Master Planning Phase

What is Master Planning?

Master Planning is often thought of as the process that organizations go through when they are planning a large scale project that involves several phases spread out over several years. Although that is true, large scale projects aren’t the only ones that can benefit from Master Planning.

Master Planning, by definition, means to develop or improve (land, a community, a building complex, or the like) through a long-range plan that balances and harmonizes all elements.

• People often think that long-range planning only benefits BIG projects, but that is not the case.

• Master planning could and probably should be done for every project that will have a long-range impact on a piece of land, building or a community regardless of the actual size of the project itself.

From the perspective of construction, master planning helps the building Owner to clearly define the need or desire for the project, determine who will benefit or be impacted by it, and in some cases involves many of those stakeholders, and how it is going to be accomplished.

At the end of the process, there will be a clearly written long-range plan, a basic sketch plan, scope of work, and a feasibility budget for the project. This will prepare the Owner to take the next step in the process which is developing the construction documents.