"Contractors are an eternally optimistic bunch and never seem to allow for any weather related impacts on construction projects." Many projects are completed late so my last two posts focused on project delays. The first; ’10 reasons your project is behind schedule’ looked at delays caused by the contractor and the second post; ‘Is your client delaying your project?’ considered delays created by our clients. Many readers raised bad weather as a major cause of delays. Yes, inclement weather can seriously delay projects, but in many cases should we not have made allowance for some of the weather events? Contractors are an eternally optimistic bunch and never seem to allow for any weather related impacts on construction projects. What, are you really going to work on a twelve month long project and think you won’t encounter rain, winds, summer, and winter at some stage in the course of your project! Changing seasons - is your construction project ready? If you have 500mm (20 inches) of rain in 3 months it will almost certainly disrupt your construction project. But, if the average for that region is 500mm for those 3 months we shouldn’t be surprised and we should have made allowance for rain disruptions in our construction schedule and taken mitigating measures to reduce the impact of the rain on construction work. #constructionschedule "It's professional suicide if you knowingly accept a schedule which doesn’t allow for normal weather conditions." Contractors often put the blame on clients for their unreasonable schedules and say it’s impossible to allow additional time for delays caused by rain – average rainfall which will almost certainly occur! Well that’s professional suicide if you knowingly accept a schedule which doesn’t allow for weather conditions which we can expect in that region during the time you will be constructing the project – weather conditions which will almost certainly occur. Instead of knowingly risking your project and betting against weather events not occurring, even though they happen on average, you might consider taking on the odds at your local casino. Mistakes that impact construction schedules/programmes But some contractors do make their life even harder. Is it possible to at least avoid some of these weather delays? #weatherdelays How does inclement weather impact our construction projects?"Recovering from one hour of rain could take days while we pump work areas dry, clean debris and wait for materials to dry out" Many only see weather disruptions as the direct time lost during the bad weather. Unfortunately some events can cause damage to partly completed structures which could take days or weeks to repair. Recovering from one hour of rain could take days while we pump work areas dry, clean debris and wait for materials to dry out. Adequate insurance can cover us for some of the damages but they usually don’t cover for the delays caused to the project.
Can we mitigate some of the weather delays?"Consider different foundation solutions to minimise excavations which have to be done in the rainy season." There are a number of measures contractors can take to at least mitigate some of the delays caused by bad weather.
Offsite weather can also impact construction projects"Sometimes it pays to keep sufficient stock or get materials in earlier to avoid disruption caused by heavy rains." We should also consider the weather risks to activities happening off-site. Items being manufactured off-site may be hampered by poor weather. Will your supplier be able to continue manufacturing if they experience poor weather? I’ve often suffered delays because suppliers couldn’t paint the items because of wet weather. Choosing an alternate supplier that has covered manufacturing facilities may be more expensive but could avoid the risk of poor weather impacting delivery. Understand your transport networks and how poor weather can disrupt these. Sometimes it pays to keep sufficient stock or get construction materials in earlier to avoid disruption caused by heavy rains. We have had projects cut-off from major centres for days. Construction weather delays are the norm"We can almost guarantee that most construction projects will be impacted by inclement weather." We can almost guarantee that most construction projects will be impacted by inclement weather. In most cases this shouldn’t be an excuse for delays, although unfortunately these days more projects seem to be interrupted by extreme weather events which couldn’t have been foreseen. We can prevent, or at least mitigate many of the delays by understanding the weather patterns in the area and allowing for these expected weather disruptions in our construction schedule. Proper planning can also mean that weather dependent activities are scheduled for times when better weather can be expected. We can also implement mitigating measures to reduce the damage and return the project to full production as quickly as possible. Prevent poor weather from disrupting your construction project Contractors shouldn’t be expected to shoulder the responsibility of extreme weather events or those that couldn’t have been reasonably expected. They should therefore be cautious in accepting contracts where they could be liable for these delays. Much of what I've said seems very basic, yet, almost certainly some contractors won't put bad weather mitigation in place, and their project will be delayed. How has inclement weather impacted your construction project? Are weather disruptions a major cause of delays for your projects? To read more about the author’s books and find out where you can purchase them visit the pages on this website by clicking the links below:
'Successful Construction Project Management: The Practical Guide' 'Building a Successful Construction Company: The Practical Guide' 'Construction Book reviews' To read more about the author visit the page 'Paul Netscher' Want to contact Paul Netscher please enter your details on 'Contacts' Find out how Paul Netscher can help you Order your books from Amazon Order your books from Amazon UK © 2016 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author.
