Few things in land development become obsolete quicker than site work schedules. When faced with continual weather impact, geotechnical surprises, or delayed permitting, even  the most diligent construction manager can become jaded to regularly updating and explaining the latest collection of dismal bar graphs to the development team. And it’s completely understandable. A host of variables, most of which are totally uncontrollable, can disrupt and freeze a site work schedule dead in its tracks. As opposed to more predictable facets of construction involving structures, site work is slave to Mother Nature and she plays by her own set of rules.

Still, the site construction schedule remains critical to planning and even more critical to maintaining project control. Successful projects are scheduled on paper before a shovel is ever driven into the ground and the site work portion of construction should be no different. Here are some ways to build better site work schedules:

1) Avoid overly optimistic schedules. They tend to be ignored.

2) Smoke out conflict early. Consider having your architect, engineer, and contractor review and sign off on any schedule you create.

3) As a rule, use real and not “padded” activity durations. If you choose to increase or extend durations, use them sparingly. Minimal fluff can render a schedule useless.

4) Chart milestones. They suggest destination points and goals. Since they don’t exhibit slack or float, milestones are respected and convey a statement of finality and purpose.

5) Don’t abandon the process. Once it’s discovered that you are behind schedule, request that your contractor immediately submit a plan to get back on schedule. Then, monitor your contractor for compliance.

6) Modify, or completely overhaul, schedules according to site conditions. Wet weather, excessive heat and cold, and the holidays can all affect construction. Summer vacations almost always dampen design and permitting.

7) Schedule in small bites. Consider using abbreviated three-week window schedules detailed out on a day-to-day work basis. This approach makes the foreseeable future easier to digest without losing sight of current activity. The result is easier management.

8) Create reference points. When project documents are void of reference points such as column or gridlines, develop your own set of keys to communicate scheduling. Consider developing color-coded activities that highlight individual work items or that align with colored plans.

9) Buy expertise. If need be, hire a person solely dedicated to scheduling work or employ the services of an outside consultant. The key here is to control the process. Supply enough baseline information and let the scheduler produce graphics and/or creative alternatives for stacking work,

10) Think defensively when designing your schedules. Articulate individual activities clearly and decisively. Be thorough. Leave little, or nothing, to interpretation. Manage your project documents and schedules in a way that allows you to either prove or disprove potential damages later.

11) Protect yourself when updating schedules. Even when the number of potential unknowns overwhelms your sense of predictability, carry on. Producing hollow schedules can appear as a thankless and unrewarding exercise until your contractor drops a well-aimed delay claim into your lap. Be prepared.

12) Schedule your project early enough to influence estimating. By formatting your construction cost estimate in a fashion that shadows how your project will be built, your schedule will help determine how you create your estimate. The payoff is orderly, easily tracked, and more complete cost estimates.

13) When evaluating a contractor’s resources, don’t underestimate the importance of their computer hardware, software, and on-line communications ability. The contractor’s scheduling software should be flexible enough to produce Gantt and CPM formats and powerful enough to handle over a thousand activities.  

14) Recognize when resources drive schedule. For example, in tight markets, on large projects where the contractor is utilizing every piece of iron that he owns, or in remote areas where rental equipment is scarce or nonexistent, load and level available resources into the schedule. Otherwise, consider the possibility of using multiple contractors.

15) Weekend and after-hours work require a well-thought out and detailed schedule. Why? Because during these hours, suppliers are usually closed, the public may be in your face, everyone is being paid at a premium, workers may be tired and unproductive, and you’re most vulnerable if something goes wrong. Take the time to think out, and schedule, odd-hours work.

16) Don’t accept inadequate scheduling. Schedules are only as good as the logic and detail supporting the network. Be wary of contractors who talk scheduling as though it were a political appeasement or some “gosh…if we have to” -type exercise. Strive to work with superintendents who are submersed in managing your project on a daily basis. They are the ones who should dictate the contractor’s schedule.

17) Ask others to test your schedule. Brainstorm with your consultants and contractor. “What if” scenarios can provide a wealth of material to consider and often leads to identifying potential problems. While it’s always better to fix things on paper than in the field, the sense of teamwork resulting from critiquing the construction schedule together helps build trust and a schedule that everyone can respect.

18) Research your site work contractor’s commitment to scheduling. Capable contractors will lead with their schedule. When dealing with a contractor that is light on scheduling, manage project meetings in a way that targets the project schedule. Don’t rely on the contractor to turn in something. Produce your own schedules if you have to. Be proactive and question your contractor as appropriate.

19) Resist the temptation to mix assumptions with predictable work activity. Time and money lost to lagging approvals, overdue permits, and vacant financing are tough to make up with bulldozers. It’s not only unfair ? it’s wrong to hold a contractor responsible for someone else’s miscalculation. Make sure that the construction schedule generously reflects activities that you cannot control. Then do your best at the bank, and at town hall, to procure whatever you lack in order to maintain schedule.

20) Use the schedule as a tool to control who starts where and to define their scope of work. Contractors who feel they can do anything at any time typically create nothing but headaches for everyone around them. Unless they’re controlled, subcontractors who work out of sequence and then demand something like accelerated survey control or support from other trades may cry “impact” if they don’t get what they want. Inspectors don’t appreciate contractors who perform work with no regard for schedule and neither should owners.

21) Chart weather and tie this information to your schedule. Begin by identifying where you’ll be able to mine reliable weather data that’s pertinent to your project. Consider establishing an onsite weather station in order to gain additional data. Second, keep a wall chart or diary that shows each calendar day. Color or write in the weather at least twice each day. Do this once in the morning and again in the afternoon. Include weekends since Monday’s work is dependent on Sunday’s conditions. Items to note may include dust, ice, full sunshine, rain, and wind (including wind speed) for each day. Transmit this weather data to all parties weekly. Beyond knowing more about what your contractor is dealing with, this practice will help you better understand schedule impacts and additional cost as a function of weather.

22) Help define the schedule. Project owners that prefer their contractors to generate the construction schedule may want to specify, or at least suggest, what activities they’d like to see portrayed on the schedule. Here again, detail is important. Some contractors may offer nebulous activities that cover an array of discrete work centers that would be better scheduled individually. If crafted in a certain manner, the construction schedule can be used to mask inadequacies in the field. To avoid this, demand specifics and when appropriate, offer your contractor a list of construction activities that describe your project (or that may align with how you’ve structured your budgets, cost codes, or pro forma). Ask the contractor to assign durations to your activity descriptions.

In fact, why not submit a list of work activities that you’d like to see considered before the contractor builds his schedule? Present this list during contract negotiations. Provided your list makes sense, what is the contractor’s response? Is the contractor willing to work with you?

By nature, site work is flexible. Increasing your equipment and manpower usually solves most scheduling problems. And fortunately, typical site construction isn’t encumbered by a myriad of trades falling over each other as may exist in structures work. For site work, weather is commonly the bogeyman, blowing projects around like ships on the open sea. Though it can seem hopeless, the antidote is simple. Use quality detailed schedules to give yourself, and everyone around you, a glimpse of what’s coming. Then adjust what you have to in order to meet your deadlines.  SLDT