As an project owner in the independent and assisted living space, you will likely have a broad field of General Contractors and Construction managers eager to bid on your construction project. Operating at that scale, most will be professional outfits with solid business practices and reasonably well developed project management skills. If they have a professional estimating department their bids will likely be close as well, or at least in the same ballpark. So with all thing being equal, how do you choose the best contractor to whom you will award the project.

These 3 qualifications are essential.

Some builders may view Independent and Assisted Living construction as being a variation on hospitality construction. While misguided, this could be understandable in way, considering that hotels and assisted living facilities can have some elements in common (multiple individual rooms, a commercial kitchen, common areas etc) but there are aspects to independent and assisted living construction that are utterly unique to the market. Look for a General Contractor who has fully internalizes these differences.

As mentioned above, a firm’s direct experience in the assisted and independent living matters greatly but it should go without saying that the actual team to be assigned to the project is where the rubber meets the road. Be sure that the Project Executive, Project Manager and Construction Superintendent that will be working on your project have a proven track record building similar projects in the independednt and assisted living construction market along with the specialized experience required to deliver a successful project. A truly qualified independent and assisted living construction manager will have no trouble providing the resumés of the team at bid time.

When evaluating a General Contractor or Construction Manager for your independent or assisted living construction project, be sure to tap the valuable information to be found in their past client list. Construction managers should be eager to put you in touch with clients who can give candid feedback about working with them on related independent and assisted living construction projects.