While some delays are unavoidable, many can be avoided with better collaboration and transparency. It is the premise behind alternative methodologies like integrated project delivery (IPD), design-build, and bridging. Hiring more extensive staff and paying overtime can lead to faster turnaround times.
Improve Communication
Effective communication is a crucial ingredient in construction projects. It guarantees that everyone knows what is expected of them, knows what is expected of them, and can immediately react to inquiries. It improves a project’s overall productivity and helps reduce costs by eliminating misunderstandings that result in delays or rework. Many communication breakdowns occur due to the number of ways that people can communicate. It can be not easy to track messages if a worker juggles chat services, emails, texting, and phone calls. It’s crucial to have a centralized communication platform for the whole project team to decrease these disruptions.
Schedule Regular Inspections
In a project, many factors can slow down the construction schedule. However, some of these delays are preventable. These include return trips from the job site to headquarters, significant callbacks and punch list items, inspection and testing failures, material delivery issues, and weather-related problems. Reducing highway construction project times will significantly benefit road users, such as reduced traffic delays, lower traffic maintenance costs, repairing highway damage from contractor operations, and improving agency public relations. In addition, fewer construction-related accidents and worker injuries can reduce medical bills and insurance costs. In addition, a surety bond is a method of risk transfer that offers monetary assurance that the contractors will complete the building project as planned. The Fast Bond program from Old Republic Surety focuses on quick-turn projects for all building trades. It will safeguard against an unfortunate occurrence that results in interruptions or financial loss during construction.
Define a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Use a work breakdown structure to divide a job into more manageable chunks. A WBS is a hierarchical breakdown of the project team’s work that is deliverable-oriented. The first step in creating a work breakdown structure is identifying the high-level project deliverables. From there, the project can be broken down into unique lower-level deliverables. The lowest level is the work breakdown structure’s terminal element or work package. Each work package should include a task a single project member can complete.
Establish a Quality Control (QC) System
The QC process is how the enterprise confirms that a manufactured product or performed service meets specific minimum standards. These quality requirements are typically specified in the facility design and contract documents. The organization must determine which quality criteria are most important to the company and establish QC procedures accordingly. For example, durability and fabric quality are more critical to customers than color matching so a clothing manufacturer might prioritize those factors in their QC process. Procurement challenges can cause delays, so it’s vital to anticipate and mitigate these issues as much as possible. It includes creating a detailed schedule, establishing a budget that accounts for potential costs, and establishing clear lines of communication between team members.
Develop a Punch List
At some point, all construction projects must wrap up. However, this cannot occur until every project’s i’s and t’s have been crossed. It is where a construction punch list comes in handy. Typically, this is created towards the end of the project after the project manager has conducted a walkthrough with the client and subcontractors to ensure that they’ve fulfilled their contractual obligations. A typical punch list includes the task name, date observed and completed, location, description, and relevant files. It allows teams to track each task’s progress and provides clear updates for the project owner.
Establish a Timeline for Change Requests
Throughout any project, there will be a variety of change requests. These may be due to unforeseen circumstances or strategic shifts; these must be managed effectively. Identifying the scope of the change and evaluating whether it’s worth the additional time and costs will help you make an informed decision. It will also help you determine the impact on other project deliverables, such as plans, schedules, and business process documents. Establishing a straightforward process for handling change requests will help to reduce your construction project turnaround time.
Define a Timeline for Completion
A construction project’s timeline is essential to keep the work on track. Determine and analyze the expected duration of each task. Some steps on the timeline can be worked on simultaneously, while others cannot start until other tasks are finished. Using a chart to see how the different tasks interact visually and their dependencies can help make a more realistic schedule for completing each task on time. Identifying and eliminating bottlenecks is a critical element of effective construction management. Whether the problem is in scheduling, labor, or material issues, it needs to be addressed to prevent delays from occurring in the future.