Masonry Magazine June 2002 Page. 40
Time Management
Dodging Deadly Delays- Handling the Inevitable
Ask a contractor: "What's the most frustrating part of your job," and nine times out of 10, the response will be: dealing with construction delays. Delay is deadly because it invariably requires extra time, extra attention, and extra labor by the contractor to correct the delay- all of which cost time and money.
By Steve Saucerman, Professional Estimator
Interruptions in project schedules are killers-and not just because they create ulcers for the project superintendent. Delays can be deadly because they require the expenditure of three things that are always in short supply: time, effort and personnel. Add those three items up and they total the fourth thing most contractors are light on-money.
Now, spending money's not a bad thing if and when you planned on spending it. Unfortunately, most of the money expended correcting delay is (probably) unaccounted for during estimating-and therefore absorbed as loss.
Delay is a slippery thief-silently and steadily encroaching on the bottom line. Sometimes it's easy to spot, such as stoppage caused by a busted hose on a backhoe. Other times delay isn't so discernable. Perhaps it will manifest itself as an hour lost waiting for a generator to be delivered or a worker chronically showing up late to work.
The Effects of Delay
DELAY AFFECTS A JOB in many different ways. The loss of money through expended man-hours is easy to visualize, but what about the negative impact on morale and productivity? Let's look at an example:
Imagine you're a superintendent overseeing a million-dollar project and you have the enviable daily responsibility of coordinating 16 to 20 different skilled trades (in different unions), scores of workers, and perhaps hundreds of material deliveries for your project. Broken a sweat yet?
Now, let's suppose that every one of the individual skilled-trade people has their own agendas, attitudes and opinions (which they're seldom afraid to share) regarding virtually everything effecting their work.
During the course of a construction project, the interaction between these variable parties can grow to be quite tense and, it might be said, quite enlightening-if you happen to be an anthropologist studying de-evolution of man. Even on a normal day, a typical exchange between an electrician, let's say, and the super may go something like this:
Electrician, "Hey, you! There are a hundred "@-d*#* ("place name of other trade here") guys in my way and there's no g*@-d*#* way I can get any of my g-d*#* pipe in the g@-d*#* ceiling until...."
Super (to himself), "Good grief, I need a drink!"
Our superintendent has certainly got his hands full and this is just a fraction of his duties. Keep in mind that the owner,