Time management and proper scheduling are essential for construction projects to be completed within set time and budget frames. With so many intricate activities, uncertain conditions, and short time constraints, having a well-defined strategy and timing promotes the execution and delivery of completed projects within the preferable deadline and cost constraints. In this article, the author seeks to address some of the key measures and standards that should be adopted by construction managers and contractors to enhance scheduling.

Project Scope And Requirements From The Beginning Of The Project

When it comes to beginning a construction estimating companies project, it’s critical to set goals in the initial stage, determining its objectives and specifications. The details include but are not limited to the size of the building, material requirements, number of rooms, amount of money available for the project, permits, and many more. This means setting clear goals and having all the details refined right from the start so that an accurate estimation of the time required to execute each task becomes possible. Hence, the first outcome of a weak initial scope is the possibility of various problems that may occur later in the course of the implementation of the project.

The projects should also be divided into phases and sub-tasks to achieve proper organization and integration of the projects.

From this, construction estimators should subdivide the large singular project into phases, stages, and tasks that have a clear focus on their accomplishment. This enables the managers to prognosticate the length of time that may be required for each activity, which resources to utilize, the amount of money required, and how timetables should be planned for the various activities instead of the general project. Some of the different construction project stages include initiation, conceptual planning, design, procurement, construction, inspection, and handover. Each phase should then be subdivided into micro-steps and deliverables that can fit into short time frames.

Project Scheduling of Project Management Software

These are essential for large construction projects as they help develop an advanced system that can be used to manage the project schedule. Software such as Oracle Primavera P6, Microsoft Project, and Synchro enable the managers to create a graphical depiction of the entire work plan, define the durations of the tasks, link the dependencies, allocate resources, modify some timescales, monitor progress, allocate costs, and incorporate some changes on the entire fully integrated schedule. This provides much more oversight and flexibility as opposed to just plain Gantt charts or lists of tasks to do.

Analysis and Discussion Set Realistic Task Durations and Deadlines 

When designing the initial schedule and the duration of the processes concerning the task, the managers should provide reasonable durations and deadlines concerning the scope, resources, budget constraints, external conditions, and precedents. Avoid overstating or understating durations to a great level as this may lead to errors. It is good to incorporate small time gaps in the schedule for any possible mishaps and setbacks, but do not overcompensate with padding time that lengthens the project schedule. That is why it is important to rely on such institutional memory from previous projects when setting expectations on how much time activities require.

A good plan for worker and resource allocation is a critical component of the success of any business organization since it will help the management to achieve set targets and objectives effectively.

To be specific, the schedule should show the right human resources, equipment, materials, cost estimates, and other resources required for various construction-related tasks. It is also important that at any given time, none of the resources are more utilized or less utilized than the other. This may mean adding more manpower on specific tasks and reducing the number of workers on other tasks. Resource allocation and utilization directly influence timelines, with tasks often awaiting available resources. The project planning software makes this an easy proposition.

Poor Weather Conditions And Other Forms Of Time Loss

It is not uncommon to find construction projects, especially those that are done outside, to be delayed by problems such as a rain shower, heat that becomes unbearable for humans or workers, high winds, or cold that makes work on structures difficult. It is to offset this, that some contingency days or weeks should be incorporated in the master schedule. Likewise, other external factors such as in; late delivery of material, permission hitches, or lack of approval can prevent the progress of the project. Such delays can be mitigated since having contingency buffers involves less disturbance to the timeline.

Monitor the progress in achieving the planned goals and coordinate with the set schedule.

It is necessary to pay attention and track the course to the scheduled and required milestones and completion dates. Have weekly or daily progress meetings, engage the workers in keeping activity logs and progress reports, inspecting sites, taking pictures, verifying percentage completeness, and closely monitor all activities to ensure they are pursuing the necessary schedule. Such a situation means that if any fresh delays, risks, or overruns occur, they can be detected and sorted out at an early stage before they begin to complicate the situation further downstream.

Project Teams and Stakeholders Can Easily Communicate With One Another And the Project Manager

In the construction business, there are many subprocesses, contractors, inspectors, and other key players working simultaneously; therefore, the communication between the team members must be free and ongoing to ensure proper synchronization with the schedule. Coordinate weekly work-in-progress meetings, set up group discussion forums, encourage the use of an online collaborative project control software, conduct safety briefings, share snapshots on progress, encourage people to share their success stories, and encourage discussion to reveal any outstanding challenges or risks that may slow down other teams.

Conclusion

Thus, by setting clear scopes at the beginning, dividing the tasks into work breakdown structures, using schedules, setting realistic time frames, assigning resources, incorporating buffers, monitoring the progress, and ensuring prominent communication with stakeholders, construction estimating service managers can increase the efficiency of the planning and scheduling of the projects for better management of the time and cost. Adhering to these guidelines provided by other construction projects can give construction projects a foundation that prepares them for success not failure.