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"Basic construction management 101." Contractors often make mistakes on their construction projects which almost always cost money, sometimes delay the schedule and on occasion impacts their reputation. Most of these errors should have been avoided – in fact many are basic construction management 101. Unfortunately, because of a shortage of experienced Construction Project Managers we have people managing construction projects who don’t have the knowledge and experience to know better. However, even this shouldn’t be an excuse for some errors, because a little thought should have told them what they were doing was wrong. Often though, these basic errors are caused when experienced Project Managers rush into their projects forgetting the basics, or simply because they were over eager or under pressure to get the project underway. #constructionmanagement #constructionprojects #constructionplanning "Even experienced Project Managers sometimes rush into their projects forgetting the basics," Don’t let these rookie mistakes trip your construction project up.
"By being a little smarter, remembering to do the basics right, we can save ourselves a whole lot of trouble later." Do the basics right and you will save time and moneyNow I’m sure many would say these errors are elementary and they wouldn’t make them. Yet, it’s sometimes surprising the stupid mistakes we all make when we are rushed. But, just as important is to make sure that your team don’t make these errors. By being a little smarter, remembering to do the basics right, we can save ourselves a whole lot of trouble later. The 10 P’s of successful construction project management This article was first published on the ClockShark website - Get The Industries' #1 Time-Tracking AppRunning a field service or construction business takes coordination and a great team. With ClockShark you get the industries' #1 timesheet app To read more about the author’s books and find out where you can purchase them visit the pages on this website by clicking the links below:
'Successful Construction Project Management: The Practical Guide' 'Building a Successful Construction Company: The Practical Guide' 'Construction Book reviews' To read more about the author visit the page 'Paul Netscher' Want to contact Paul Netscher please enter your details on 'Contacts' Find out how Paul Netscher can help you Order your books from Amazon Order your books from Amazon UK © 2023 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author. It’s surprising how often construction projects don’t go as well as expected. Why is this and what can be done to improve the success of construction projects? I’ve often been asked what contractors should do differently.
Here are some items I believe are critical to the success of all projects. See if you agree. I’m sure you can add a few more to my list. I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below. 10 deadly sins which impact the success of your construction project
![]() Many projects are completed late. The reasons for this can be complex and depend on many factors. Often it’s the fault of the contractor and their poor project management. Late completion is costly to both the contractor and the customer. It also damages the contractor’s reputation. Planning the project properly before work starts and managing the project during construction is essential and goes a long way to avoiding delays. Equally important is to have a well prepared schedule which considers the construction methodology and the known constraints. This schedule needs to be regularly updated and the results assessed to ensure the project is on-track to be completed on time. With this knowledge the project team can take timely action to rectify schedule slippage. If slippage isn’t corrected as soon as possible it invariably becomes worse, and the time remaining to catch-up the lost time becomes less, making it harder to make up the delay. It will eventually become impossible to catch up and finish on the due date. Unfortunately many contractors don’t investigate why their project is falling behind and simply add more resources in an effort to catch-up. This is expensive and doesn’t always help. By the time they find out that more resources aren’t working, more time has slipped by and there’s less chance of catching up. In a previous post I discussed some reasons why contractors cause themselves to fall behind schedule. (Read: 10 Reasons why your project is behind schedule.) Many of these reasons can be easily rectified. However, in some case it’s not the contractor’s fault, rather the customer or their team that’s causing delays to the construction. In some cases these delays should have been allowed for in the contract schedule as they were spelled out clearly in the contract document. However, it’s often the case that the customer is causing delays which weren’t foreseen in the contract document. Why should the contractor then be responsible for these delays? It’s important for the contractor to highlight these delays to the customer and the team so they can take steps to rectify the situation. Also, the contractor needs to submit an extension of time claim for these delays so that they aren’t penalised for finishing the project late when it’s not their fault. They also must recoup costs they have incurred due to the delays. Is your customer, or their team, delaying your project? There are many reasons to consider when analysing why the project is falling behind schedule. We previously discussed reasons due to the contractor. Now let’s discuss the reasons customers delay the project:
