We work with our customers to achieve a common budget during the design phase.
We appreciate the customer’s position to work with in capital budget that complements their business. Partnering early on budgets is of large benefit to estimate and manage all phases of the data center construction process.
Typically the process is broken into multiple phases:
Phase 1: Site Selection & Planning
Phase 2: Concept Design and Budgeting
Phase 3: Engineering
Phase 4: RFP & RFI
Phase 5: Value Engineering
Phase 6: Purchasing
Phase 7: Construction
Phase 8: Commissioning & Testing
A total project budget ultimately controls every data center construction project start to finish. There are several key budget practices that go beyond the duties of an estimator. It’s important to work with a team that has big picture experience in data center construction and understands the cost magnitude of key elements that become the DNA of a data center. Our team sits down with our customers and discusses these key elements and their relationship to total project budget.
Some discussion examples are:
- Critical load capacity and building load capacity
- Rack density
- Electrical and mechanical redundancy
- Mechanical cooling methods
- Fire suppression and detection systems
- Building Management System (BMS) platforms
- Building Automation System (BAS) platforms
- Testing and commissioning
- Future phase preparation and design
- Networkability and connectivity
Knowing the rough cost magnitude of these items from day one allows our customers to quickly focus on realistic goals, outlined by their total budget.
Many folks will hire a MEP Engineer to begin this process. Which might require you to spend engineering dollars quicker than you might want to.
FGCC can provide budget estimates based on technologies, past projects, and today’s general labor rates to you get you heading in the right direction day one.
Maintain control of Budget during your Data Center Construction Process
- Equipment decisions that can effect PUE or efficiency later, higher operational costs
- Rack, density decisions, that not all GC groups will understand. Ultimate use of the facility
- Access controls, operations, egress, entry decisions
- Aesthetics, lighting, feature upgrades
- Layered reseller channels during procurement, cost controls
A Data Center Construction budget is a complicated process that requires a thorough understanding of data center design principles to ensure the budget isn’t understated and considerable change orders are need to complete the project. No one wants to overpromise and under deliver on a job.
Once financial conversations have happened internally, FGC will oversee the Engineering process and can work closely with the PE firms so that he budget isn’t lost during the 3rd party design process. During the RFP & RFI stage we will collect all bids and address all questions keeping the overall budget in mind. If necessary we can value engineer solutions to site conditions to help lower costs to keep the total budge on target.
Discussing a common budget will assist us in delivering an engineered solution that meets the project requirements and manage the bid process. It will also allow us to obtain real costs and present multiple bids that achieve ownership’s vision translating into a successful budget plan.
How Construction Contracts effect Data Center Budgets
Take Advantage of Cost-Plus Data Center Contracts
For larger projects FGC Construction provides a Cost-Plus Contract format. This allows the customer to check off during the project weekly on the budget, decisions being made, approve changes, and develop the end product as the project progresses. This is beneficial as the customer learns more about the project over time, they will want different technologies, layouts, and systems. All customers learn during the process, so they most certainly have different perspective during and later in the project as they did in the beginning. This process allows them to enact changes during the process.
Benefits to Budget from Cost-Plus Formats
- Budget control
- Approval/Change Order Control
- Technology Selections (Improve Facility during project)
- Direct Procurement (Use distribution channels to procure equipment)
- Team involvement, detail data floor plan to use
- Develop operations and controls systems choices for use
Direct Procurement Benefits to Budgets
FGC Construction is a channel distributor for many large lines of Electrical and Mechanical components. Therefore our cost plus customers have access to cost level below the reseller market rates. A publicly bid, or GC handled project will most likely flow through traditional procurement resellers or subcontractors. This will produce layers of margin or cost increases on the project which could be avoided.
Get on the right side of the channels for best prices of industry critical equipment components.
Please contact one of our FGC Construction Team of professionals today to help with your upcoming project.
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