The 10 Most Common Construction Scheduling Mistakes
Construction companies have unique situations to consider. You need to not only schedule jobs out but schedule a wide range of contractors and subcontractors working on each project. At ECL Software, we’ve come up with industry-leading construction software products to help construction companies like yours avoid some of the most common scheduling mistakes. Read on to learn about ten of the most common construction scheduling mistakes so you can avoid making them.
- Not maintaining documentation re: schedule preparation
- Errors in tech logic
- The schedule isn’t complete
- Not having the critical materials ready
- Not considering weather restraints
- Not consider resources
- Not thinking about the economics of the sequencing
- Productivity or durations are unrealistic
- Not including floats
- Not using everyone to their best ability
This happens all the time: A person creates a schedule based on a wealth of information but doesn’t retain access to that information. Months down the road they find that the schedule seems off but they don’t know why. If they’d kept the appropriate documentation then they’d know exactly why they’d set it up the way they did.
If one person is in charge of making the schedule, and they’re not the most tech-savvy person on the team, then errors can be made. This is part of the reason that we so highly recommend our products. They allow multiple people to collaborate on the same project so everyone can play to their strengths.
A partial schedule may be enough to get some things moving but before the project starts, it should be complete.
The schedule should include not just steps you’re going to take but the steps to take before those steps. For example, your schedule should include the procurement of the critical materials you need – not just what you’ll do with those materials.
In some ways, a construction schedule is a wish list. It’s a list of steps that must be taken, the order they should be taken, and an ideal timeframe to get them done. However, you do still need to build in time for things you can’t control. One of the biggest ones forgotten is weather restraints.
Not all resources are available at all times of the year. This must be taken into consideration when deciding when to complete certain projects and when to get ready for them.
This is mostly a result of only looking at the construction project in pieces and not as a whole and can be combated with the right construction software.
If you have multiple people involved in various parts of the project weigh in on the scheduling, then you’ll have a better idea of what’s realistic and what isn’t.
Surprises arise. You can’t plan for a month long flood season, but you can plan for a few unexpected days of downtime. Remember that it’s better to come in ahead of schedule than behind it.
Too often, we see one member of the staff trying to handle it all. Our collaborative software makes it simple for those who are best at their jobs to handle the parts they’re best at. Contact ECL Software at 800-625-5972 today to learn more.
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