At the beginning of any commercial building project, it’s critical to determine the project scope. The project scope includes your schedule, budget, and available resources. The more closely you follow your intended project scope, the better. You’ll likely stick to your budget, hit your target deadlines, and avoid common causes of delay.
This isn’t always possible. Bad weather happens. So do supply chain issues. But there are some common causes of delay and additional costs that you have control over.
Here are some common causes of delays (and how to avoid them!).
These Factors Often Result in Project Delays (and Increased Costs)
Changes to the scope mid-project.
This may seem redundant, but hear us out! If the project timeline or price changes because of factors outside your control, that’s one thing. If the nature of the project is intentionally changed after it starts, that can change everything. Even a slight modification to the desired end product may require updated budgets, quality checks, and new construction methodologies. All of that will take more time and money than initially planned.
A lack of detailed planning upfront.
Experienced commercial construction contractors will calculate all the equipment, time, and labor needed to complete the project. They’ll pull together projections based on all available site data and factor in industry-wide information. As a result, a detailed plan should have built-in wiggle room. Poor planning may skip necessary calculations or result in far less forgiving margins.
Poor equipment, materials, or personnel management.
As your team executes your commercial building project, accounting for every steel unit and every hour of worker labor is critical. Otherwise, you risk running out of material. (Alternatively, you risk ordering too much and wasting it!) You could also face labor shortages, particularly if you’re not managing your team well. If you don’t prioritize equipment upkeep, your equipment could require maintenance at the worst possible time. All of these situations could cause steep delays and project price hikes.
Playing the waiting game for approvals.
Commercial building project managers often need to make many decisions very quickly. This is the only way a project can move forward promptly. Unfortunately, to make those decisions, project managers need to coordinate approvals from many different parties. These can include the client, the city, and contractors. Getting approvals can take a very long time. If the project gets held up or you miss a critical window for action because the team is waiting on approvals, that could cost you big.
Of course, these aren’t the only reasons your project could get delayed. Here’s a quick lightning-round list of other common causes of delay:
- Incorrectly-drawn project schematics
- Unforeseen issues with building codes or permits
- Bad weather or natural disasters
- Quality issues that require re-doing a portion of the project
- Supply chain issues
- Slow performance
Murphy’s Law dictates that there will be some causes for delays that we cannot overcome. By implementing project-saving measures from the beginning, you’ll have the best chance of avoiding costly delays.
These measures include:
- Reviewing your commercial building project’s plans, specifications, and important documents with your team regularly.
- Documenting everything. This includes your team’s progress, any quick decisions you had to make, and any changes to your project scope.
- Creating contingency plans. Your design and build contractor should anticipate delays and obstacles. Then, they can create backup plans to keep you on track, even when unavoidable challenges occur.
Want to Keep Your Project On Schedule and Under Budget? We’re Here to Help
On the outside, it may seem that keeping a commercial building project on schedule is easy. It definitely is not.
Managing a construction project requires immense focus, organization, and skill. And the stakes are high: If a project stays in scope, you can save a lot of time and money.
When you want an expert on your side to help you keep a commercial building project in check, GA-based Peak Steel Contractors is ready to help.
Check out our past projects and give us a call for further information on how to stop these common causes of delay.