A senior living developer in the Midwest broke ground on a new 120-bed memory care facility in the spring. The project had a solid architect, an experienced general contractor, and a well-funded ownership group. By fall, they were six weeks behind schedule, facing a change order dispute that had ballooned to $400,000, and scrambling to find a subcontractor after their mechanical contractor walked off the job.
No one had seen it coming. But in hindsight, almost every signal had been there.
From a ground-up construction risk management perspective in senior living, this type of project is one of the most complex undertakings in the sector. And unlike renovation work, where you’re working within known constraints, new construction introduces a different category of risk — one where the stakes are higher, the variables are greater, and the margin for error is smaller than most people anticipate.
The Risk Is There From the Beginning
Most construction problems don’t start during construction.
They start during planning.
When contracts aren’t structured to align incentives across the project team. When schedules are built on optimistic assumptions rather than realistic sequencing. When the owner is relying solely on the general contractor to manage risk without an independent set of eyes on the process.
Ground-up projects involve dozens of interdependent decisions made in rapid succession. Structural systems, mechanical and electrical design, civil work, finishes, and all of it needs to be coordinated. When one piece slips, the effects cascade.
What makes this particularly challenging in senior living is that these facilities have to be fully operational before they can generate revenue. There’s no phased opening while construction finishes. The pressure to complete on time is immense, and that pressure creates risk of its own.
Contracts Are the Foundation
The contract is the first place where risk either gets managed or gets ignored.
Too often, ownership groups — especially those building their first or second project — rely on contract templates that weren’t designed with their interests in mind. They sign agreements that limit their visibility into costs, obscure how changes are handled, or create ambiguity about what “completion” actually means.
A construction consultant who reviews contracts before they’re signed can identify the provisions that matter most.
Who carries the risk if material costs escalate?
What does the dispute resolution process look like?
How are subcontractors being selected, and what oversight exists?
These questions determine how the project will behave under pressure and whether you’ll have recourse when it does.
Schedule Risk Is the Most Underestimated Threat
Every ground-up project has a schedule. Very few projects finish on it.
The question isn’t whether delays will happen, it’s whether you’ll see them coming early enough to respond.
Schedule slippage tends to compound and build over time. When one element falls behind, others have to wait. When concrete can’t be poured because steel hasn’t arrived, you don’t just lose a week; you lose the sequencing advantage you’d built up across multiple trades. And in senior living, where certificate of occupancy requirements are tied to licensing, a delay in one area can halt the entire project.
Independent construction monitoring provides a consistent, objective view of schedule progress. Rather than relying on the GC’s reporting alone, an owner’s representative walks the site, tracks actual versus planned progress, and flags divergence before it becomes a crisis.
That’s a true safeguard.
Coordination Is Where Good Projects Break Down
New construction requires more coordination across more systems than almost any other type of project.
HVAC, plumbing, electrical, fire suppression, low-voltage and life safety systems; all of these need to coexist in a building that also has to function as a licensed care facility. In senior living, regulatory requirements add another layer of complexity on top of standard building codes.
What often happens is that coordination gets treated as the GC’s problem. But when the GC is also managing dozens of subcontractors and trying to hold a schedule, coordination gaps appear. They appear in the drawings, in the field, and sometimes in the finished building, where they’re far more expensive to fix.
Having a knowledgeable, independent set of eyes reviewing submittals, watching for friction points, and staying ahead of coordination issues is one of the highest-value contributions an owner can make to a project.
What Good Risk Management Looks Like
Owners who come through ground-up construction well don’t just hire good contractors. They stay engaged throughout the process.
They understand their contracts. They have someone who is accountable for watching the schedule. They have a clear process for managing change orders. And they’ve built in the independent oversight that keeps everyone honest.
At zumBrunnen, we’ve worked alongside owners on ground-up projects across the country, from the earliest feasibility stages through certificate of occupancy. Our role isn’t to slow things down. It’s to make sure that when the pressure comes — and it will — the people responsible for protecting your investment are ready.
Ground-up construction is complex. But complexity is a manageable thing.
The key is not waiting until something goes wrong to start paying attention.
