As profit margins drop past the 2% mark, general contractors are compelled to look for more innovative ways to drive profitability. Recently, I learned of a GC that hired a third party services firm to photo-document its work on a large school project and passed the cost onto the owner with a slight markup. While I see the rationale behind adding value-added services as a way to improve revenue, I find this particular choice questionable.
Construction Photo-documentation firms offer a valuable combination of construction knowledge and photography services to owner/developers who lack the experience and resources to scrutinize the construction of their buildings. Most also offer a deliverable that includes construction photos delivered via the web.
However, does this make sense for a GC? Can these firms offer expertise that the GC doesn?t already have on staff? Do they hold the secrets to construction photography that a GC can?t match with a $500 camera purchase�and a basic photography course at a local community college (or even online)? The answers are obviously no and no.
So, therefore, the missing piece of the puzzle must be the ability to deliver construction photos with a web interface offers more than a link to a Sharepoint folder. If a GC could deliver a comprehensive package of photos to an owner that offered a complete record of as-built construction and critical installation details, now that would be valuable.
And now, the GC can offer just such a deliverable. In my next post I will describe how Geedra enables GC?s to self perform the photo documentation of their projects, and in doing so transforms an overhead cost, into a value-add service that boosts profitability.
Tags: construction, construction photo documentation, construction photography, construction photos, Gafcon, Geedra, general contractors, MultiVista, qualitybuilt, self perform
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