Electrical Design & Engineering

At Sea-Tac Electric, Inc., we have found that our engineering and design services can offer the best method of providing the customer with maximum value at the lowest installed cost. The Design-Assist & Design-Build collaboration approach is even more critical on projects where the design and construction time-frames are condensed. Our collaborative approach has proven to be extremely valuable where a need exists for significant interaction with various agencies and building departments. This is where our in-house design and engineering capabilities can prove to be essential to the owner, general contractor, and architects. Our team of experienced professionals closely follows local and national electrical, fire, building, and energy codes.

We understand that moving from engineering and design to construction requires a seamless process. We start by listening closely to the customer and the other team members to understand the priorities for the project design parameters. We will be proactive in suggesting and supporting any design alternatives in the project’s best interest.

Sophisticated owners, developers, architects, and general contractors have discovered that the traditional low-bid award process may create adversarial project conditions that ultimately lead to higher, final build-out costs. These higher costs come in the form of change orders, extended completion dates, and litigation costs. Our goal is to mitigate these conditions with a non-adversarial design process that we have developed. This process creates a team atmosphere where Sea-Tac Electric, Inc. works with the architect, mechanical & plumbing trades, designers, special systems designers, general contractor, and owner.

The surest way to save money on a project is to avoid unnecessary work or over-designed scope. Sea-Tac Electric, Inc. has a whole staff of professional designers, construction management professionals, and estimators trained to develop the most efficient and cost-effective approach to an installation. We recommend the latest, most cost-efficient construction methods and provide proven cost-saving techniques integrated into a building’s electrical system design. The staff incorporates value engineering whenever possible and can usually offer sound alternatives to reduce installation costs.

Whether we perform design and engineering work from our office locations or on-site, you are assured the highest quality design documents prepared by a highly trained staff of professionals using the latest industry-standard hardware and software technologies.

Design-Build is a system of contracting under which one entity performs both design and construction.

A client commissions an architect or engineer in a “traditional” contracting approach to prepare drawings and specifications and separately selects a construction contractor or construction manager either by negotiation or competitive bidding.

A design-build team is jointly involved in producing a product that meets a client’s needs rather than merely acting as professional advisors.  Collaboration of designers and builders is the foundation of design-build.

Benefits of design-build project delivery include:

• Faster Delivery — collaborative project management means work is completed faster with fewer problems.
• Cost Savings — an integrated team is geared toward efficiency and innovation.
• Better Quality — design-builders meet performance needs, not minimum design requirements, often developing innovations to deliver a better project than initially imagined.
• Singular Responsibility — one entity is held accountable for cost, schedule, and performance.
• Decreased Administrative Burden — owners can focus on the project rather than managing disparate contracts.
• Reduced Risk — the design-build team assumes additional risk.

At Sea-Tac Electric, Inc, we work closely with the client to develop a rapport to help deliver cost savings utilizing CAD & BIM technology and integrated estimation and job cost control procedures.  We work to ensure the needs and desires of the client are met at a cost that will be beneficial to everyone involved.  

Another alternative delivery method is “design-assist.”   This collaborative team-oriented project delivery method capitalizes on the benefits of early engagement of both Design and Construction Professionals, allowing them to utilize their areas of expertise to work as a team during the project’s design phase. This process enables the team to detect and resolve design challenges and constructability issues long before actual construction.   

The overall objective of a Design-Assist process is to minimize design and constructability-related issues before construction, thus maximizing the overall value, speed of construction, and quality of the final product. Because of the resulting reduction of design discrepancies and costs associated with making changes in the design phase, this process optimizes project cost, value, and constructability efficiency. It dramatically reduces design-related RFI’s during the construction process when changes are costlier and time delayed.  

When Sea-Tac Electric, Inc. is engaged early to provide Design Assistance, our clients experience faster project delivery, elimination of costs caused by inefficient or non-constructible designs, improved design documents, more accurate budget control, and early incorporation of value engineering options.

By having Sea-Tac Electric, Inc. participate as part of the team during the design process, construction pre-planning activities are completed earlier than traditional design-bid-build delivery methods. The result of Sea-Tac Electric, Inc.’s early involvement has typically shortened the design and construction schedules, allowing for earlier project completion and early owner-occupancy, which correlates to substantial savings in project costs and, more importantly, earlier revenue streams and more profit for the owner.