Southwest Chinese Baptist Church (SWCBC)

Phase I Church Building Project

Lessons Learned

• In the very beginning, get the plat done as soon as possible.
• Must have title search to prove ownership during the approval of plat by the city.
• In most states, a non-profit organization is exempted from property tax. Contact local appraisal district as soon as possible for information about how and when to apply for the property tax exemption. The non-profit organization is not necessarily automatically exempted from property tax even though the organization has already been exempted from sale tax.
• Ideally, at least one of the Building Committee members should know about "Project Management".
• Contact all utility companies and pay all fees and/or deposits if necessary before construction starts.
• Select and provide color selection of items (e.g., tiles, carpet etc., especially bricks which may take much longer than everybody thinks for delivery) to the contractor well ahead of time to avoid delay of the construction.
• The congregation must agree on whether gas line is needed for the building and day care center for public and/or commercial-graded kitchen are necessary in the building.
• If the senior pastor's office does not have an outside window, make sure all the other pastors' offices do not have one either. It would be nice to have two separate entrances to the pastor's office.
• Brick walls and concrete parking lots are no longer "luxurious" items for church building. They are a must for durability and beauty. If there are brick walls, make sure all weep holes are all clear during construction to avoid water back flowing under heavy rain.
• Consider installing a remote controlled motor-drive big screen dropping from the ceiling behind the worship center, especially if the church has or will have a worship team.
• Consider if door bells are needed for side entrances and if a louder bell or bells in different location are needed (e.g., think if there is committee meeting held in the fellowship hall with no one in the office to answer the door in the evening or at night).
• Consider installing "Energy Star Exit Signs" instead of standard signs which use incandescent lamps. It will save thousands of dollars in the long run.
• Consider including surge protection for all electronic systems, such as fire alarm, security alarm and phone systems. They are all subject to struck dead by electrical current spikes due to lightning or power surge. Note that malfunctioning fire alarm system may disable all A/C and heating units for safety purposes. If any electronic equipment having CMOS IC inside is connected through wires running under the roof (attic), it is subject to be damaged by static discharge caused by lightning struck nearby. Shield the wires or consider properly shielding the building. This is a good reason to consider steel frame building versus wood frame.
• Toilet hardware such as tank to bowl fasteners, flush values and flappers must be heavy duty (for harsh water conditions) and standard type, especially the flappers. If you cannot find the correct replacement for a distorted flapper later, you have to replace the whole flush values which requires taking the tank and bowl apart. Also, make sure water supply line to the tank is a "flexible" pipe because rigid one may not be perfectly fitted if the tank is a little bit off aligned with the bowl during reassembling. The misalignment of the rigid water supply pipe to the inlet of the tank will cause leakage. Check all the toilet seats by having a big person sit on them one by one. One out of ten toilet seats is usually not sitting tight enough.
• Do not assume that all the COLD water pipes in the attic or above the ceilings will be insulated if your church building is in the south like Texas. Double check the contract or drawings.
• Make sure water pipe size to the baptistry is "large" enough to fill it up in a reasonable time. It may take more than twelve hours to fill up a normal size baptistry. Likewise, choose the heating system carefully for the baptistry.
• If garbage disposal is not included in the construction contract, make sure the drain pipe under the kitchen sink is low enough for later installation. Likewise for other appliances not roughed in by the contractor.
• If there is a serving window opening to the fellowship hall from the kitchen, make sure the counter top extends beyond the edge of the wall and tile floor is installed under the window. Consider painting the wall with semi-gloss paint.
• Consider installing programmable A/C and heat controls if possible. If a controller is to be installed by the church people, make sure it is compatible with the current system especially some systems have automatic humidity control.
• Ideally, concrete pad for large outside A/C units should not directly touching the slab of the building in order to reduce noise possibly transmitted from A/C units to inside the building, especially in the sanctuary area, although such noise is usually minimal. 4 feet high chain fences are also recommended for the enclosure of these units for safety purposes as well as deterrent from stealing.
• Make sure the air return ducts to the heating & A/C units in the attic are well supported and well taped. Double check the fire safety devices attached to these units; sub-contractor may fake inspection by just attaching the devices there without wiring them at all.
• Watch out for any dead spaces found at corners of cabinets (where two ends meet). Modify the design if possible.
• Make sure access opening to attic where heating and air-conditioning units are located is large enough for passing through the maintenance equipments and parts.
• Avoid fluorescent light fixture greater than 4 feet. A 8-foot one is much nosier than two 4-foot ones.
• If more lighting is desired external to the building for security purposes, check with your local power company. They may provide and maintain better lights for a minimal monthly fee.
• If sprinkler system is to be installed, make sure sleeve pipes (e.g. 4" PVC) are laid under the parking lots or walkway during construction for later installation of the sprinkler system.
