Construction Mgmt-PS2

A good CM knows where delays are most likely to strike.

A great CM keeps them from
landing the punch.

Learn what to watch for to keep your project on track and on schedule.

Despite the pervasiveness of construction delays, most can be anticipated, avoided, and their impact alleviated. The key is mitigating the causes that, all too often, slip through the cracks.

Unmanaged Risks

Even a veteran CM can miss key areas of risk if they don’t bring the requisite engineering or subject matter expertise to the table. This is especially true of water and wastewater projects due to their design, logistical, environmental, and regulatory complexities. But a qualified CM will understand the nuances of the project design, its unique constructability issues, and clearly identify and communicate any high-risk activities that require additional staffing and other resources to ensure on-spec, on-time delivery.

2. Unrealistic Time Estimations

Unrealistic Time Estimations

All too often, Reported Percent Complete does not equal Actual Percent Complete. And it takes a savvy CM with many years of local experience to understand how long things actually take and where efficiencies can be found—or lost. Meticulous planning, coordination, and communication are critical to ensuring time estimates are realistic and achievable within the bounds of the project scope, schedule, budget, and resources.

3. Unapproved Schedule Updates

Unapproved Schedule Updates

Your contractor’s schedule has very real and direct cost implications for your municipality, district, or agency. So it’s imperative that your CM provide relentless, hawk-eyed oversight of the schedule and all updates so that you don’t lose control of the timeline and project milestones. Experienced CMs maintain a formal review process to ensure that any schedule changes are justified, reasonable, and serve the stated project objectives. This prevents costly disputes while maintaining control and accountability.

Inadequate Resource Allocation

Bottlenecks arise when teams don’t have the right tools and staffing in the right place at the right time to complete a given task and mitigate any risks. Delays begin to accumulate quickly, resulting in costly downtime and work-front congestion that exacerbates existing delays while creating new ones. An effective CM will continuously monitor progress and resource utilization, adjusting task timing and priorities and redistributing resources as needed to keep the project on track.

5. Ineffective Scope Mgmt

Ineffective Scope Management

Whether due to a poorly defined scope, an unrealistic one, or lack of oversight, scope creep can cause disruptions to resource allocation and task dependencies, new permitting or approval requirements, stakeholder conflicts, and cost overruns—any one of which is enough to blow out a timeline. Astute CMs limit creep by conducting thorough feasibility studies and site assessments, ensuring that project goals and deliverables are reasonable and clearly defined, implementing robust change management procedures, continuously monitoring progress, and flagging any scope deviations as they occur.

6. Unclear Communication

Unclear Communication

Ineffective communication with stakeholders is the root of schedule- and budget-busting scope creep, disputes, bottlenecks, and not infrequently, errors and rework. Fortunately, this is one of the most controllable factors in construction. High-performing CMs use proven communication protocols to keep everyone in the loop and consistently avoid and mitigate delays. If you don’t yet have an established construction meeting agenda, your CM should be able to help you customize your communications and ensure all your pain points are addressed.

Untapped Technology

The most powerful construction management platforms have accountability tracking built-in, triggering alerts for any schedule change or delay. Before choosing a CM, confirm that they are well versed in your preferred platform and in using the accountability features to track turnarounds and enforce the contract. (Conversely, if you already have the CM but not the platform, you can leverage your CM’s expertise to select the software that best meets your needs.)

8. Unmet Quality Standards

Unmet Quality Standards

From incorrect or incomplete designs to substandard materials and workmanship requiring replacement and rework, quality control is timeline control. By implementing a rigorous QA/QC program with regular inspections, thorough materials testing and site investigations, clear documentation procedures, smart contingency planning, and allocating the necessary time, staff, and equipment to quality control, CMs can keep projects consistently on track and on spec.

By working with your CM to address these issues, you can keep your project on schedule and keep clean, safe water flowing sustainably to your customers for decades to come.

To learn more about proven construction management strategies for consistently on-time, as-designed, safe, profitable project delivery, reach out to LEE + RO at 626-912-3391 or email Maji at Amritendu.Maji@lee-ro.com

And as always, don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or to discuss a project.