Identifying a need to add on, restore, renovate, or build a new church, mosque, synagogue or temple is an exciting endeavor – your community is growing and your building must evolve to meet the needs of your congregants. But trying to please everyone is challenging, and the board has a lot on its plate already. What are some of the best ways to plan for a commercial construction project where a board or building committee is taking the lead?

Here are some tips on how to best drive a construction project for your temple or church:

  • Involve a general contractor early – Get a general contractor/ construction manager involved early in the process to give the board a ballpark sense of pricing. Knowing the amount of capital you need to raise and what you can afford is essential.
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  • Build in Phases – Often congregations believe they need to raise all of the capital for the entire project first. But that’s not necessarily the best approach. Building in phases is something we do all of the time, and it helps your congregants to see the progress. As an example, if you are planning to renovate ten classrooms, we can complete one in its entirety to give the community a taste of what’s to come.
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  • Single Point of Contact – Choose a single point of contact from the board or your building committee to be the liaison with your general contractor. You want your GC to be clear about who to take orders from, and assigning one person to serve that role will save time and money. You should expect the same from your general contractor.
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  • Contingency Fund – Set funds aside for requests that come along the way. As the project begins and congregants see the progress, rest assured the requests will begin coming in as well. No organization wants to disappoint their congregants and donors, and often the larger the institution the more requests you’ll receive. Keep some money aside for those requests so you can adjust as needed during construction versus after the fact.
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  • Set expectations – Make sure your GC is clear about the expectations of their team members during the building process. For example, there might be certain times of the day, certain days of the week or certain times of the year where the noise level needs to be kept down or work needs to stop completely. Or, if you want to ensure the construction workers aren’t smoking or using foul language on the job site, be sure to communicate that upfront so the construction management company can share that with the team, including subcontractors who might be involved as well.
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  • Board decision making and autonomy – Your membership will want to be involved in the process and help in any way they can. Sometimes a congregant might want to donate materials, which could potentially be a cost savings. But what if the carpet, for example, is appropriate for residential use but not commercial. Or what if one of your donors is in the plumbing business and is willing to donate labor for the project. Perhaps he or she is willing to provide a discount if awarded the project. It’s a good idea to set ground rules upfront so there are no conflicts of interest.
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  • Keep Your Eye on the Ball – Often when there are a lot of cooks in the kitchen, it’s easy to get hung up on small details. When building for hundreds, if not thousands in a religious community, it’s hard to please everyone all the time. One congregant might care a lot about the color tile in the bathroom, while another will have a strong opinion on where the kids area should be. In these situations, we suggest communicating early and often with your membership, to help everyone stay focused on the big picture.
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Hopefully these tips are helpful to your temple or church board or building committee as you consider your construction project. You might also find our post on contract types helpful while you’re determining how to best work with your general contractor. Good luck on your project!

Church Construction - Spiegelglass Construction