20 Steps to a Successful Project

“20 steps to a successful project”


The building process:

Prayer: Call the leadership to prayer concerning possible building or expansion program.

Leadership summit: This meeting should be called to specifically review and analyze strengths and weaknesses of the church facility in relationship to current and future programs and ministries.

Inform Congregation: Call for a congregational meeting to share the findings of the leadership summit concerning the facility deficiencies and strengths. Use this meeting to select a building committee (see Exhibit “A”) with the specific directive to prepare a project feasibility report to further explore and determine the validity and necessity of a building or expansion program. Empower this committee to select a qualified Developer/Building consultant to assist them with this study. The purpose of this study should be to gather all the facts that will be pertinent to the technical systems of a building program.

Build your team: Select your building committee. The greatest mistake is underestimating the number of professions they must deal with. Your newly selected committee will have to have contact with the following consultants:

Real estate agents, Soils engineers, Surveyors, EPA audit requirements & possible wetland concerns, Municipal zoning and planning boards, Municipal water and sanitary departments, State and/or local fire marshals, Architects, Landscaping architect, Engineers, General contractors, Attorneys, Bankers, Audio/video, and acoustic engineers, Church furnishings and seating manufactures representatives, Recreational equipment representatives, Computer technicians & installers, Phone systems and network representatives

Because of the diversity of consultants required for a successful project, it is very important to select members of your building committee who are going to be capable of interacting with each of the above. A building committee should be setup with two structures, structure “A” should be an oversight committee of just a few people. (Three to five men and/or women) This committee will ultimately act as the appointed body to conduct business as a steering committee for the various technical and ministry subcommittees that will need to be selected. Each member of this subcommittee should be able to articulate the vision and ministry of the church as it pertains to these committees. They should have a complete understanding of what the leadership needs to have a facility that will be effective for ministry. Pray concerning your final choices. Who you select and how you structure your building committee can determine the success or failure of your project.


Church Consultant: Interview and select a qualified development building consultant to assist the feasibility committee. The role of the consultant at this stage should be one of an advisory capacity. He should be able to advise the building committee on the specifics necessary to develop a detailed feasibility report. (See Exhibit “C”) To develop a good feasibility report the building committee should concentrate on the following areas:

Property and grounds

A complete review of the condition, strengths and weaknesses of current facilities and how they relate to ministry.

In-depth review of all current and/or future parking requirements. Careful attention should be paid to all ingress and egress problems, merge lanes, etc.
Review all current and future recreational needs. This should include all ball fields, volleyball, horseshoe pits, soccer fields, amphitheater, etc. You should determine if there is adequate property to meet ministry objectives.
A comprehensive analysis of the site and its peculiar characteristics. This portion of the study should concentrate on the following:

The site location and characteristics. It should include survey maps and plots identifying the specific site in the overall plot plan for the area.

The total owned acreage as well as possible acreage to be acquired should also be addressed.

A complete analysis of the surrounding community activities. “What’s happening to the immediate neighborhood and how does this factor into the ministry, vision and mission of the church?”

Present and future regulatory planning and concerns. This portion of the study should concentrate on the following:

Type of Zoning: The zoning issue is a critical one because of the types of ministries the church is likely to have. How is the land currently designated. This is important especially if the church is interested in starting daycare centers, latchkey, adult daycare, assisted living or venturing into retail properties to be used as rental income. Most zoning laws will allow churches but not moneymaking ministries, which is viewed as retail businesses.

Urban structure: How has the city designated your land. Some municipalities create empowerment zones that may have monetary benefit to the church if the ministries are properly structured. A complete investigation needs to be performed to see if there are any advantages or disadvantages to the church.

Transportation and accessibility: Are the ingress and egress roads under local, county, state or federal maintenance? Will the church be responsible for upgrading the roads or installing merge lanes when larger facilities are built? These are potentially costly issues that need to be addressed early in the process.

