The key to keeping your project on track is to know what causes delays and to address them promptly when they occur. Many construction delays are preventable; and those you can’t avoid rarely have to throw your entire schedule off.

By choosing experienced professionals, assessing timeframes realistically, and anticipating that some unforeseen problems are likely to come up, you can avoid or at least minimize the impact of common delays. And, by staying on top of typical issues that arise throughout construction, you can expect to complete your project within the intended timeframe.

Get to the starting line
In today’s heavily regulated environment, underestimating the time it takes to obtain approvals and permits can push back your schedule before construction ever begins. Besides the usual due diligence efforts and land development approvals, there may be dozens of specialized permits required from various municipal and regulatory agencies. Wetland delineations, highway occupancy permits, and reviews by historical commissions are just a few examples of the approval hurdles that can hold up the start of construction.

So allot adequate time to secure approvals. An uncomplicated land development approval typically takes two to six months, but additional approvals may stretch into years for some projects. In fact, the process for acquiring all of the permissions needed to start construction is often less predictable than the actual construction duration. Working with a qualified engineering firm that is familiar with the local approval processes can make the arduous task go more smoothly.

Select qualified designers
When the construction does begin, incomplete or unclear design documents can lead to questions that cause delays while people try to figure out what the design documents don’t show. These are the most costly delays due to the amount of time construction workers lose on the job site. Insufficient design documents may also cause problems that aren’t discovered until final building inspections, which take place late in the project. Building officials follow very strict guidelines, so non-compliance with codes typically means tearing down some of the new construction to fix the problems.

To avoid this ugly scene, invest in the design of your project. Engage a qualified engineer and architect to develop a complete set of drawings. Be wary of any firm with unusually low fees compared to others in the region. It may be a sign that they don’t fully understand the scope of the project, or that less effort will be put into creating a complete set of construction documents. It’s a simple example of “pay me now, or pay me later”. What may look like savings in design fees may cost you tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars and lost time during construction.

Using a design-builder can move this burden off of your desk, but the same principles still apply. Poor design documents, no matter who prepares them or who tries to execute them, will result in costly delays as the project progresses.

Contractor performance and capacity
Among the most aggravating delays are those caused by a contractor’s poor performance, a problem that is almost as common as it is frustrating. What can you, the owner, do to avoid performance problems?

“The way you choose your builder is a key issue,” explains Jeffrey Sterner, president of High Construction Company, Lancaster, PA. For time-critical projects, he strongly recommends avoiding competitive-bid selection, which awards jobs to the lowest-bidding contractor, who in turn chooses the lowest-bidding subcontractors. “The number of performance problems is vastly reduced when you work in a way that allows the builder to pre-qualify its subcontractors by screening out those who predictably won’t perform well,” which Sterner notes as a primary responsibility of the builder when using design-build or construction-management.

Each subcontractor needs to have enough resources to get their portion of the work done. What is their current workload? Have they done projects like this in the past? How well have they performed on similar jobs? A blind search for the subcontractor that might submit the lowest price, without considering performance or capacity, is doomed to cost the project more in the long run.

Handle minor delays to prevent major ones
While a well-crafted schedule can absorb some small delays, too many minor problems can add up to a major setback. So don’t discount any of them. The cost to promptly resolve minor schedule issues is modest compared to the cost to resolve compounded issues from delays that go unchecked.

To compensate for manufacturing or shipping delays, for example, you may be able to pay a little extra to get an earlier spot in the manufacturer’s schedule or to have a dedicated truck assure pick up and delivery of the needed materials. Or, if you run into manpower shortages on the job site because the capacity of a subcontractor’s labor resources weren’t pre-qualified, you may be able to supplement the job with labor from another source, but there are contractual complications for all involved. Whatever the reason for a delay, work with your builder and take a proactive stance to get the project back on track.

Be realistic about schedules
If you want to stay on schedule, set realistic goals. While time on the job site is costly, an overly ambitious schedule could cost more in the long run when you consider re-scheduling and other inefficiencies. So respect your contractor’s input on how long a project will take. And note that smart contractors routinely schedule activities often ignored by poor performers, such as submittal and approval of drawings, material fabrication, and material delivery—all of which must happen before each segment of construction begins.

Also remember to plan for the unforeseen. If your project takes place during the winter, then expect to lose one out of three days in February. Be sure to account for that delay on your schedule. And if February turns out to be unusually mild, you’ll be ahead of the game.