As a contractor, I'm sometimes presented with challenges that seem almost impossible. Clients that set a bar so high it feels like we're breaking world records at the pole vault (here we come, LA Olympics 2028!).

Last year, one of our most longstanding clients came to us and said they wanted to get a project developed, approved, and built in six months. At first I laughed. Then I realized he was serious.

Normally, six months is a tight timeline for plan development and permitting—let alone the build out for a change-of-use on a dilapidated building.

I wasn't sure that we were going to be able to get it done. But we mobilized our team and put our heads down to make it happen.

Here's how we did it:

• All hands on deck → We threw our entire in-house architecture and engineering team on the project to get very thorough Arch/MEP/Structural plans completed in 1 month.
• Concurrent permitting → By submitting a separate set of demo plans from the main tenant improvement plans, demolition began early while reviews continued.
• Very, very accurate plans → After demolition, we discovered existing concealed conditions that needed to be updated on our plan set. We rescanned the building with our lidar scanner and we were able to reflect accurate as-built conditions. We then incorporated them into our plans during the comment period, making for an easy plan check and easy inspections.
• Plan checker coordination → Our standard practice is to set up meetings with all of our plan checkers to ensure that the comments will be accepted as we've addressed them, so that the projects don't have 2 or 3 rounds of comments with the city. Best practice for our team is to make friends not enemies of plan checkers. Get the info both parties need and move on!
• In-house architecture and engineering → Our integrated team handled plan check comments from Building/Planning/Fire/Health/zoning and utility departments in two weeks and got full approvals in one round of revisions. We were able to obtain all permits within 2 1/2 months from signed contracts.
• At-risk construction → A cost-plus model gave us flexibility to move fast and adapt to approval changes without losing momentum. There is a level of trust that you have to have with your contractor if you're going the cost plus route. After 30+ projects with this client, they knew we would treat them fairly, and that level of trust was why we were able to move as quickly as we did.
• Project management — Bryson ran this project; if you haven't worked with him, you're going to want to. Every detail—from every Delta team member, every sub, every inspector, every vendor every day—is accounted for, day in and day out. From the time we procured permits to Final Inspection it was 2 1/2 months—on a total gut of 6,500 sf, new interiors throughout, new parking lot, site work, MEP upgrades, and the list goes on.

The project itself wasn't too complex: an old DMV-turned-manufacturing facility, turned retail. That meant a change of use, triggering complete ADA upgrades, new parking requirements, and energy code requirements… no big, walk in the park for the Delta team.

The ability to get this project done on time and on budget meant we had to work as a team and fire on all cylinders. This project was extremely important to our client, so it was important to us, too.

Normally, these hurdles stall projects; people complain about plan checkers, inspectors, or subcontractors. Instead, we put our heads down, collaborated, communicated, and took a forward-thinking approach, turning a big challenge into a project we can be proud to have built.

Take care,

Aaron Baggaley & The Delta Team

CEO, Delta Family Companies