Throughout JE Dunn’s 100-year history, our people have always had a steadfast commitment and passion to building in the best ways possible. Our teams are constantly looking at ways to excel and drive project success. One area with enormous growth and opportunity is JE Dunn’s KSI #3: Self-Perform.
Self-perform is when we use our own resources to deliver a critical scope of work. When we use a mix of our own estimating, project management, field supervision and skilled labor, rather than hiring a single external trade partner, we take on the responsibility for final delivery of that scope of work and earn an additional fee.
Certainty of Results
At JE Dunn, the more we self-perform on our projects, the more we can ensure certainty of results. Our dedicated estimators and project managers work with owners and design teams early in the process to make sure the design is optimal for the scopes we are self-performing. This adds value financially and provides us with greater control of the overall schedule. It gives us the ability to coordinate logistics, the sequence of construction, and overall plans to execute our work most efficiently.
Self-perform allows our base fees and general conditions to be more competitive while maintaining target gross profit. It also provides us with the knowledge to make smart decisions with our labor and materials, which can lead to cost savings and better value for our clients.
Safety and Quality
Safety and quality are top priorities at JE Dunn – in all that we do – and when the skilled trades men and women on our jobsites also have that commitment, the expectations around safety and quality are consistent and impactful. Self-perform work enables experienced workers to follow JE Dunn’s high standards, resulting in an enhanced level of safety and quality throughout the project.
Growing as a Team
As JE Dunn grows, so does our ability to deliver self-perform scopes of work. While concrete is our largest self-perform scope, we have expanded our capabilities in several different scope around the country. This includes drywall, miscellaneous steel, precast installation, rough and finish carpentry, and installation of doors, frames, and hardware.
JE Dunn currently employs over 1,400 skilled trades men and women, as well as dedicated estimators, project managers, and field supervisors numbering in the hundreds. Self-perform offers opportunities for these people and others to grow and master new skillsets within JE Dunn. Our projects can provide a training ground for our future success, and we offer training programs to help foster that growth. With our Best People + Right Culture, we work together to support each other and deliver exceptional results to our clients.
How Can We Contribute to the Success of Self-Perform?
Close to 90% of JE Dunn projects utilize some form of self-perform, and just as the type of projects we build differs by market, the scopes and delivery of self-perform also differs throughout our 26 offices. As employee-owners, everyone can contribute to the growth and success of self-perform by understanding what we do in your market and looking closer at every job to identify and discuss self-perform opportunities at the earliest opportunities.
Financial Success
Financially, self-performing scopes of work is truly a win/win for us and for our clients. We provide open book estimating and certainty of cost for our owners, while at the same time being below market cost. We do this by capitalizing on the efficiency of our teams and negotiating a fee structure that is at or below market rates.
Often, self-perform is the largest second win we can add to our projects’ bottom line. The growth and success of self-perform leads to an increased share price and overall better financial performance.
Self-perform is vital to our overall success, utilizing our teams’ skills and expertise to successfully deliver projects. It creates opportunities for us as employee-owners and supports the overall exceptional client experience.
