Building projects, both small and large, can take a considerable amount of time between the initial idea of the project, and the opening of the structure. Often, the projects brought to Romtec have been in the planning process for months or even years, and the owner is ready to move forward with procuring their restroom or multi-purpose structure for their park, campground, or facility.
From our experience supplying buildings nationwide, Romtec has been able to determine which steps of the process can cause the greatest delays when purchasing our structures and works as fast as we can to meet project milestones and deadlines. Even with a streamlined process on our end which works to speed things up, there are factors out of our hands that can add significant delays in the procurement and installation of a structure.
For our customers who are dedicated to getting their project completed quickly and easily, Romtec experts recommend the following:
1. Performing a geotechnical survey
Geotechnical surveys are the “very first step in the construction or consolidation of site”. They provide valuable information about the soil and rocks in the earth, groundwater levels, and can uncover site conditions that can impact the construction and longevity of a structure. Completing a geotechnical survey can eliminate unforeseen delays during construction and gives Romtec experts a clear understanding of the job site conditions. (Geotechnical Survey, 2021)
2. Using a purchasing cooperative
Purchasing cooperatives allow entities such as government agencies, schools, non-profits, and more to buy through competitive contracts that offer lower prices and increased efficiency. Romtec is a member of numerous purchasing cooperatives and contracts available nationwide that can make the procurement process easier, and can even offer “turnkey”/design-build services for structures purchased through a co-op.
Purchasing using a cooperative can save our customers a significant amount of time and money. Public entities that use purchasing cooperatives avoid the traditional bidding process for a designer, followed by the costly design process with an architect, and then bidding for a contractor for a structure that may come in significantly over budget. For eligible agencies, purchasing cooperatives cut out these steps in favor of vetted, reliable vendors that can offer competitive prices to meet the customer’s budget.
3. Communicating with your local building department
Romtec works nationwide and has approved plan sets across the nation, but even we can’t foresee all special building codes. Our great nation has a wide variety of environments from coastline to coastline, with marshes, plains, and massive mountain ranges in between. Each area is unique in their concerns and communicating with the local building department will help to design for these special circumstances (such as snow load, fire protection, etc), and get the building design approved faster with fewer revisions.
4. Submitting all comments in a single round
The comment phase is one step in the procurement process which is out of Romtec’s hands and can significantly delay the approval and delivery of a structure. The biggest delays are caused by multiple rounds of small comments and can be resolved by submitting all comments in a single submission. Romtec recommends enforcing a timeline for all employees and reviewers to review the plans and offer comments, and then send all comments in at once, so that the revisions can be addressed at once.
5. Hiring Romtec’s construction crew
Romtec’s construction crew are the experts at installing our building kits and install our structures nationwide every day. Our construction crew solves problems quickly and efficiently on the jobsite, communicates directly with Romtec with ease during the construction process, and can get the job done faster with the same high quality that our customers have come to expect. Romtec Construction is available through our “turnkey”/design-build services, which can save our customer time and money by limiting the number of contracts signed and giving our customer peace of mind about their project.
Romtec understands the value of completing buildings projects fast. Finishing a project fast has many benefits, as it can open important facilities for the local community, lower the cost of a project, and impact the project’s overall success. Romtec does what we can to speed up and streamline the process, and these efforts paired with the suggestions above, can help a project move faster and easier and get our customer closer to a successful grand opening of their new Romtec building.
