{"id":904393,"date":"2025-05-21T14:03:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T20:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=904393"},"modified":"2025-05-21T14:03:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T20:03:04","slug":"change-orders-four-ways-to-master-twists-and-turns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/change-orders-four-ways-to-master-twists-and-turns\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Ways to Master the Twists and Turns of Construction Project Change Orders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Joshua Miles | Construction Executive<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under budget, over budget, change orders and labor shortages. Construction projects are not lacking in surprises. Here’s how to be prepared for them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an industry where projects often run over schedule and over budget, change orders, labor shortages and communication gaps can significantly reduce construction firms\u2019 profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delays and budget hikes are often inevitable because of the nature of construction work where change orders<\/a> are frequent. However, if not managed properly, they can result in a loss of credibility with clients and cut deeply into profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are four construction project management tips that can ease the burden of inevitable project shifts that lead to hidden losses if not properly managed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Create a Detailed Project Schedule<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As projects evolve, superintendents often scramble to get the right skilled-trades workers on site at the right time to move projects forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While some last-minute scrambles are unavoidable, project teams can avoid many of them by making sure all parties are clear on the plan and specs at project kickoff. This is especially true when taking on a project that differs in size and scope from what firms usually manage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building out a thorough project schedule is one of the best ways to make sure everything\u2014and everyone\u2014is available for each project phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many construction firms create initial schedules that are 65\u201375% complete, leaving too much room for discrepancies across the team. It also cuts visibility of what\u2019s needed next and can bring the risk of overlapping trades, which can tank productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To prevent multiple teams from working on top of each other, firms should list all of the trades needed and their corresponding activities during the planning phase. This approach will make it easier to map out when each trade is needed on the job, preventing overlap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Get the Right People Involved<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Failing to factor in the nuances of each project, including what expertise and personnel is needed on site for each phase leads to costly errors and rework fees (which represent 12% of a project\u2019s total cost on average, according to\u00a0Construction Industry Institute<\/a>). Identifying proactive solutions to assess and meet hiring needs early on is therefore crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an example, one construction firm took on a project to erect an ICF wall system on a $50-million school project. They didn\u2019t partner with a staffing provider, and they didn\u2019t have the right subcontractor quality control team, design team or quality assurance team that knew the system well enough to accurately assess its quality during the submittal and installation phases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After they erected the walls, they found a defect throughout the entire wall structure. They had to make repairs when building materials and labor costs were surging during the coronavirus pandemic. It ended up costing them over $30 million to fix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the team reworked the walls, they brought on an additional quality control expert and engineering firm to inspect the work, which they should have included at project kickoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These oversights are surprisingly easy to make when cost projections and razor-thin profit margins tempt firms to run dangerously lean. But when bringing on a larger project, it\u2019s important to scale accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Stay On Top of Reporting<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The first 60 days are some of the most important to start projects on track and get the right people involved. During that time and throughout the entirety of the project, it\u2019s also important to stay on top of reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a 2020 study of more than 3,900 industry leaders,\u00a0Autodesk<\/a>\u00a0found that contractors around the world lost $1.8 trillion due to bad data used for reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might feel like a tedious recurring task, but accurate project data can save a tremendous amount of money by helping identify revenue-draining errors early and improve work quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Staying on top of reporting is also the best way to track progress and make sure laborers complete their scopes of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When construction firms push these obligations to the end of the project, they\u2019re left playing catchup. This can result in a daunting list of unfinished paperwork and tasks when firms try to close out a project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The additional time spent will cause profits to dwindle\u2014especially if firms need to go back and fix errors that could have been caught sooner with timely reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Don\u2019t Underestimate Labor Cost<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In addition to involving the right parties and establishing a centralized reporting system, it\u2019s important to accurately estimate labor costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When firms underbudget, they can quickly find themselves without leverage for staffing support when project needs flex, leaving procurement in a bind to acquire enough talent to complete the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This potentially detrimental error can be avoided by getting a\u00a0construction staffing agency<\/a>\u00a0on board during the preconstruction and buyout phases. The agency can help incorporate labor costs into the bid, preserving profit margins and accounting for any labor shortages, which will likely increase in the coming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Q4 2021,\u00a0Associated General Contractors of America<\/a>\u00a0released a survey revealing that 45% of firms had to turn down work because they couldn\u2019t find enough skilled laborers to meet project requirements. This trend is expected to continue\u2014with more and more construction workers retiring and not enough to replace them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMore than 1 in 5 construction workers are 55 or older, meaning that retirement will continue to contract the industry\u2019s workforce. These are the most experienced workers and their departures are especially concerning,\u201d\u00a0Associated Builders and Contractors<\/a>\u00a0Chief Economist Anirban Basu said in a 2024 report on the construction workforce shortage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good way to circumvent this growing trend is by maintaining a relationship with the staffing agency and sharing monthly labor schedules. Regularly updating those schedules with any changes in project scope or timeline allows staffing providers more flexibility to secure the best people for the job, which is especially important when skilled labor is needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commit to Better Cycle Times and Profitability<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

91.5% of construction projects run over budget, over time or both, according to Bent Flyvbjerga\u2019s June 2023\u00a0assessment<\/a>\u00a0of a database containing 16,000 construction projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, construction firms shouldn\u2019t take the inevitability of evolving project workflows as an excuse to exceed budgets more than absolutely necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an industry characterized by late and over-budget project deliveries, clients are incentivized to hire firms that can close out projects near the initial budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While inherent uncertainties within the industry can\u2019t be avoided, it\u2019s important to stay proactive in as many areas as possible by thinking ahead and looking for ways to save time and money. This proactive approach goes a long way in helping construction firms win more bids and increase their profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes – please call Advise & Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joshua Miles | Construction Executive Under budget, over budget, change orders and labor shortages. Construction projects are not lacking in surprises. Here’s how to be prepared for them. In an industry where projects often run over schedule and over budget, change orders, labor shortages and communication gaps can significantly reduce construction firms\u2019 profits. Delays and… Continue reading Four Ways to Master the Twists and Turns of Construction Project Change Orders<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14],"tags":[9895,358,12],"class_list":["post-904393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-2","tag-advise-consult","tag-change-order","tag-construction","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nFour Ways to Master the Twists and Turns of Construction Project Change Orders - 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