A 2027 capital plan can have a defined scope and an approved budget and still run into trouble if the team hasn’t established how decisions will move through the project.
Commercial projects involve a lot of decision-makers. Ownership and asset management teams have priorities to protect. Architects, contractors and designers need information to advance their work. Procurement has lead times to manage. Operations will eventually inherit many of the decisions everyone else makes.
The answer isn’t to leave decisions open until more information appears. It’s also unrealistic to expect every detail to be final on day one.
What matters is having a strategy for each decision before the project depends on it.
Every project decision has a point when the team needs it, and that timing has consequences for the budget, documentation, procurement or schedule.
That means understanding what needs to be decided, who needs to make the call, what other work depends on the answer, and what happens to the budget or schedule if that answer changes later.
Start with the dependencies
Some decisions affect far more than the item being selected.
A material specification can affect pricing, procurement and installation. A product that requires significant lead time can affect when an order needs to be released. Architectural and engineering decisions shape the documentation contractors eventually price and build from.
The team needs to understand those dependencies early.
Long-lead products are a good example. Their lead times shouldn’t surprise a commercial design team halfway through a project. If we know a product requires additional fabrication or delivery time, we need to account for that in the project schedule and coordinate with the team so procurement can happen when it needs to.
We recently saw what happens when that coordination breaks down. On a multifamily project, the design called for a vertically retractable wall that descends from the ceiling. It’s a specialized product with a significant lead time. The product wasn’t ordered early enough to align with the project schedule, and its arrival extended beyond the planned occupancy date.
We’ve used a similar wall successfully on another commercial project. In that case, the project team recognized the requirement, planned for it and coordinated the order within the larger schedule.
The product didn’t change, the planning around it did.
That’s the kind of sequencing I care about.
A specification is also a financial decision
This becomes especially important with finishes and FF&E.
A fabric selection isn’t simply a color decision that can remain open until someone feels ready to choose it. Fabric grades have different costs. Performance requirements matter in a commercial environment. Durability, maintenance, availability and expected use all belong in the specification conversation.
The same principle applies across materials and products.
One of the advantages of working in commercial design for nearly 20 years is knowing the manufacturers and product categories we specify. We know where continuity matters, which applications require greater durability, and where availability or fabrication requirements need to enter the conversation early.
Occasionally, a manufacturer discontinues something between specification and fabrication. Field conditions change. Construction uncovers something nobody could see during design.
Those situations require adaptation. They don’t make a case for postponing decisions that the team already has enough information to make.
Our job is to develop a sound design, document it well and specify products with a reason behind them. Then, when something changes, we have a clear point of reference for deciding what happens next.
Flexibility still needs financial parameters
At Colter Park, improvements were completed across five phases, with a cohesive design direction connecting the clubhouse, amenities, outdoor spaces, FF&E and exterior updates.
Every construction decision has a financial implication.
A change can result in additional cost. Another can produce a credit. An unforeseen condition can draw from contingency. A substitution can affect more than the product being replaced.
That is why flexibility works best inside an established structure.
Ownership should know the project budget and contingency. The team should understand the approved scope and the design direction. Decisions should have deadlines tied to the work that depends on them.
Then, if conditions change, the conversation isn’t starting from scratch.
We can evaluate the change against the original objective, understand its effect on the budget and schedule, and determine what the project needs from us next.
That is a very different kind of flexibility from leaving a series of unresolved line items for later.
Good documentation creates a stronger starting point
I don’t want a project to reach construction with major design decisions unresolved simply because someone assumed we could figure them out later.
That approach creates unnecessary uncertainty for everyone trying to price, procure and execute the work.
We want the opposite. We want the design resolved to the level the project requires, supported by sound documentation and specifications the larger team can use.
That doesn’t mean the documents predict every condition the project will encounter. They can’t.
It means we have done the work available to us before construction begins.
When something does change, the team can respond to a specific condition instead of reopening decisions that should already have been made.
Decision authority needs to be clear too
Timing only works when the team knows who can make the decision.
On a multifamily project, ownership, asset management teams, third-party management, architects, contractors, designers and other partners can all have relevant input. They don’t all have the same decision rights.
The team should establish who needs to provide information, who needs to review the recommendation and who has final approval.
Operations also needs a voice where the decision affects the way the property will function after the project closes. A material that requires difficult maintenance or a product with limited replacement options creates a different operational reality than one selected solely on initial price.
Clear decision authority keeps input useful without allowing a project to stall because everyone on the table assumes someone else is making the call.
The sequencing framework
For every significant project decision, I want the team to be able to answer a few practical questions.
What other work depends on this decision? When does the project need the answer? What are the budget implications? Who has authority to approve it? If conditions force a change, what parameters should guide the response?
Those questions create a decision path without pretending the project will unfold exactly as planned.
That last part matters.
Commercial projects change. Products can become unavailable. Existing conditions can surprise us. Schedules move. A decision that made sense six months ago can encounter a condition nobody anticipated.
Experience doesn’t eliminate those realities. It changes how prepared the team is to respond to them.
A strong commercial design partner comes to the table with a clear recommendation, sound documentation, product knowledge and an understanding of the project constraints. Then we stay engaged through execution so the design can adapt without losing sight of what ownership set out to accomplish.
Good sequencing doesn’t eliminate change. It gives the team a sound plan for managing it.
For 2027 capital projects, that work starts before construction. Define the scope. Establish the budget and contingency. Identify the decisions the project depends on and when the team needs them.
Then put experienced partners on the table who know how to carry those decisions through execution.
