Important components to a successful project

 

Having clear goals with pre-defined milestones to help keep things in perspective while providing all stakeholders a way of measuring progress throughout the project.  Everyone must be on the same page when it comes to acceptable work hours,  noise levels and 'shifting gears' at different times. Completed rooms need to be 'turned over' to hotel operations quickly while work simultaneously begins in pre-existing rooms.

Connecting goals and work standards to pre-defined objectives as they are outlined, helps to easily determine whether the project is on schedule, ahead of schedule or falling behind. A clear-cut, well thought out and uncomplicated transition from the old to the new ensures a smooth transition of guestrooms rotating in and out of inventory while work moves forward.

The only contractor who should be involved is the one who has in-depth knowledge, one who genuinely understands the scope of work being undertaken, has the resources required to meet deadline(s) and who understands budget constraints when the time comes to deal with unexpected challenges. Not to mention, the experience needed to see the project through from the start to finish.

 

Project Team

 

All projects,  large and small, have an associated cost to stakeholders such as owners,  investors and share holders. While some stakeholders may not actually be involved in the day to day operations, others will draw on their own experience and knowledge to effectively contribute to the projects' success. A process where a pool of expertise (project team),  consisting of field professionals with hands-on experience, greatly increases the possibility of a successful and timely project completion. The earlier in the planning phase each professionals is onboard, the greater chance of success.

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Time

 

Your time criteria must include a comprehensive scope-of-work assessment,  renovation planning,  obtaining quotes from qualified renovators and of course project completion.  Start and finish hours of daily work (example: 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. - with no noise being generated prior to 8:00 a.m.) should be included within your criteria.

Contrasting timeline with expected progress eliminates an additional level of stress while allowing staffers to organize and complete their work without unpleasant surprises. Inherent rewards become evident when hotel guests and day to day operations are factored in the project's timeline.  

The responsibility falls on the owner/operator to ensure quality standards are complied with as he/she sees work progress. If standards are outlined by a brand,  it is important to abide by the pre-defined benchmarks.

 

Designing your renovation

 

Once the criteria of the renovation project are established, the condition of the property must be well documented. Both building engineering and status reports need to then be completed to identify pre-existing conditions and to identify potential building code issues that may need to be addressed during the work stage or prior. This effectively allows designers and the contractor to address and/or diminish  their potential impact on the overall project.

A common (cost-cutting) mistake during renovations is omitting the engineer and status reports prior to starting the design phase. This can lead to unpleasant (and potentially costly) surprises should desired outcomes become unattainable if and when unknown pre-existing conditions arise.