By being aware of the customer’s obligations in the contract document and the project schedule contractors can take active steps to ensure their customer fulfils them. Customers are quick to blame the contractor for delays to the project and fail to understand how their own actions are damaging progress. Don’t allow your customer to delay your project. Ensure you have an agreed project schedule which specifies information and access required dates. Regularly monitor construction progress and understand where and why delays are occurring and then take swift action to correct slippage. If it's your customers fault notify them and advise them of the consequences so they can rectify their problems. Contractors often require to manage their clients and customers to ensure the project is completed on time. To read more about the author’s books and find out where you can purchase them visit the pages on this website by clicking the links below: 'Successful Construction Project Management: The Practical Guide' 'Building a Successful Construction Company: The Practical Guide' 'Construction Book reviews' To read more about the author visit the page 'Paul Netscher' Want to contact Paul Netscher please enter your details on 'Contacts' Find out how Paul Netscher can help you Order your books from Amazon Order your books from Amazon UK © 2016 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author. Construction company estimating departments are sometimes like sausage machines turning out price after price, quote after quote, working on a number of estimates at any one time. I’m amazed at how estimators manage to keep the different projects separate, how they isolate and review different supplier and subcontractor quotes for the different projects, how they manage to do this without making mistakes. Or do they? Unfortunately contractors do make mistakes pricing projects. These mistakes might increase their price, probably meaning they don’t win the project. Sometimes they fail to include documents requested by the client resulting in their proposal being disqualified or going in the trash (a waste of effort). Other times they under-price an activity and they lose money when they construct the project. Of course companies can avoid some of these problems by being more selective with which projects they price, discarding projects which are unsuitable and concentrating on those that they really want. However, even so mistakes happen. Ask these questions It’s prudent to carry out a few checks before submitting your price. Ask yourself and your team these questions:
This article is published on the ClockShark website. Please follow the link above to continue reading. ![]() Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net ![]() Unfortunately many construction projects are completed late. Invariably this negatively impacts the contractor’s reputation and costs both the contractor and their customer money. Often the contractor has to pay penalties for finishing late and they incur additional costs to remain longer on the project. The customer receives access to their facility late and usually faces additional costs for supervising the project for a longer period. A well prepared schedule which is regularly updated allows us to detect early when a project is running late. When we fall behind, the normal course of action is for the contractor to place more resources on the project or work extended hours in the hope of catching the lost time up. Unfortunately this doesn’t always help as the true cause of the slippage hasn’t been uncovered. In fact adding more people or resources to the project may even add to congestion making the problem worse – especially if they aren’t the right resources. Usually the longer the problem persists the worse the schedule slippage becomes and the less time remains to catch-up the lost time. When schedule slippage is detected it’s important to uncover the real reasons and then take action to rectify the problems. Sometimes the cause may be a minor bottleneck which could be fixed with small adjustments to the running of the project. Reasons for construction projects falling behind schedule There are many reasons for a project finishing late. In this article I’ll only focus on reasons caused by the contractor. These include:
Conclusion We will all at some stage fall behind schedule on our projects. It’s important we detect this slippage early. Then, don’t take the obvious choice and add more people to the project, but rather analyse the reasons for the slippage and then take the necessary action to rectify these issues. Spend some time in the field and watch what the team is doing. Where are the bottlenecks? How could we do things better? Make sure your team understands the key dates on their section of work and how it impacts the project as a whole. Of course, construction projects aren’t only finished late because of the contractor’s failings, it’s often caused by the customer or their team. My next article will deal with how customers can cause projects to finish late. It’s important to consider and address all the causes for a project running late so you can ensure slippage is caught up and the project is completed on time. To read more about the author’s books and find out where you can purchase them visit the pages on this website by clicking the links below: 'Successful Construction Project Management: The Practical Guide' 'Building a Successful Construction Company: The Practical Guide' 'Construction Book reviews' To read more about the author visit the page 'Paul Netscher' Want to contact Paul Netscher please enter your details on 'Contacts' Find out how Paul Netscher can help you Order your books from Amazon Order your books from Amazon UK © 2016 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author. |
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CategoriesCopyright 2016 - The attached articles cannot be reproduced for commercial purposes without the consent of the author.
The opinions expressed in the attached articles are those of the writer. It should be noted that projects are varied and different laws and restrictions apply which depend on the location of the contractor and the project. It's important that the reader uses the supplied information taking cognisance of their particular circumstances. The writer assumes no responsibility or liability for any loss of any kind arising from the reader using the information or advice contained herein. "I have what I consider some of the best books on construction management."
Books are available from: Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk takealot.com kalahari.com Amazon.in Amazon.de Amazon.fr Amazon.it Amazon.com.au Powell's Fishpond uread bokus Amazon.ca Amazon.es Other retail stores Available in paperback or on Kindle "28 YEARS OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE, DEVELOPING SUCCESSFUL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGERS AND BUILDING SUCCESSFUL CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES"
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