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Advantages of Design-Build Construction for Your Project

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What’s the not-so-secret recipe for successfully completing construction projects on time and under budget? That would be teamwork, plain and simple.

Teamwork in integral to the design-build construction services that we offer at Leon Williams Contractors, your Maryville construction expert. This involves a collaborative approach where our team works hand-in-hand with an outside design firm from the start of a project.

The Design-Build Institute of America describes the design-build model as an effective way to streamline the construction process:

The owner manages only one contract with a single point of responsibility. The designer and contractor work together from the beginning, as a team, providing unified project recommendations to fit the owner’s schedule and budget. Any changes are addressed by the entire team, leading to collaborative problem-solving and innovation, not excuses or blame-shifting.

This approach allows for increased cooperation and coordination as the project proceeds — minimizing delays, reducing costs and mistakes, and reducing paperwork. We’ve put the approach to work for many clients throughout East Tennessee.

Not every contractor is suited to provide construction design-build services. It requires a team-oriented mindset. At Leon Williams, we believe the foundation of a successful project is reliable communication and attentive on-site management.

This carries over into our day-to-day operations throughout the lifespan of a project — from site design and to carrying out the final punch list, we listen, respond to concerns, and help solve problems before they because costly issues. A project isn’t complete until we’ve met all the expectations of the project owner.

If you’re interested in learning how our design-build construction services could benefit your next project, contact Leon Williams Contractors today.

 

Leon Williams Believes in the Power of Client Relationships

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Leon Williams Contractors LLC is proud to be the Maryville construction expert, serving our hometown and all East Tennessee. Want to know what we’re proudest of? The relationships we’ve made along the way.

For more than 30 years, we’ve built restaurants and churches and businesses and facilities for some of the region’s universities. Leon Williams, our founder, has been involved in construction even longer. He started out working with his father and uncle, in 1964, before founding the business that became Leon Williams Contractors in 1986.

Today, Leon Williams Contractors continues to embody his promise to only provide the highest levels of value and quality. We commit to:

  • Attentive on-site management
  • Reliable communication
  • Providing quality
  • Acting with high ethical standards.

When it comes to any commercial construction project, you need a trustworthy contractor. Without attention to details, small mistakes can snowball to huge problems down the road. If you’re building a new church, a new office, or just want your facility renovated, you shouldn’t have to worry about these issues.

That’s where we come in. Leon Williams Contractors will treat your project like it’s our own. As proven value-engineering experts, we’ll be on the lookout for potential problems, working with our clients to simplify the building process and get them more bang for the buck by finding ways to get the most out of their money. Most of all, we promise to listen and always act in the best interests of our clients.

In our decades in the business, Leon Williams has become an expert at preventing problems before they start. We’ll treat you like a partner, and we’ll listen to you concerns. Contact Leon Williams Contractors online or give us a call at (865) 982-1734 to learn more.

Renovation can Give Your Commercial Facility a New Lease on Life

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After a commercial facility has seen decades of service and is showing its age, it’s natural for the owners to consider whether the best path forward might be to construct a new building.

This is a decision that shouldn’t be made lightly. It can be more cost-effective to update and renovate the existing space rather than going through the expense of locating and purchasing new property and then constructing a new building. The experts at Leon Williams Contractors, a Maryville construction firm, have decades of experience working with business owners to find the most efficient and affordable solutions for their facility needs.

Take Stock

The choice to renovate or build a new facility starts by evaluating the current property and the needs of the business. Do you need expanded space or to just refresh the facility or tweak the layout for more efficiency?

Whatever the condition of the facility and the property it currently occupies, Leon Williams Contractors can perform a comprehensive site assessment to provide the information needed to prevent unexpected expenses during a building project.

For example, if the space doesn’t meet current building codes, necessary improvements will have to be factored into the plans. It’s more economical to address those concerns up front than in the middle of a construction project.

Another question is what is the state of the building’s mechanical systems? They might be in good enough shape to continue serving the space for years longer, but an investment in new systems can pay for itself in reduced long-term operating costs. The Leon Williams team will talk facility owners through all of their options, identifying possible cost savings and providing the insight to avoid surprises during the building process.

We Can Help

Since 1964, Leon Williams Contractors has been designing and building commercial facilities throughout East Tennessee. Ready to learn how we can help? Visit www.lwcontractorstn.com or call (865) 982-1734.

