What is playground consulting?
Playground consulting is having a third-party playground expert visit and assess your playground needs and create a customized plan for achieving your playground goals.
A playground consultation can address a wide range of playground-related projects. Some of the most common include:
- Updating or building your ADA inclusive playground
- Planning your short and long-term playground budget
- Expanding or relocating your playground equipment
- Creating your personalized playground maintenance plan
What’s the benefit of a playground consultation?
When you partner with a playground expert, they are able to provide a complete assessment and recommendation to meet your project goals. A playground consultant can also work with third parties, such as your construction manager or engineer, to develop your playground program alongside a larger project.
The Playground Consultation Process
There are different ways playground consulting partners may approach their consulting services. At SafetyFirst, we focus on collaboration upfront, so we understand your needs and develop your customized playground program that guides the rest of the project.
The consulting process should remove the need for you to manage or be involved in the project. Instead, the playground consultation allows you to shift responsibility to your playground partner.
When selecting your playground consultant, ensure they include the following steps in their process.
1. Understand the Project Scope
Does your partner hold an initial playground consultation to learn about your project? For a customized playground program, they need to know about the project and your district’s specific needs.
- What are the issues or setbacks?
- What are your goals?
- Do you have a defined budget?
- What are the demographics or needs of your students or community members?
- Who are the stakeholders in the project and what are their needs? Including the architect or engineer, school principal, maintenance and grounds team, or other stakeholders.
2. Strategize Your Project Options
Next, the consulting partner will take the gathered information to create the action plan or options. Depending on the extent of your project, they might create multiple playground design plans that will meet your needs.
3. Discussing Your Options
Together, you and your playground partner will discuss your options. This often involves looking at the playground site more closely for a technical understanding of the project. You’ll work through the action plan and timeline to determine what process will work best for you.
4. Finalizing Your Proposal
The last step is signing the contract and getting started! Your playground consulting partner will present you with the final proposal of work and you’ll finalize the starting date. From there, your consultant will manage the playground program from start to finish.
Our Playground Consulting Areas of Focus
1. How much does a playground cost?
The cost of your playground depends on the type and extent of your playground project. We help you strategize what options are best for your playground goals and budget. The factors that impact your playground cost include:
- The total area of the playground needed for the number of children using the playground
- Type of playground surfacing used – poured in place vs loose fill vs turf
- Containment area construction, drainage base, and curbing type
2. What’s the best option for expanding my playground site or relocating playground equipment?
If you are expanding or moving your playground, we can help you plan and prepare for the project. Our goal is to provide a sustainable and safe playground so we combine. We work alongside your contractors, engineers, or architects to successfully plan your expansion or relocation.
3. What’s the best playground maintenance plan for me?
We help you determine the most effective playground maintenance plan for your playgrounds that will keep them safe, compliant, and long-lasting. Depending on your playground traffic and location, we provide the following playground maintenance plan schedules.
- Quarterly
- Biannually
- Annually
- One-time visits
Why partner with SafetyFirst for your playground consulting?
Our primary goal is to make the best decision for your school district’s budget while planning a long-term budget for your playground maintenance.
When you work with SafetyFirst, you receive a personalized playground consultation and long-term partnership. Our in-house team can manage your playground project from start to finish making sure every step fits together and stays on schedule. From excavation to concrete installation to building the playground, we do it all and our proposal accounts for every step. We make sure there are no surprises.
Ready to start your playground maintenance, update, move, or expansion?
Work with a partner that knows how to plan and execute it all. Give us a call!