Construction projects can be incredibly challenging to manage, and anyone that has experience in the industry will have dozens of stories of projects gone horribly wrong and ended up months and possibly even years over schedule and/or way over budget. While sometimes unforeseen circumstances can derail even a perfectly planned construction project, you will find that often construction issues could have been prevented, and this is what can be so frustrating. With this in mind, keep reading to discover a few ways to prevent construction issues which will hopefully help your project to be completed without any issues and both on time and budget.
Start Planning As Early As Possible
It may sound obvious, but the best way to prevent issues from arising with construction is simply to start planning as early as possible. Planning well in advance gives you enough time to create a clear project plan to guide the way, identify the potential issues that could arise, and secure the best contractors, materials, equipment, and anything else that you need. It can also help reduce stress, which is so important when managing a project.
Identify Delays & Blockers
One of the most important steps to take when it comes to construction is to identify potential delays and blockers to the project at each stage. Delays are issues that occur when things don’t go to plan, such as the weather delaying building (these are often unavoidable). You need to think about what could derail the schedule and what you can to do avoid or mitigate the issue. Blockers, meanwhile, are tasks that need to be completed before other work can commence. Construction is sequential, meaning that you need to determine what needs to get done and in what order and to give yourself enough time to get these blockers completed in order.
Assign Roles & Responsibilities
In complex projects like construction, where there are often many different small projects and different people working on the site, it is important that everyone knows what their role is, what they are responsible for, and who they should report to if there are any issues. Establish roles and responsibilities early on to avoid any issues down the line and encourage people to come forward if they have any concerns, questions, or feedback about their role or responsibilities.
Establish Clear Lines Of Communication
Following this point, one of the main reasons that issues and delays arise in construction is down to a lack of communication. Small issues can have a domino effect, which is why everyone involved in the project needs to be able to easily raise any issues or get any answers questioned for immediate resolution. Establishing clear lines of communication where people know who to get in contact with and how they can do this is key and will help people to feel well supported on the job.
As a project manager, you need to know what’s going on with your project as well. Keeping track of paper documents isn’t always the most effective means of doing so. You and your team might spend hours looking for a document or trying to figure out what exactly is going on with the project by looking through the paperwork. Fortunately, you can use construction project communication software to open up communication on the project and keep all the documents in one place. This adds the benefit of maintaining a single documentation source for the project while ensuring easy access to pertinent documents within seconds. Being able to search for the document you need within the software is ideal for optimizing the process and you can get things done, approved, and ready to go faster with just a simple digital solution. Again, communication is key.
Use Experienced Contractors
When it comes to choosing contractors, it is always a good idea to speak with a few and to take the time to research them and read reviews. It is best to use experienced contractors that specialize in the work that needs doing, such as Earthworkz, if you need any kind of drilling work done as experts in directional boring, vacuum excavation, and site electrical excavation. When you go with specialists such as this, you can rest assured knowing that they will be using highly trained staff, using the best equipment, and having the knowledge and experience to deliver on time and budget and handle any issues that might arise.
Identify Health & Safety Issues
Often, delays and issues arise due to accidents that occur on a worksite. Obviously, you will want to prevent these at all costs and to provide a safe work environment for your workers. A health and safety assessment will help you to identify hazards that you should then try to eliminate or mitigate. It is then a case of making sure that staff are fully trained and have access to PPE, that tools and equipment are properly maintained, and that the worksite is kept as tidy as possible.
Issues can often arise in construction which can result in delays and more money being spent than originally planned, but often these issues can be avoided through planning. These tips will hopefully help you to prevent any issues from arising with your construction project and ensure that everything goes smoothly, according to plan and within the budget and timeframe initially established.
