Most cost growth on a construction project does not start with a mistake in the field. It starts with a decision that was made late, or not made at all, while the work around it kept moving. A finish selection that arrives after the order deadline. A layout change approved after the walls are framed. An equipment choice left open until the long-lead window has closed. Each of those was cheap to decide earlier. None of them is cheap now.
Every decision has a last responsible date
For any open question on a project, there is a date after which deciding costs more: a release date for fabrication, a submittal deadline, the day a trade mobilizes into the area. We call it the last responsible date, and we work it out from the schedule, not from a guess.
- Trace the decision to the work. Every open item is linked to the activity it affects, whether that is procurement, fabrication or installation.
- Work backward. From that activity we subtract lead time, submittal review and fabrication to find the date the decision must be made.
- Price the miss. For the decisions that matter most, we show what a two-week or four-week delay would cost in schedule and money, so the urgency is visible.
The decision log
All of this lives in a decision log that the owner, the design team and our project team share. It is short on purpose. Each line has the question, the options, the person who owns the call, the last responsible date and the effect of each option on cost and schedule. It is reviewed in every owner meeting, and anything due in the next 30 days is at the top of the agenda.
Owners do not mind hard news. What they mind is hard news with no time left to act on it.
Project executive, Jacob Wiseman
Report early, with options
When conditions change on site, the same rule applies. An unexpected soil condition, a late shipment or a design conflict goes into the next owner report with what we know, what we do not know yet, the options we see and the date by which a choice is needed. We would rather bring an owner a problem with three weeks of options than a solution with none.
That habit is the core of how we bring construction management and project controls together. The schedule tells us where the pressure is. The decision log tells the owner what to do about it, while there is still time to choose.
