Tendering is an important part of the construction process but it can also be the first hurdle. A project has to be won before it can be delivered but do you tender a job to win it or to deliver it? Everyone will have their own take on this I’m sure and often during the…
Complex projects often need multiple programmes to break down the level of detail to the correct audience. This is a necessary part of the plan, you can have the best plan in the world but its worthless if it cant be read and understood. There’s a key definition that I need to make in order…
On most occasions planning software will be dictated within the contract. If it isn’t then your free to choose which software is used for the project. Despite being able to use multiple planning software I certainly have my own preference but understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each software is important. It’s also important to…
Collaboration is a word that is banded around widely in the construction industry. In principal it’s a great idea and some contracts such as the NEC suite encourage it. Collaboration does not mean that either party should dismiss their obligations under the contract, it should be done on top of the contract requirement. Something that…
Sometimes you can have the best plan in the world but it at the end of the day, if it can’t be read and understood by the delivery team then unfortunately its not worth the paper it’s written on. A planner does not deliver the project. The delivery team do and its the planners role…
Links drive the programme, collectively they are know as Logic. Without links, planning software would not know the relationships between activities and the scheduling calculations would be useless. Accurate and correct logic links within a programme are therefore paramount to its robustness. Links can be placed on activities for a number of reasons for example…
Regardless of your contract type a programme will be a requirement. Some forms of contract base more onus on the programme than others with NEC being probably the most programme centred contract types. If the contract didn’t require a programme would you change anything about your planning practices? If so then maybe your missing the…
Tier 1 contractors have the ability to have specialist resources spread across multiple contracts if they are not needed full time on the project. They have whole departments dedicated to specialist functions. Some Tier 2 contractors are still able to do this but on a scaled down version with much smaller departments of only a…
Getting the level of detail right in a programme is critical. Not enough and you don’t have the necessary information to plan the works. Too much and they simply don’t get read. I will give you an example. Earlier in the year I was brought in to help a contractor. Their programme was 18 pages…
Cash is important to any business and poor cashflow management has sent plenty of companies under. Most because of inaccurate forecasting not highlighting issues in a time frame for them to be resolved. Leave it too late and its game over! Construction is a project based business and one bad project could have a massive…
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