Construction delays when building a custom home are costly, inconvenient, and frustrating for everyone involved. It's no wonder that a ballooning construction schedule is one of the biggest fears prospective homeowners have as they embark on their custom homebuilding journey. The truth is that the organization and effectiveness of your custom builder will have a direct impact on your home’s construction schedule.
Some of the most common drivers of schedule delays include: the builder’s lack of organization, weather, permit/inspection delays, material lead time/unavailability, homeowner selection delays, and scope changes. Although the BIGGEST driver of custom home construction delays is receiving the homeowners’ selections too late, here are several ways your custom builder can do everything in their power to prevent and mitigate construction schedule delays:
1. Study plans thoroughly and proactively solve constructability issues
The more your builder has scrutinized your plans before breaking ground, the less time they will have to spend in the field working through tricky elements of the design and the more time they can spend managing current trades and scheduling future trades. This isn’t limited to your architectural plans; your builder must thoroughly vet your structural engineering, civil engineering, and all MEP plans in order to make sure they all jive with the architectural plans. Getting these right before breaking ground will save precious time during construction.
2. Allocate adequate personnel to each project
A custom builder who is operating without a team is often spread too thin and their project schedules (and quality) suffer as a result. Having a custom builder who has adequate support both in the field and in the office will not only keep your custom home on schedule but will translate to a smoother and more enjoyable experience for you and your family. Be sure the project team assigned to your project is not overloaded with too many other projects as well.
3. Provide a realistic timeline estimate upfront
A reliable, high-quality builder will make sure to not over-promise and under-deliver when it comes to schedule. If a realistic schedule is communicated to everyone involved, then it is easier to hold the entire team accountable to it, including all members of the builder team as well as interior designers and all trades.
4. Build a detailed project schedule for their team and trades
A detailed project schedule should be built near the start of construction. This schedule should be analyzed by the builder team to be sure there are no omissions and that construction is happening in the correct sequence. For larger homes, the house should be broken up into sections or quadrants so that trades can be staggered and paced properly. This construction schedule should be updated regularly, communicated clearly and consistently to the trades, and shared with the homeowners to the level of detail they desire.
5. Build a no-holes budget to minimize change orders and delays
Before breaking ground, a very thorough construction budget should be created by your builder. If the proper amount of plan analysis and level of detail is included in this budget, then there will be fewer occurrences of budget overages or change orders during construction. Budget overages and change orders can drastically slow down a project because they require time and attention of the team that should instead be focused on moving progress forward.
6. Collaborate with quality trades who won’t cause sub-par work and delays
Working with trades who are qualified, experienced, and organized can make it possible for your builder to keep construction moving smoothly. On the flip side, a trade who makes mistakes, executes subpar work, comes to site unprepared, has poor communication, or who lacks sufficient crews to execute the project scope will wreak havoc on your construction schedule.
7. Execute sub agreements that include timing and manpower requirements
Your builder should be working with their trades to establish expectations before their individual involvement begins on your project. Quality standards, payment terms and timing, and manpower/crew size expectations should be spelled out in the trade’s proposal and/or in the subcontractor agreements that are executed.
8. Provide a detailed selections schedule before construction
The number one driver of construction delays on a custom home project is not getting selections in time to keep construction moving smoothly. Your builder should provide you and your interior designer with a clear and aggressive selections schedule well before breaking ground. In fact, we provide a customized Schedule of Design Selections for each of our homes near the start of the architectural design phase. That way, you and your interior designer have plenty of time to work through the hundreds of decisions that are needed in a calm and enjoyable fashion.
9. Send weekly selections updates with helpful guidance
Even before construction begins, your builder team should begin sending regular weekly updates to you, your architect, and your interior designer. One aspect of these weekly updates should be to remind you and your interior designer of the current and upcoming selections that are needed. In addition, they should provide helpful details, specifications, showroom contacts, or selections resources that can aid you in the selections process.
10. Hold regular internal AND homeowner meetings to proactively identify and solve issues
Weekly meetings amongst your builder team should be happening to solve problems before they snowball, strategize on upcoming phases, review project data, set relevant action items, and hold each other accountable. In addition, your builder should be holding regular meetings with you as well. This is a great time to ask questions, share thoughts, talk through details, and make decisions to keep the project moving smoothly.
11. Pay trades strategically and consistently to ensure continued progress
Paying trades on a timely and consistent basis is the best way to ensure that they continue to show up on your jobsite. Your builder should have a regular and reliable payment schedule that all trades are aware of, and your builder should also be well-capitalized enough to keep cash flowing smoothly throughout your project.
12. Utilize internal pre-construction, construction, and close-out checklists to stay organized
Your builder should have consistent, well-documented procedures to follow during each major phase of your project. This ensures that important steps don’t get overlooked or done out of sequence. No point in reinventing the wheel on each project. Documented checklists that each project team can utilize to keep themselves on track and accountable to their homeowners is crucial.
13. Update the project schedule and budget continuously
In custom home construction, it is very easy to prioritize so many urgent daily tasks over bigger picture action items like updating a project budget or schedule. This is a huge mistake. Your builder should be updating your project’s budget and construction schedule on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. On top of that, they should be communicating those updates to you regularly. This fosters a culture of accountability, transparency, open communication, and trust. And believe it or not, a highly effective culture can absolutely have an impact on your home’s construction duration.
The challenge is to find a custom builder who truly believes it is their responsibility to keep the construction of your custom home on schedule. No excuses, no passing the buck. To learn more about finding the right custom builder for you, visit our previous blog post here.
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