractor involvement delivers measurable benefits:⁷

Cost Performance: Projects with early contractor involvement show 6-23% better cost performance
Schedule Performance: Schedule improvements range from 10-30% compared to traditional delivery
Change Order Reduction: 50-70% fewer change orders during construction
Safety Performance: 15-20% better safety metrics due to improved planning
Quality Metrics: 25-30% reduction in rework and punch list items

Breaking Down the Silos: Integrated Project Teams
The traditional separation between design and construction creates information silos that impede project success. When contractors join projects early, they become part of integrated project teams where:

• Design reviews happen in real-time
• Value engineering is continuous throughout the project
• Risk identification becomes proactive rather than reactive
• Innovation is encouraged through field expertise
• Relationships build trust instead of conflict

Technology Enablers for Early Collaboration
Modern technology has made early contractor involvement more effective than ever:

Clash Detection: According to Autodesk, BIM-based clash detection can identify 95% of field conflicts before construction begins⁸
4D Scheduling: Linking 3D models with schedules allows contractors to validate construction sequences virtually
Digital Twins: Laser scanning existing facilities ensures new designs integrate perfectly with existing conditions
Virtual Reality Walkthroughs: Allowing operators and maintenance staff to “experience” designs before construction

Overcoming Barriers to Early Involvement
Despite clear benefits, some owners hesitate to bring contractors in early due to:

Procurement Concerns: Fear of limiting competitive bidding
Cost Uncertainty: Difficulty establishing fixed prices without complete designs
Cultural Inertia: “We’ve always done it this way”
Trust Issues: Concern about sharing sensitive project information

These concerns can be addressed through progressive contracting models, transparent cost tracking, and clearly defined scope boundaries that maintain competitive tension while capturing early involvement benefits.

The Bottom Line: Prevention Beats Correction
The data is clear: early contractor involvement isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a competitive necessity in today’s complex industrial construction environment. As projects become more complex, schedules more compressed, and margins tighter, the cost of late problem discovery becomes increasingly unacceptable.
The best time to solve a construction problem is before it becomes one. The second-best time is during design. The worst time is when crews are standing in the field waiting for answers.

About This Series: Hawk EPC brings three decades of experience delivering complex industrial projects across North America. This thought leadership series shares industry insights and best practices for project excellence. For more information about integrated project delivery and early contractor involvement strategies, visit www.hawkepc.com