If you've spent any time in construction, you've been in this scenario: you get plans for your next project and start the bid-gathering process. Most estimates come back within a typical range, but the bid for lighting is way out of budget. Other times, the lighting bid may look good, but there's a late-in-the-game surprise — a 12+ week lead time that's now throwing a wrench in your schedule.
Now what?
In situations like this, value engineering a lighting package tends to come up. We've value engineered countless projects, and we've also written about ways to avoid the value engineering crunch and still save money. There is value behind value engineering — when you do it the right way.