CONSTRUCTION CHAOS, WHAT THE PROBLEM?

Rescue mission, all the time! Who really is to blame when construction projects go wrong, which seems to happen a lot. There are obviously several reasons why each project that goes wrong is in a mess, but a few consistent reasons seem to stand out and here is my take on it.

1. Lowest bidder wins Most clients in the first instance look at how much they are willing to spend and who is offering the cheapest deal. This is understandable as we always look at how much things cost and try to be efficient with money. However, this is part of the problem. Once a project has been procured at low cost, everyone in the chain doing the work will be undercut and looking to be as efficient as they can with their money and the problem begins. Lack of resource on the project, overdue payments and this compounds into the progress on site being affected. It starts slowly, builds up and then disaster. Only because someone thought it was a clever idea to try and get more for less. 2.Bad management by main contractor For some reason, main contractors always seem to think they can never be wrong. The way the risk factors are distributed, pretty much everything can be blamed on the subcontractor. Most main contractor managers are not managements trained, they have just been in the industry for a long time, can speak loudly and shout and to them that’s management. Often the work has not been planned and coordinated properly to ensure delivery on time. This is a key factor which contributes to late delivery 3.Dodgy deals with subcontractors Systems have been put in place to avoid backdoor deals being made. However, construction still finds a way to make a deal with someone who does not qualify to win a contract. Backdoor deals mean everyone in the project will have to work to supplement the bad contractor’s workloads, in turn causing delays, lack of ownership and ultimately chaos 4. Poor skill The construction industry is currently facing a huge lack of skilled workforce. There are many reasons for this, which is a topic of discussion on its own. However, a lack of skill means everyone in the chain suffers due to bad trade skills, bad management and knowledge. This is in turn will also have an effect of project delivery For people in construction to move forward and start delivering change, all these elements need to be addressed, even before the building process has started to ensure a smooth and efficient built environment