09 / Our Process

An occupied building doesn’t get a grace period.

Everybody who works in it still has to work in it tomorrow. That’s the whole problem, and most of what goes wrong on an occupied job goes wrong because the contractor forgot it.

09.A / Temperament

It isn’t a technique. It’s a temperament.

Any competent contractor can hang plastic and sequence a schedule. The thing that actually keeps a building running (the Friday call about Tuesday’s shutdown, made without being asked) isn’t in the spec, and there’s no submittal for it. That’s why occupied jobs usually go badly.
09.B / Before we're on site

How a project starts

01 Step 1 / 3

Send us what you have

Drawings, a scope, photos, or just the address and the problem. If you don’t have documents yet, that’s normal, most projects start exactly there, and it’s early enough for us to be useful.

02 Step 2 / 3

We look at it with you

We’ll walk the space, or talk it through. We don’t employ salespeople: the person who looks at your building is a principal or our lead estimator. You’ll hear what’s straightforward, what’s likely to become a problem, and what we’d do differently, before anyone talks about price.

03 Step 3 / 3

You get a number you can use

A conceptual budget you can take to an owner or a board, with what’s in it, what isn’t, and where it could move. The number that wins the job shouldn’t be the reason you regret it.

We’ll come back within one business day and tell you when you’ll have it.

Request a Conceptual Budget
09.C / Once we're on site

The occupied-job discipline

22 Years in public work
80+ Projects delivered
60+ Public agencies served · districts, cities, airports
  1. Step 01 01

    We ask what you can’t afford to lose

    Every occupied building has one thing that cannot stop. Sometimes it’s obvious. Usually it isn’t, and nobody thinks to say it out loud until it’s already been interrupted. We ask first.

  2. Step 02 02

    We phase the work by area

    The building doesn’t close. Sections of it do, one at a time, on a schedule you’ve seen and agreed to before anyone shows up with a saw.

    FIG. 01 / PHASING PLANTHE BUILDING DOESN'T CLOSE. SECTIONS OF IT DO, ONE AT A TIME.01PHASE 1 / 3123AREA AACTIVE WORKOCCUPIEDB / IN USEOCCUPIEDC / IN USEEGRESS MAINTAINED02PHASE 2 / 3123COMPLETEREOCCUPIEDAREA BACTIVE WORKOCCUPIEDC / IN USEEGRESS MAINTAINED03PHASE 3 / 3123COMPLETEREOCCUPIEDCOMPLETEREOCCUPIEDAREA CACTIVE WORKEGRESS MAINTAINEDAASECTION A–A / SEE FIG. 02ACTIVE WORK / SEALED OFFOCCUPIED / BUSINESS AS USUALCOMPLETE / REOCCUPIEDTEMPORARY BARRIER / DECK TO DECKEGRESS + RESTROOM ACCESS HELD OPENCALTEC CORPORATION · GENERAL CONTRACTOR · CSLB 852623PHASING / OCCUPIED BUILDING · N.T.S. · SHEET 01
  3. Step 03 03

    We seal the work off

    Dust barriers between what’s under construction and what’s still being used. The people on the other side of that wall should be able to do their jobs without thinking about ours.

  4. Step 04 04

    You hear it from us before you see it

    Anything that will be loud, dusty, or in the way gets communicated ahead of time, not explained afterward. You are updated as the work moves. Nobody in your building learns about a shutdown by walking into one.

  5. Step 05 05

    Your operation is the point, not the obstacle

    This is the one that isn’t a procedure. Every decision on an occupied job is a small negotiation between what’s convenient for the crew and what’s tolerable for the occupant. We decide those the same way every time.

  6. Step 06 06

    You get the file

    Public work is inspected end to end, and it generates a complete record by mandate. You get the same file a public agency gets.

    FIG. 03 / THE PROJECT RECORDPUBLIC WORK IS INSPECTED END TO END. THIS IS WHAT IT LEAVES BEHIND.SIGNED SIGN-OFFSINSPECTION & TESTING RESULTSRFIs ANSWERED BY THE DESIGN AUTHORITYSUBMITTALS WITH THE APPROVAL CHAINDAILY REPORTSPRE-CONDITION & CONCEALED-CONDITION PHOTOGRAPHSCLOSEOUTCLOSEOUT / HANDED OVER COMPLETEONE JOBYOU GET THE SAME FILEA PUBLIC AGENCY GETS.CALTEC CORPORATION · GENERAL CONTRACTOR · CSLB 852623RECORD SET / ISOMETRIC · N.T.S. · SHEET 03

Occupied work: Security Screening Checkpoint Expansion · Ontario International Airport Authority · active airport and facilities · Ontario, California