Concrete Construction Products

Concrete construction products play a vital role in modern construction. Without concrete, virtually no building in the United States could be successfully constructed.

Concrete construction products include some of the most critical elements of a building. The slab, or foundation, of virtually every building is concrete. The slab, which serves as the base of the structure, is designed to hold up the rest of the building while wiring and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and plumbing pipes run through it. In many buildings, the supporting structure of the building is also made of concrete building products. The columns and frame of the building can be made of concrete instead of more expensive steel.

Concrete construction products are used in projects of all design methods. The traditional method is to use the design/bid/build approach, where an architect or engineer oversees the project. They handle the design, produce construction drawings, oversee bids and contracts and the building process itself. The links between the architect, the client and the main contractor are direct. The contractor can win a project through the lowest blind bid or through the construction manager at-risk method, where the contractor guarantees to deliver the project within a guaranteed maximum price. Instead of simply serving as construction manager, the contractor also serves as a consultant to the owner during the design and development processes.

The design-build method has been increasing in popularity over the past decade. In design-build, the owner doesn't hire an architect to design the project, then seeks bids from a contractor. In this case, the owner solicits bids from a architect/contractor teams, who develop their own designs and include complete design and construction costs in their bids. This is different from the traditional process, where the architect completes the design before the contractors put in their bids. In this case, both the architect and contractor have a say in the use of concrete construction products.

In the management procurement method, the owner holds the greatest amount of control. Instead of hiring an architect to handle the project in construction, or hiring a consortium, the owner oversees every part of the process. They hire the architect, the construction manager and, in many cases, the subcontractors. Proponents of this method believe it speeds up the procurement process and increases flexibility throughout the building process.

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