Protecting the Community During the Coronavirus Pandemic

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Leon Williams Contractors is dedicated to protecting its employees and the public from the spread of COVID-19. We enforce workplace standards and procedures as recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to prevent infection.

To protect our workers and clients, we are limiting the number of individuals present onsite and requiring they practice social distancing. We’ve also distributed supplies of disinfectant and hand sanitizer to each jobsite.

In addition, all workers are required to clean their hands frequently and anyone with a temperature or symptoms of sickness is not allowed to work. We continue to monitor the situation and follow guidelines provided by city, state and federal governments.

The construction industry as a whole takes coronavirus seriously. Leon Williams remains committed to protecting our communities during this time.

As a provider of essential services, Leon Williams Contractors is ready to help with your commercial construction needs. For more information, see us online or give us a call at (865) 982-1734.

Avoid construction headaches with Leon WIlliams Contractors.

The Top 3 Construction Headaches, and How to Avoid Them

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When beginning a new commercial construction project, it’s easy to be unaware of some common challenges. With more than 30 years as a Maryville commercial construction company, we’ve worked tirelessly to provide superior service, protecting our clients across the East Tennessee region from headaches. Here are a few of the most common mistakes to avoid:

A Bad Relationship Between Structure and Site

Where a building sits on its lot is almost as important as its construction. Whether a client is building a house, a church or a fast food franchise, site design is a critical part of how the building looks, acts and behaves. For some projects, the way a building is positioned can even have an effect on its success. The site can be optimized to make a building work better for its occupants, no matter what purpose It serves.

Budgets That Keep Growing and Growing

When a project becomes more complex, those costs get transferred to the client. With value engineering, we can help figure out ways to finish our clients’ projects on budget and without compromising on quality. It’s just one of the things we’re doing to keep our clients happy with every job.

Unlicensed Contractors that Disappear, or Worse

If you use an unlicensed contractor for your project, you’re playing a very expensive game of roulette. Whether they get injured on the job, damage materials or structures, install code-breaking electrical or plumbing infrastructure or just skip town with the check, unlicensed contractors are never the safest choice for your investment. We can’t tell you how to spend your money, but as a leading Maryville commercial construction company, we know what we’d choose: a licensed, bonded and insured contractor who you can trust to get the job done right.

When you need a contractor for your next East Tennessee project, choose the experts at Leon Williams Contractors. We’ve been a trusted name in the region for more than 30 years, and we have the experience to back up our reputation. Contact Leon Williams to learn more.

Design-Build Communication Advantages

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The success of commercial construction projects depends on teamwork and the ability of all the parties involved to cooperate and communicate. This doesn’t always happen.

In traditional commercial construction projects, a developer starts by hiring an engineer or architect to design a facility, and then puts it out to bid to find a contractor to build it. This model often leads to confrontational projects. If something goes wrong, the designer and contractor can end up trying to blame each other. If the plans are missing details or information, the contractor can request additional funds and/or time in order provide the additional work. Often the contractor is forced to play this game in order to have a competitive edge against other bidding contractors.

What is Design-Build Construction?

There is another way. Commercial developers can enlist the help of a design-build construction team — meaning a construction firm works with a designer from the start of the project. As Design-Build Institute of America notes, the design-build model can allow for a more streamlined, efficient construction process:

The owner manages only one contract with a single point of responsibility. The designer and contractor work together from the beginning, as a team, providing unified project recommendations to fit the owner’s schedule and budget. Any changes are addressed by the entire team, leading to collaborative problem-solving and innovation, not excuses or blame-shifting. While single-source contracting is the fundamental difference between design-build and the old ways, equally important is the culture of collaboration inherent in design-build.

Improved Teamwork and Communication

At Leon Williams Contractors, we’ve found that a design-build construction approach offers significant advantages to our clients in East Tennessee. It allows for a higher level of cooperation and coordination between the contractor and the designer.

A design-build construction team can make better, more informed decisions, improve the efficiency of work that needs to be done — and minimize the paperwork, delays, and cost of fixing problems that can result from coordination problems between two companies.

We have decades of design-build construction experience in East Tennessee. If you want to learn more about the advantages of partnering with a design-build construction team, contact Leon Williams Contractors today.