4 Factors to Consider When You Want to Avoid Construction Delays
No construction company wants to have construction delays yet at ECL Software we find that many clients assume that they’re just par for the course. We offer some unique construction software products that can help improve communication and ensure that everyone you’re working with is on the same page. We’ve also compiled the four most important factors to keep an eye on when you want to make sure you’re doing everything you can to avoid construction delays.
- Structural integrity
- Diagnostics of delay
- Schedule modification analysis
- Feasibility
It’s essential that you not just have a schedule but that the quality is good. You need to ensure that it’s sound enough to manage your job the way it needs to. We suggest focusing on relationships and other risk items. This may include high floats, long durations, etc. DCMA methodology can work wonders, and it basically ensures that there’s structural integrity in your schedule logic. You need to make sure that durations are appropriate and that your schedule isn’t guilty of having high levels of compression or criticality.
Every construction company should be studying delay early and often. This involves complete diagnostics from one update to the next. We understand that the reason most project management teams aren’t on top of studying critical path delays is because they just don’t have the time. It’s also true that when the schedule does slip, they don’t run around telling everyone.
This can easily become an issue of overconfidence. It’s common for delays to accumulate until it’s impossible to ignore them. At that point, contractors will begin discussing them but it’s often too late to ensure it’s nothing more than a minor issue. The old adage, “Knowing is half the battle,” is how you should look at delays – the more information you have, and the earlier you get it, the better.
Any time a modification is made to the schedule, the owner needs to know and understand it. Remember that most of the modifications are likely made to try and deal with delays and other challenges. The sooner the owner knows about them, the better able they are to respond. You want to ensure there’s a system of checks and balances to minimize risk to the owner.
Remember as well that owners are less likely to get mad at a delay if they have advance warning. If they wake up one day believe their project will be completed only to find that it won’t be completed for another week or more, they will be understandably upset.
This one may seem obvious but the reality is that it’s common for individual pieces of a schedule to be created without a real look at the entire project. Once you have an idea of where the schedule is heading, begin to think of it not as numerous pieces within a puzzle but the puzzle itself.
At ECL Software, we’re proud to offer unique construction software made for your unique needs. Check it out online or give us a call at 800-625-5972 with any questions.
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