Successful Industrial & Commercial paving repair projects don’t happen by accident. Over our nearly 60 years of paving, we have completed our fair share of capital improvement projects. From our experience, we can help you nail down the major milestones that occur before, during, and after a paving project to ensure your customers, employees and delivery trucks have the access they need.
Read on so you can plan for success.
Before Your Paving Repair Project
Nate Olson is a paving consultant with A&A and enjoys working with property managers to make sure things go smoothly:
“This market has comprised over half of our business for as long as I can remember, it’s our specialty and we enjoy doing commercial and industrial projects.”
Nate recommends that property managers do some homework ahead of their parking lot repair project, including:
- Researching pavement contractors in your area by looking at Google Reviews
- Reviewing your capital expenditure budget and account for any changes
- Pulling records of previous asphalt paving work (for example, knowing the depth of pavement on your parking lot lets contractors know how to bid that appropriately)
- Getting at least three bids from pavement contractors that are insured and bonded
- Understanding who will be pulling permits, managing inspections, and overseeing the Management piece of the project
Don’t start this homework too late though! From day one of knowing you need paving done, it could take up to two months or more to get pavers in your commercial parking lot. The key to getting pavement projects done on time is to begin steps 1-5 above as early as possible – meaning now!
According to Nate:
“The best contractors are busy and can be completely booked by July… if they’re not busy in July it makes you wonder why?”
Before we bid a project, we do a walkthrough to assess your property’s needs. We ask that the property manager and or facility manager join us to make sure that we’re all on the same page. We’ll then develop a detailed proposal complete with pictures and colored maps to show exactly where the work will happen. We highly recommend involving your A&A pavement consultant in any project meetings with regional executives or property owners so that we can answer any questions that those individuals may have.
Once you’ve signed a contract, you’ll want to make sure your pavement consultant is aware of your business’ weekly calendar including:
- Other projects that may impact paving (such as roofing)
- Garbage days
- Landscaping /mowing schedule
- Delivery Truck Schedules (both incoming and outgoing)
We then put together the permit package and application and drop them off with the city.
During Your Paving Repair Project
It usually takes between two to four weeks (depending on the city) for our permits to come through. Once we’re green-lighted by the city we schedule your pavement project in our production queue based on when your contract was signed. Another reason to start steps 1-5 early!
The key to success from here is setting expectations and communicating clearly with everyone impacted by the project.
Nate says: “Communication with pavement owners, managers, and employees is key. Our communication process at A&A ensures that we are all on the same page!”
Sometimes that means putting up additional signage or notices to keep everyone in the loop.
“Without proper communication, these projects can implode quickly and cause headaches for your employees and customers.”
After Your Paving Repair Project
After your pavement project is completed, our crews will clean up the job site and remove any barricades they set out. Your Pavement Consultant will then do a walk-through of the completed project with you to make sure that you are satisfied with the job. If you are, it is always appreciated that you do a Google review to join the other 135+ clients property managers know who to hire and who to avoid.
Find Pavers Who Care
We know that any capital improvement project can cause headaches for employees, customers and the property manager. Any paver can lay asphalt, but the best pavers care about going the extra mile to properly educate and communicate with everyone involved.
