01
Budgeting & Estimating
Preliminary budgets from schematic drawings or a scope narrative, refined through design development into detailed estimates with quantity takeoffs and clearly stated assumptions, exclusions, and allowances.
Preconstruction
NYC preconstruction services and general contracting.
AGC NYC works with owners and development teams before construction begins — reviewing constructability, developing scope and budget, planning procurement and logistics, and building a schedule that reflects what the drawings, the building, and the city will actually allow. We do this as the general contractor who will build the job, not as an outside consultant.
- Developers
- Property Owners
- Commercial Property Managers
- Institutional Clients
- Commercial Tenants
- Mixed-Use & Residential Owners
01 — Overview
Bring the builder in before the drawings are final
Most cost surprises in New York construction are decided long before a crew mobilizes — in details that were never coordinated, scope that fell between trades, filings that were not sequenced, or long-lead equipment ordered too late. Preconstruction is where those issues are cheapest to solve.
AGC NYC engages during design and planning to price the work as it develops, test whether the details can be built in the field, and identify the scope gaps, site constraints, and agency requirements that shape the schedule. Because we are the general contractor who carries the project into construction, the assumptions behind the budget are the same ones we build to.
Preconstruction suits commercial buildouts, capital improvements, institutional facilities, mixed-use projects, and major residential work across Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island — including occupied buildings where phasing and access drive the plan.
02 — Capabilities
What preconstruction covers.
02
Constructability Review
A field-level read of the drawings and specifications — details that conflict, assemblies that cannot be installed as drawn, missing dimensions, and coordination issues between architectural, structural, and MEP documents, raised while they are still drawing revisions rather than change orders.
03
Scope Development & Value Engineering
Trade-by-trade scope definition so every item is carried by someone and nothing is bid twice, with alternates and substitutions presented as options — cost, schedule, and performance trade-offs stated plainly for the owner and design team to decide.
04
Bid & Subcontractor Coordination
Qualified subcontractor solicitation, apples-to-apples bid leveling, scope interviews, and coordination with the architect and engineers on clarifications raised during bidding.
05
Scheduling, Procurement & Logistics
A construction schedule built around real durations, filing and inspection milestones, long-lead material and equipment procurement, and site logistics — sidewalk sheds, hoisting, freight windows, staging, and phasing around occupied space.
06
Existing Conditions & Agency Coordination
Site and existing-condition review, survey of what the building actually presents versus what is drawn, and coordination of DOB, FDNY, DOH, and LPC requirements with the design team and our in-house expediters so filings track the schedule.
03 — Process
How we build.
01
Feasibility & First Budget
We review the site, program, and available drawings and issue an early budget range with the risks and unknowns identified in writing.
02
Design Coordination
As the documents develop we re-price, run constructability review, coordinate trades and agency requirements, and test value engineering options with the design team.
03
Buyout & Handoff
Bids are leveled, scopes awarded, long-lead items released, and the schedule locked — then the same principal and superintendent carry the project into construction.
04 — Related Projects
See the work.
05 — Related Services
Often part of the same scope.
Commercial Construction
Once the budget and schedule are set, we carry commercial buildouts, capital improvements, and institutional projects through construction and closeout.
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New Home Construction
Ground-up residential projects where feasibility, foundations, and DOB sequencing are worked out before excavation begins.
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Home Extensions
Additions, expansions, and cellar conversions where early review of existing structure and zoning shapes what is worth pursuing.
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06 — Questions
What owners ask us first.
When should a general contractor be brought into a project?
As early as the schematic stage. Once a site is under contract or a program is defined, a contractor can test feasibility and cost against real field conditions. Waiting until permit drawings are complete means design decisions with cost consequences have already been made.
Can you provide a budget before construction drawings are complete?
Yes. We produce preliminary budgets from schematic drawings, a scope narrative, or a walkthrough, with assumptions and exclusions stated. Accuracy improves as the documents develop, and we re-price at each milestone so the owner sees how design decisions move the number.
How does constructability review reduce change orders?
Most change orders trace back to drawings that were incomplete, conflicting, or impossible to build as detailed. Reviewing the documents against field reality before bidding lets those items be resolved as drawing revisions — coordinated by the design team — rather than as field directives priced under schedule pressure.
How do you identify scope gaps and cost risk?
We break the project into trade scopes and confirm every item is carried by exactly one trade. Gaps typically appear at trade boundaries — patching, blocking, fire-stopping, controls, final connections — and in existing conditions that differ from the drawings. Those items are listed, priced or carried as allowances, and tracked.
How do you coordinate with architects, engineers, and consultants?
We participate in design meetings, submit comments and RFIs against the developing documents, and coordinate MEP and structural interfaces. The design team retains authorship of the design; we contribute cost, sequencing, and constructability input as the builder.
What happens when preconstruction moves into construction?
The estimate becomes the contract sum, the preconstruction schedule becomes the baseline, awarded subcontractor scopes become the buyout, and the team stays intact — a superintendent on site with a principal reachable directly. Nothing is re-learned by a new group at mobilization.
Do you offer preconstruction across all five boroughs?
Yes — Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Borough and building-specific factors such as landmark review, street access, and building rules are addressed during preconstruction rather than discovered on site.
Planning a project that hasn't broken ground?
Send us the site, the program, and whatever drawings exist — even schematic. We'll tell you what we would need to price it and where the risk sits.
studio@agcnyc.com