Masonry Magazine August 1999 Page. 17
Late Material Deliveries
But there are many material deliveries on the job - perhaps hundreds. Let's say it's exactly 100 and let's also give them the benefit of a doubt and say that only half of these total deliveries are late, and when they are they're only 30 minutes late. Here's a summary:
50.00 (# of deliveries)
X 0.33 (man-hours waiting)
X 4.00 (#of men standing around)
X $34.15 (billing rate per hour)
or 52,254.00 (Yikes!)
Now, of course, I'm generalizing quite a bit and some of these men will be somewhat productive, but this illustration is meant to show how little delays, when spread out over the course of a project, can add up to real money by the end of the job.
Equipment Breaking Down
Every good contractor and any contractor who's been in business for a long time understands the value of preventative maintenance and the sound implementation of a maintenance program. This includes small tools too. Another piece of advice: stay away from cheap power tools. Pay for the good stuff they're worth it. Burning up motors only causes additional time & effort to get the tool replaced hardly worth the $30 you saved when you bought it!
Design & Architectural Error
For some reason, I find architectural and design delays the most frustrating of all perhaps because the architect had months (or even years) to flush out the details before the project began. But, regardless, errors on the plans and specifications, along with errors in code adaption and misinterpretation, are appallingly common-place in today's construction. What's worse is when you factor in the tight economic and aggressively competitive atmosphere of the design business today, this problem will only grow worse before it gets better.
The best (and perhaps only) avenue for the contractor in these cases is to chronicle the lost time in a daily log book to use as negotiation fodder later on. Sure, it would be nice to charge them for lost time, but it's been my experience that the design firm will virtually never admit that their wrong, owing to an absolute horror of liability and responsibility, and therefore very seldom offer to cover your loss. Then, wait until the end of the job (when all of those lingering verbal-promises, on-the-fly cost-changes, and late or delayed change-billings rear their ugly heads) and sit down with the owner & architect to reconcile your final payout, pull out your notes and logs, and "let the real negotiation begin."
Field Error & Personnel Delay
Ok, now that I got that out of my system, I've got a confession to make we contractors aren't perfect either (I know that's hard to believe). Errors in the field occur all the time and many man-hours are lost in the remediation. Since we already know that time does indeed equal money, quality-control, care, and skilled workmanship are not just the trumpeting of a good marketing brochure - they're also money in your pocket!
Another potential for loss is in the discipline of the workers themselves. Employees that consistently show up late or seem to "have a hard time getting going" ultimately dip into the company profit well. Clear communication and strict employee guidelines are really the only way to plug this leak. Employee productivity and mo-Continued on next page
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