The Sandbagging Trap
When I began my career in construction working for a large general contractor, knowing project cost was a condition of employment, and one could not truly know cost without accurate and timely reporting. The project manager gathered the project staff to discuss why it was not acceptable to sandbag. Sandbagging is the practice of holding unreported quantities of work performed in one’s “back...Tracking Performance = Tracking Profitability
Mentioning tracking performance on a construction site may elicit eye rolling, while mentioning tracking profitability may elicit interest. However, they are correlated. It is essential for contractors to track labor and equipment performance (estimated vs. actual unit cost, and estimated vs. actual productivity) on construction projects for two reasons: Measuring performance trends on...Tackling Delays
A common impediment to a successful project is often a delayed project. Once a delay occurs, a claim is likely to follow. Being knowledgeable of key delay concepts and the actions that can be taken once a delay is recognized can improve the chances of the claim being accepted. Even when the claim is not accepted and litigation/arbitration becomes necessary, taking the proper action during the...