Post 5: External cladding, Internal services rough in and Internal linings.
Hi, welcome to our fifth of several blog posts detailing the construction of our brand new 8 chair purpose built dental facility. We’re in the home stretch now with the building at the lock-up stage and the internal fit out well underway. The builders are running ahead of schedule and we should be moving in soon.
We have visited the site several times along with our senior staff over the past month and we have been intrigued by the intricate nature of some of the details required for the build. The site foreman has been in direct touch with our practice managers to discuss the positioning and location of several items. For example, the master electrical switch was not located at the door the staff would ultimately enter and exit from. The site foreman asked our staff where it would suit them best and was able to move it to this location. Further, we’re moving certain equipment over from our previous location including intra-oral xrays and the suction and compressor system. Optima were able to directly visit our current surgery and check the connections and fittings making sure we’ll be able to seamlessly relocate these to the new surgery. These aspects are seemingly minor but extremely important in the larger scheme of things. It will ultimately help to ensure our move is trouble free and we’re not having to change things around a few months in.
In builds like this it is important to get your staff involved as they provide another perspective and will ultimately feel a sense of ownership over the practice as well. Our staff have chosen the internal color scheme, carpets and fittings etc. Also, it was fascinating that when on site our staff were able to describe the majority of the finishing’s in the building from memory.
We recently hosted the Dental Practice Owner’s Conference in Melbourne with over 320 owners from around Australia and New Zealand present. Including sponsors there were over 420 like-minded people present and intermingling. Excellent networks were formed and many new friendships made. There was one interesting conversation from a multi practice owner, considering a similar move, who was curious as to why we chose a dental specific builder and not a local builder. He was adamant that a local builder would have completed the job at a cheaper price and similar quality. We had reputable local builders tender on the project and Optima were able to beat the local builders on price. Moreover, at the time we thought there would be significant peace of mind associated with a builder that pretty much only did dental and medical builds. This has been proven correct thus far in this journey. As Dentists we have very little understanding about plumbing, electrics, hydraulics etc. and this is best left to the experts who have industry specific knowledge.
The floor plan of the surgery and some progress photos over the last month are attached below.
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https://practiceownership.com.au/seminars/
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