• Landscaping work requires a lot of hard labors. if it is not included in the construction of the building, consider contracting out the work if the price is right, especially if the church is small (<300 people).
• If the landscaping is to be built and/or maintained by the church people, plan to build a outside storage housing large enough for yard tools and equipments or ask the architect to include a design of a storage room with door open to the outside of the building. Also consider where the long long ladder can be stored.
• All changes during construction should be consulted with the architect before negotiating with the building contractor since the architect will usually suggest an alternative to save you money or a better alternative.
• Double check if all load-bearing structures (steel or wood) are built according to specification to avoid future structural problem.
• Double check the construction contract and drawings before ordering or subcontracting parts by the church. Item(s) MAY already be included in the contract provided by the building contractor. If in any doubt contact the architect.
• Fire alarm and security alarm systems should be installed by the same company to save panel space and avoid confusion; especially if remote monitoring services are needed. If closed circuit camera(s) and monitor are desired for security purposes, install them by the church if possible to save money. Camera and monitor with complete instruction can be bought much cheaper through mail-order and the installation is straightforward but make sure the cables are long enough. Cable is usually expensive if bought separately. If there is no security alarm system, consider re-keying after the building has been turned over to you.
• The church should generally not spend more than 1.5% of the total building construction cost for the sound system and not more than 0.15% for the security alarm system. Get as many bids as possible.
• If there is a sound room, make sure there are at least two dedicated power outlets, one reserved for power amplifiers and the other for general use. An additional one will be required if wireless equipment is to be used too.
• Pull the phone wires by the church will save money and be more flexible in configuring and chosing a phone system later. Do not assume that the contractor will provide the conduits all the way from the wall gang box to the phone board. Pull the wires before ducts for air-conditioning and heat are put up in the attic. "Staple" the wires as high as possible so that they will not be in the way of any ducts and other equipment.
• Good idea to prepare an air-tight waterproof "time capsule". It should be put inside a dry wall which is not likely to be torn down in the future. Items put inside the time box may be a front page of latest local newspaper, a dollar bill, copies of latest church bulletin and members directory with or without pictures, or, any dated church publication. Prepare and give the box to the contractor and have them put the box in where the church wants before the walls are insulated.
• Take full pictures and/or video of all area inside the building right before insulation. It will help to locate wires and pipes if anything goes wrong in the future.
• As soon as framing for partition has been completed, "feel" the size of all rooms and closets and then determine if the direction of the door swing and the size of the door according to the design are making sense. Change it as soon as possible to avoid charges. Likewise, check and "feel" the location of all light switches. Also, make sure there are enough electrical outlets in each room, including the walk-in pantry, if any, where a second refrigerator/freezer may be put inside. Double check if any equipment that requires electric current of more than 15A or 20A, such as an industrial duty copier, since usual outlets default to 15A or 20A maximum.
• If the roof has architectural horizontal line design, make sure the lines are created by using a thicker shingle, instead of stacking two regular shingles together to cut overhead cost. A very strong gusty wind will rip off easily the top stacked shingles together with others overlapped them. If using shingles of different thickness for creating the thicker look will cost a lot more, do away with the roof line architectural design.
• Watch out for the exposure of nail heads if shingles are used for the roof. They can be rusted through in five years and will cause water leakage.
• Pray for rain as soon as the roofing is completely done so that the roof can be checked for leaking.
• None of the flexible partitions in the current market is good enough for sound barrier. Therefore, get a cheapest one available for its look and portability.
• If window blinds are to be installed by the church, make sure that all screws are extra long for attaching the blinds to the wall. You know how kids handle blinds.
• Beware of and understand the terms related to the left-over or extra materials as specified in the construction contract. These materials should include bricks, shingles, tiles, vinyl, wall papers, carpets and paints, wherever applicable.
• Clear plastic protective stripes (L shaped) are highly recommended for all wall corners in children area or classrooms and fellowship hall/kitchen. One inch wide and 4 or 8 feet long stripes are recommended.
• Worst place to put a large bulletin board is in the foyer although a proportional built-in wall display cabinet (with or without glass door) is desirable there. Better place for a bulletin board is fellowship hall or hallway (if wide enough) close to restroom or kitchen.
• Don't cease praying. Finishing the building is just a beginning. Pray that the Lord will teach us how to utilize the building to bring people to Christ, build up brothers and sisters in Christ and serve the community.

Feel free to send us email if you want to learn something which are not mentioned above. We are more than happy to answer your questions. Send to

Or, post your questions in the Discussion Group sponsored by ChurchConstruction.com.