Alert
Site Preparation & Mobilisation – The key to successful construction projects
Being awarded the next big job can be a time for celebration or can keep you up at night worrying about what you have missed and why you were the low bidder. As exciting as it is, winning a bid is just the start of the process. Before putting any shovel into the ground and turning any dirt, contractors have an opportunity to put in place a framework for success for the entire job. They face many potential pitfalls, whether managing resources, documenting progress or grappling with unforeseen challenges. Contractors need unprecedented insights into every aspect of the job. They need real-time data to inform decisions to ensure it is profitable and avoid costly overruns.
Whether you’re a contractor, working on a lump sum bid or managing unit price contracts, understanding the unit quantities for all volumes, lengths, areas and counts is the cornerstone of winning profitable work and avoiding the costly project from hell. But getting the unit quantities right is just the beginning. Now comes the hard part of allocating resources (financial and human capital) and creating a detailed plan before breaking ground.
Managing data throughout a project is a struggle for many contractors. Using inaccurate or outdated data can lead to poor decision-making and planning, which in-turn leads to resources not being available when needed, delays, and an increased need for contingency plans. This can lead to increased stress for management, raising client doubts, additional rework and delays due to miscommunication or RFI’s (requests for information), resulting in days and dollars lost.
Plus, there are other missed opportunities, such as discovering opportunities to create efficiencies, identifying risks or issues prior to the deployment of resources (when project delays are more expensive), and the ability to automate certain functions, so you can streamline processes.
The degree to which a project fails or succeeds strongly correlates with the degree the company performed at the above eight elements. Analyse your data management practices for all eight aspects of the construction process to determine how your data management can be improved, so you can complete projects faster, at less cost, and feeling more confident about projects going to plan.
