Omaha-Based The Tempest Company‘s blog, Oh, By The Way, provides viewers with a different perspective of estimating, job-costing and construction challenges. You’ll discover refreshing insights in the pithy posts and learn a bit about the challenges — and risks — of evaluating project costs and schedules.
This Passing on a Project story, for example, reminds us that we should not go for every job or project:
You can actually come out ahead on some projects by passing on the opportunity rather than trying to tackle a project you know you shouldn?t!?There can be many reasons to bail from contract terms or timeframe to the site conditions or expertise required.
At Tempest, we are independent estimators, but even we have to occasionally turn down potential work. Sometimes it?s not feasible to complete the assignment based on the completion date and our current workload.? Contractors also have to face the same dilemma.? Each task takes a certain amount of time to complete and there is a limit on the number of employees and hours in a day to work on each task.
Taking on a project you know you can?t meet the deadline can hurt the reputation of your company.? Being honest and upfront may result in lost work at the current moment, but the relationship and possibility of future work is still possible.
Here, we are reminded in It’s About Time that time, indeed, is of the essence:
A friend of ours who works in the industry, who would like to be known as ?crusty old estimator? had this to say:
I was recently involved in a large project with a very aggressive schedule.
Unfortunately, the Owner?s?lack of urgency?for supplying design information did not match the schedule for completion.?Delays?in design decisions and documents greatly?reduced the ability?to effectively plan and efficiently manage the project. This?greatly reduced, or eliminated, the potential for value engineering and analysis, and?reduced productivity.??This led to a?higher project cost?than it ever should have been. In effect, the owner suffered a self-inflicted wound.??Time is if the essence??is a catch phrase on all projects; it doesn?t just apply to contractors.
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