Construction projects can be complicated beasts to wrangle. Budgets almost never stay where they should and goalposts are constantly shifting.
Studies show that 98% of construction projects either go over budget or experience delays. Often, these two issues go hand-in-hand. The larger the project, the more likely it is that you’ll experience cost overruns or changes to the schedule.
What causes a project to fail?
While most projects exceed their budget and fail to meet their deadline, there are a lot of factors that exacerbate otherwise preventable issues and make these issues worse than they should be.
Poor communication
Communication breakdowns lead to project breakdowns. But poor communication in construction doesn’t always mean poor interpersonal skills. It also goes beyond simply forgetting to include important information in your emails or calls (though that can also cause problems).
Poor communication also includes using outdated pen-and-paper methods of communication and file storage, or attempting to manage complicated documentation like submittals or RFIs via email. In both cases, it’s simply too easy for things to get misplaced or lost in the clutter, whether that’s in a filing cabinet or your inbox.
Unrealistic expectations
Many construction companies have a tendency towards optimism when it comes to budget estimates. Hence the high percentage of companies that go over budget. This isn’t due to dishonesty, instead it usually stems from unrealistic expectations from project owners combined with incomplete data from previous projects.
When providing estimates, it’s important to account for past project budgets and cost overruns. Even if your number is higher than your competitors, if you can give a detailed explanation of your estimate and include data points competitors may have left out, you can show yourself to be more experienced while still managing to deliver on your promises.
Fluctuating material prices
Another reason your estimates may be off are due to unpredictable fluctuations in material prices. Material prices can fluctuate, and this usually stems from uncontrollable factors like supply chain disruptions, economic policies, or even natural disasters.
However, missing materials can also drive up costs, which in turn increases your budget due to having to repurchase the missing materials and the delays in work that ensue.
Outdated equipment
Old equipment breaks down more often and requires expensive maintenance. While it may be tempting to get as much mileage as possible out of your existing equipment to avoid the cost of buying anything new, it can cost you more in the long run.
How to fix a failing project
Your best bet for fixing a failing project is to improve your project management systems. Raken offers comprehensive solutions that can not only help you improve existing project health, but also prevent or mitigate failure in the future.
Better visibility with daily reports
A digital daily reporting tool helps boost jobsite visibility because it’s more accessible than old-fashioned pen and paper. You also get the added benefit of real-time updates via Raken’s web or mobile applications.
In the most literal sense, digital daily reports boost jobsite visibility with actual photos and videos taken from the jobsite, which gives you tangible evidence of project progress and helps protect you against litigation, which itself is another significant cost.
Proactive safety measures
Incidents on the jobsite can bring operations grinding to a halt. But safety can be overlooked or inadvertently treated like an afterthought when you're already working against tight or extended deadlines. Proactive digital safety tools like toolbox talks, managed checklists, and incident reporting can help to prevent these issues by alerting workers to hazards early, laying out the correct process for tasks, and quickly logging incidents for easy OSHA submissions at the end of the year.
Production tracking
To keep budgets under control, you have to carefully and comprehensively monitor costs. That’s why Raken offers a full suite of production tracking tools, including equipment management, material tracking, and time tracking.
Material tracking helps you document material usage, assign specific cost codes, and include photos, notes, and other attachments so everyone gets the full picture. Equipment management enables you to track critical details for your owned and rented equipment and helps you stay on top of maintenance.
Labor is often the largest component of a project’s budget. Raken’s time tracking helps prevent budget bloat by tracking labor costs with flexible time entry options, including supervisor managed time cards, a mobile time clock, and kiosk mode (where employees clock in and out on a shared device. Plus, with custom clock in and out questions and AI photo ID, you can eliminate buddy punching and ensure the day’s work has been done.
You can also combine Raken’s time tracking tools with your preferred accounting and payroll software for the best of both worlds.
Effective resource scheduling
Ensuring your workers are where they need to be when they need to be there is a crucial component of project health. With Raken’s resource scheduling feature, you can streamline shift assignments with a real-time calendar view across projects and employees.
You can schedule one-off or recurring shifts, enable automatic notifications to notify employees, and generate reports on scheduled shifts to compare against actual labor hours to identify mismatches.
Better document management
When you digitize your filing cabinet, you’re less likely to lose critical project documents and can more easily share crucial information with all relevant parties. Raken’s digital document management capabilities help you keep everything organized in one place with project-specific folders. You can also share documents with stakeholders and add text, pictures, drawings, and annotations for more information.
Submittals are a common bottleneck for construction projects, but Raken makes it easier to get them done quickly and done right. You can easily create submittals on Raken’s web or mobile applications, set up automated notifications for stakeholders, quickly capture responses, and run reports to track progress.
Raken also enables you to streamline RFIs so you can minimize downtime and keep projects in motion. You can build RFIs in Raken, capture relevant details, and send automated notifications. Plus, you can also invite partners to reply in guest mode and run reports.
To take things to the next level, utilize our integration with Bluebeam to enhance collaboration and get RFIs done faster.