Construction Scheduling

The Goal

Our goal is to make your project move as quickly as possible without compromising quality, ​having your project advancing every day, with no missed days, until it's finished.

The Right People

Our policy is quality first and speed second.  That means always using the right craftsman for the right aspect of your project.  Sometimes that means delaying a start date until we have all of the right pieces in place.  Sometimes it means missing our goal of no missed days of work.  The sting of poor quality lingers long past the annoyance of a missed schedule goal.

Chaos

Construction scheduling has often been described as loosely organized chaos.  Our project manager is constantly trying to find the right balance between advancing the schedule and maintaining quality for an optimum outcome.  Some days, the schedule literally is changing hourly.  If the plumber takes 6 hours instead of the projected 4, the electrician may have to be moved to the next day.  If the electrician had another project scheduled and can't come back for two days, now we have to move the inspector, the insulator, the drywaller, the painter ......... Chaos!

The Right Order

There is a logical order to construction scheduling.  We maintain that order to make sure we are working efficiently and to protect the work that has already been done from damage. That order has only a little flexibility to it. We cannot hang sheetrock until the electrical is finished.  

Product Lead Times

​Manufacturers are used to seasonal fluctuations and flex well with them by increasing lead times for products. When demand goes up, lead times go out.

Industry Conditions

The construction industry is very sensitive to outside influences; housing demand, interest rates, lumber prices, regulations, etc, all affect demand.  Most of us in the industry are used to having to deal with fluctuations in demand for our services; the proverbial "feast or famine".  Because we are an industry of skilled specialists, we cannot instantly add people when we need them to meet demand; things just take longer. If strong demand continues, eventually craftsmen & contractors from other areas will move to the Tri-Cities to fill the demand.

Remodeling vs. New Construction

The remodeling and new construction sectors of our industry use the same specialty contractors.  Plumbers, electricians, insulators, drywallers, painters are all in demand from both sectors.  As remodelers, we have to compete with new construction for the time of those contractors.  When new construction is booming, the competition gets fierce, schedules get tighter, & response times slower.

Construction Industry Conditions

Code Blue
  • Normal product lead times
  • Our tradesmen available
  • Contractors available
  • Projects flow smoothly
  • Projects finish on schedule
  • Everyone relaxed
Code Red
  • ​Extended product lead times
  • Our tradesmen are booked but available
  • Contractors are booked but available
  • Projects take 1-2 weeks longer
  • Everyone stressed
Code Black
  • Extended product lead times with back-orders
  • More tradesmen needed - aggressively hiring
  • Contractors are over-booked, struggling to keep up, & over-whelmed.
  • Projects take 2-4 weeks longer.
  • Everyone over-stressed

Our Response

We react as quickly as we can to changing industry conditions.  We choose our people and our sub-contractors carefully.  We try to prepare our customers for what to expect.  Sometimes conditions change between the time we agreed to a project and the time we are ready to start.  It is always better to delay the start of a project, than it is to start, knowing we are going to have delays.  We work diligently & continuously to meet our goal of every project advancing continuously and to keep you updated on the schedule.