Special municipal considerations: The committee needs to find out if the church is under any special type of ordinance that could apply to the property. If the property is close to the airport, they could be under a restricted height ordinance. If a portion of the property is deemed wetlands, this portion would be completely off limits to use of any kind, protected at the churches expense, and could possibly encroach heavily upon usable acreage. Again, special landscaping ordinances, merge lanes, and fire zones where high impact tap fees are enforced, as well as road and property impact fees, could all have a major impact upon the usability of the property.

Current utility services:

It should be determined what the capacity of current sanitary systems is. Can it be expanded if necessary? Even if you are on city sewer, check with the city to make certain their system can handle the additional loads. Is current sewer line large enough to handle increased capacity?
Water system: The question should be asked whether there is adequate volume and pressure to handle the new facilities requirements? What about capacity and tap or impact fees?

Electrical services: Size and location of current electrical service.

Construction Plan: There are different construction methods that can be used to develop a design/build plan for the church. Determine the type of construction method that best suits your congregation and select the appropriate professional consultants. It is very important that the selected firm has cutting edge technology. Recent technological advancements have made it possible to view the building prior to construction using an animated 3d virtual walkthrough video to see what the actual financed product is going to be. The advantages of using this technology are numerous. By seeing ahead of time what you are building, a multitude of change orders can be eliminated due to poor communication and misunderstanding. The video can also be used to enhance the stewardship campaign. Ninety-eight per cent of the congregation will not be able to read blueprints, but will clearly understand the building when presented in a 3d animated video. The video can also be used to educate the various subcontractors who will be bidding on the job, allowing them to see how certain details and transitions will take place. Since they can see the finished product, they will give tighter bids, thus producing an overall lower cost to the church. It should be a requirement that any firm selected have the capability to provide this type of technology as part of their standard package.
There are several methods used to perform construction today, however, the two following methods are the most commonly used to build churches today:

Architect/General Contractor: Their job is to draw the prints and, depending upon their contract, send them out for competitive bidding. When this method, is used, a church selects an architect to design their facility. Once drawn, the architect may act as an agent for the church by sending the finished prints out for bid, after which a general contractor is hired by the church to execute the physical construction. The architect’s role during the building process will be one of oversight and management.

Strengths: The architect is responsible for making sure the building is built to the specifications that he has specified. At an additional cost he can over- see the construction process as an independent agent for the church.

Weaknesses: The prints are normally developed without the input of the builder, who can assist in determining the most cost effective method of building your project. The architect will not guarantee the final cost of the building. There are several examples where prints had to be thrown away because they could not meet the budget expectation of the church. The main weakness is the church must take responsibility to coordinate all the other required professionals. The terminology “competitive bidding” is a process that does not necessarily mean the church is getting competitive bids. Using an architect only to design the project has been proven time and again that this is the most expensive way to build.

Questions to ask an architect:

Will you charge to redraw the blueprints if the bids will not meet your defined budget?

Do you include audio/visual/theatrical lighting and acoustic design? If not, who is financially responsible for the coordination of this trade?

Is a virtual 3d walkthrough of the facility included as part of your standard fee?

If not, what is the additional charge?

Will you guarantee the final cost of the project?

Do you carry errors and omissions insurance?

Will you be financially responsible for any errors and omissions due to architectural or engineering or code compliant errors?

Design/Build: This method is a team approach where one firm incorporates the services of an architect, engineer and builder under one contract. This means that your whole team is selected in the beginning of the project and can work together during the design phase to design the building in the most cost-effective manner. One company is responsible to meet the requirements of the entire building project, from project design to building closeout. Some design/build agreements will include a guaranteed maximum price clause to assure the church of a ceiling for base construction.

Strengths: This method requires all the consultants to work together at their expense to properly design and build your new facility. They are responsible, not the owner, for information coordination between each other. They are responsible for meeting the budget requirements. They are responsible for the final cost of the project. The architect, engineer, and general contractor are all now equally financially responsible to the owner to make certain all design parameters are met.

