Gilbert Cost Control Consultants Corp.

Even with all the improvements that have been made in architectural software and the use of BIM and REVIT, construction change orders and excessive use of construction contingency funds continue to have a bigger impact than ever on the cost to construct new and remodeled facilities. But savvy organizations are putting change order best practices in place [...]

One of the most common questions I’m asked is “When will construction costs start to rise?” You don’t need a crystal ball to see that based on current excess inventory on both the residential and commercial side, there won’t be any drastic price increases coming any time soon on the labor side. That said, we saw slight material cost decreases in [...]

In over 95% of the cases when we are hired to try to rein in the costs and change orders on an out-of-control construction project we find that problems started during the construction contract negotiation phase. Many organizations embarking on a construction project are hesitant to hire an experienced attorney who specializes in construction law to help them [...]

Last week I was one of a small group of business leaders who had the good fortune to spend the morning with Brian Beaulieu, economist at the Institute for Trend Research (ITR).  It was the 5th time over the past decade that I’ve had the chance to benefit from his wisdom. In past meetings he and his brother [...]

While new construction and remodeling projects are still few and far between, those fortunate few who have the financial strength to obtain financing are still benefiting from an extremely competitive labor market. Overall construction labor cost have risen less than 1% over this same time period last year and for those looking to obtain competitive bids, [...]

Welcome to the Gilbert Cost Control Consultants Corp. blog. We have more than 50 years of experience in construction estimating, project management, construction, real estate acquistion and cost & quality control on more than $700,000,000 worth of projects. If you are looking for proven strategies to help your organization build and lease better building in [...]

I recently met with a contractor who has been building private and public sector projects for more than 25 years. His firm is just wrapping up a large public project that was delivered under the traditional public bid model. When I asked him how it was going, he said it was a nightmare. He noted [...]

Schools can significantly reduce building costs with proper construction cost control

Can you reduce your companies office lease rate by 25% or more in today’s market? Yes you can. See what other companies have achieved in the relatively stable market of Madison, WI.

If you’ve ever managed a construction project, you understand the importance of including an owner’s contingency in your budget to cover unexpected items or changes that arise during construction. But did you know that many negotiated projects also contain a “hidden” contractor contingency that can add as much as 15% to the cost of your project?