Cutting Costs and Avoiding Delays with Constructability Reviews

The City of Los Angeles is renowned for having some of the most stringent building codes for high-rise construction in the nation. This often presents numerous challenges for construction projects, including the involvement of large, specialized design teams that can create silos during the design development process. These silos may result in uncoordinated design documentation, ultimately leading to costly change orders and scheduling delays if not addressed during pre-construction. For general contractors and real estate developers, the key question is: how can these problems be prevented before they arise?

That’s exactly where a constructability review comes in. At David Fields Consulting Services, our OPTSTRUCTION constructability review process stress-tests your project plans by verifying inter- and cross-discipline design coordination along with construction realities — reducing risks before ground is ever broken.

What is a Constructability Review?

A constructability review is essentially a reality check for your design documents. It addresses one simple question: Are the design documents coordinated, and can they facilitate efficient construction? Unlike a plan check, it examines how drawings, specifications, and systems interact under actual construction conditions.

Pre-construction constructability reviews do more than identify technical conflicts. They bridge the gap between design intent and actual execution, providing owners and project teams with practical, actionable insights that help prevent costly surprises later.

The Real Value During Pre-Construction

Here’s what you actually gain when you invest in a pre-construction constructability review:

Checklist and Procedure: What’s Reviewed?

A comprehensive constructability review checklist addresses every layer of planning. Using the OPTSTRUCTION methodology, our team thoroughly examines:

• Major System Overlays  — Overlay and review the alignment of major building systems across disciplines and provide marked-up .pdf documents with commentary. These overlays help validate that design documents support of important coordination aspects.

• Systematic Design Document Review  — A thorough analysis of the project documents. This step focuses on document completion and cross-discipline coordination.

• Project Specific Constructability Review & QC — Review based on knowledge and experience as a technical builder and QC of systematic results.

• Basis of Design Verification — Validate that the design documents align with the Basis of Design and owner project requirements.

• Team Support and Implementation Validation — Assist the project team with improvement implementation and back-check of follow-on design documents.

By applying this framework, a standard building construction project plan template transforms into a practical roadmap for execution.

Best Practices That Make Reviews Work

From our best practices guide, several key lessons stand out:

• Start reviews early in the design development, not as an afterthought

• Break down silos between disciplines—most issues live at the overlaps.

• Scope reviewers carefully so expertise matches the task.

• Engage specialized consultants for areas like waterproofing and permitting.

• Summarize the results clearly, so that teams see priorities, not just a list of comments.

These practices ensure that reviews aren’t just theoretical, they become active tools for improving both documentation and execution.

How to Choose the Right Constructability Review Services Provider

Selecting a partner for constructability review services is one of the most critical decisions in the pre-construction process. A capable provider should be able to provide highly detailed but cost effective insights into design documentation quality and be able to collaboratively work with the team on improvement implementation.

For example, a strong review doesn’t just flag that the waterproofing details lack sufficient detail, it offers recommendations relative to best next steps to implement improvements that translate into a more complete and coordinated design, reducing future scope gaps.

When providers deliver insights like these, a review ceases to be a mere formality and becomes a genuine tool for reducing risk and ensuring project success.

Why David Fields Consulting Services and OPTSTRUCTION Make a Difference

At David Fields Consulting Services LLC, our OPTSTRUCTION methodology takes constructability reviews further than a simple audit. We integrate seamlessly into project planning to ensure that our recommendations are practical, actionable, and aligned with your team’s goals.

Our track record speaks for itself: more than 500,000 square feet of developments and over $400 million in project value supported across California. Every review is guided by David Fields, a licensed contractor and veteran project leader, ensuring evaluations are grounded in real construction knowledge. As part of our outsourced consulting services, we provide an independent perspective with fresh eyes that catch what internal teams often miss.

What sets us apart is our commitment to deliverables and follow-through. From overlays and marked-up documents to concise executive summaries, our reviews provide clear roadmaps. We don’t stop there: our team remains engaged during design revisions and early construction, ensuring that recommendations are not just noted but also implemented.

Beyond reviews, our services also include owner’s representation, procurement oversight, and feasibility studies making us a long-term partner, not just a one-time consultant.

Turning Planning into Certainty

A constructability review is more than check in the box. It’s a safeguard against schedule delays, cost overruns, and avoidable disputes. By integrating reviews into your building construction project plan template, you move from reactive problem-solving to proactive project control.

With the right constructability review services in place, you don’t just plan — you de-risk, streamline, and deliver with confidence. At David Fields Consulting, we specialize in transforming early-stage plans into strategies that work in the field. Ready to protect your investment? Schedule a free consultation today.