Weaknesses: The design/build team is now responsible for defining the cost of the project. Typically, this is viewed as a weakness because of the lack of competitive bidding. However, most communities have defined square foot parameters for building specific types of buildings. If the design team final cost falls within these parameters, then the strengths will overcome this weakness.

Questions to ask the design/build team:

Will you charge to redraw the blueprints if the bids will not meet budget?

Do you include audio/visual/theatrical lighting and acoustic design? If not, who is responsible for the coordination of this trade?

Will you guarantee the final cost of the project?

Is a virtual 3d walkthrough of the facility included as part of your standard fee?

If not, what is the additional charge?

Do you carry errors and omissions insurance?

Will you be financially responsible for any errors and omissions due to architectural or engineering or code compliant errors?

How can I be certain that I am getting the most competitive pricing on my project?

What type of contract will you use between the owner, your consultants, subcontractors, and suppliers?

Will you be responsible for the kitchen equipment, seating, furnishings and special equipment requirements of the building?

Building Program: Once the construction is selected, initiate workshops to develop a comprehensive project requirement guide. These workshops are very important to the final integrity of your project. It is during these workshops that all of the project requirements will be confirmed and satisfied. Costly change orders occur during a project, because ministry needs were left out during the design phase. If you spend the time to look at each facet of your project during these workshops, then you can practically eliminate change orders during the construction phase of the project.

Tests & Reports: Soils testing, EPA reports, land topography and surveys, zoning requirements, site electric, drainage, sanitary and service requirements, and other pertinent information relating to the project should be gathered at this time and factored into the project budget.

Financial's: Prepare financials as referenced previously and distribute to banks to determine the borrowing strength of the church. This along with “cash in hand” or the success of a stewardship program, will determine the preliminary budget for the building. Share with building committee.

Stewardship Consultant: Interview and select a stewardship consultant to begin planning the stewardship campaign. Make certain that this committee governs their progress to match the other components of the building process. Plan a campaign schedule that is compatible with the other consultants.

Define preliminary square footages: Have the construction team prepare an approximate square footage requirement to meet the needs of the project as defined by the workshops and reflected in the master programming guide. This is very important to maintain the integrity of the budget. A square footage cost range should be developed and agreed to ahead of time. Upon review, the square footage number can be turned into a preliminary estimated budget amount and balanced with the project requirements. This then can determine overall estimated project cost.
Cost Versus need Workshop: If the estimated project cost is too high, then the needs can be reevaluated during this workshop. Ministry requirements are now balanced against financial strength. Phasing of the project may be necessary to incorporate all the necessary ministry requirements. This planning stage and the preliminary plan can now be designed to meet both needs and budget.

Preliminary Plan: Develop a preliminary plan that reflects the scope of work as defined by the final planning guide prepared during the cost versus need workshop.
Plan Review workshop: This is a very important workshop necessary for all involved ministry leaders. Along with the building committee, they can review and give final approval to the preliminary plans. It may be necessary to have two or possibly three workshops to develop a final preliminary plan that satisfies all the ministry and budget requirements. Take your time, this planning and review process will eliminate costly errors during the construction phase of your building program. Once satisfied, sign off on your final preliminary prints.

3D Animated Video: From the approved preliminary plans, a 3d animated video can be produced to show the congregation the final approved plan. It can also be used in the stewardship campaign.

Funding secured: Review the projections of cash in hand, the stewardship campaign and borrowing strength to determine financial strength. Get a letter of commitment from the selected bank prior to committing to working drawings.

Working drawings: During this phase of the project the various committees should be working with the various consultants (Stewardship, Audio/visual/theatrical lighting, decorating, seating, etc) to make certain these items are factored into the final working drawings. A critical path schedule should be developed to make certain that the architects and engineers have the proper information prior to the time it’s needed.

Contracts signed: Construction contract signed and the project can begin.
Groundbreaking ceremony: This ceremony should be scheduled just prior to equipment move-in and project start. Lots of excitement will be generated.

Construction Started: Church should turn it over to the selected professionals to now do their job.