Construction is taking longer than ever, at least compared to the last ten years. What used to be a yearlong job is now a year’s worth of progress squeezed into three years. While the shovel turns on more construction projects than ever thanks to accessible construction technology, digitized blueprints, and proposed progressant systems, agencies need to work with each other more than ever; there is more red tape than ever to get through; and we live in a much busier underground world than anticipated when many systems were put into place. It’s frustrating for clients and cities alike, but there’s not much to do but lament one complicated, bureaucratic process at a time.
It’s expected that with all this construction technology, it’s taking longer than ever to break ground and get off the ground. But why? To understand what we can do about it – and about our own responsibilities in the process – it’s important to understand why construction stagnates from the planning stages through its finish.
Buried Infrastructure
For every utility, there’s a buried service line or system. Gas lines, electrical conduits, water mains, fiber optic systems and telecommunications lines run under every urbanized space. Were this not the case, many agencies would have constructed fewer systems requiring access to surface areas, and there would be fewer concerns about digging deep as every utility would be placed strategically as lines, rather than fields.
When crews dig into the dirt, they have no idea what’s under there, meaning an extensive hand-dig situation takes longer than average to finalize in case they get close to necessary points and intersect buried lines. Even if utility location maps are accurate, it’s expensive to have utility companies check on expected access points. Too often, lines pop up without warning mid-digging, forcing crews to pause work until utility companies get involved to rectify situations – relocate lines or mark them in accordance with where the contractor can and needs to dig.
Yet technology exists: vacuum excavators remove dirt without penetrating lines. Without causing damage, crews can work around and up and down instead of having to stop mid-project. Yet many agencies still have not transitioned. Additionally, needed communication and relocation between utility companies extends time frames since each utility has priority over its daily grid. Construction can be halted for days while companies get their service workers over to help out.
Permitting Pain
Many regions today assume a digital permit system speeds up access; however, with so many agencies overlapping in responsibility – and many people assessing projects for decades – there’s more likelihood that something will go wrong. Special studies that require time and attention may not be on the docket for potential changes; however, once a week of digging has gone on across 300 square feet of road, it seems silly to say that an environmental study is needed because now crews are too close to a wetlands area.
Perception is one thing; reality is another. Where once spreadsheets could work behind the scenes, construction often forgets that there are multiple construction phases before people can even get started. Even if permits are filed correctly, reviews may take longer than anticipated through a hybrid digital and paper system now existing where both submissions are now ruled less relevant instead of paper submissions of yesteryear.
Safety Compliance Concerns
Many construction companies celebrated comprehensive safety from cuts and falls decades ago; workers’ compensation claims were costing insurance companies a great deal of money and time was money for most projects, which means modern safety compliance has become more beneficial than ever for practical protection of both business and workers.
However, when safety compliance isn’t taken into consideration during the pre-planning stages – when project schedules are made – it’s easy for safety compliance to cause work slowdowns. Are workers trained before they’re hired? Is equipment inspected before it gets onsite? Is liability waiver paperwork distributed before people start working? When compliance gets overwhelmed with employee training projects instead of worked into the timelines of construction itself, construction projects get delayed.
Weather Woes
Once upon a time, climate was manageable enough; now that we’re facing more extreme disasters every day (thanks industrialized pollution!), rains, winds and snow squalls stop work even if a team thinks it can power through; changes in renderings require teams to be outside (low in temperature) for extended periods – but they can’t because of restrictions on day highs/lows/conditions.
Seasonal issues compounded by agencies overseeing if weather-related concerns play a role means preemptive checks become moot; for example, if a project is near a body of water where spring nesting creates issues but no one found that issue late in the game after limited excavation holes became apparent last spring – which means now there’s no allowance for construction this spring.
Winning windows are opened before eligibility plays out with limited options that raises stakes for all ongoing options. Super Construction hot seasons have populated with more interest from expanded teams – now there’s competition where there need not be before natural selection sorted out teams over the years to make the most sense.
Supply Chain Backups
Supply chains play a huge role in everything from fuel shortages – it seemed preposterous during COVID that gas stations were running low – but for construction companies reliant on their own materials for their own projects, everything from cement and steel requirements to planks of wood created new issues.
Whereas pre-COVID construction projects could effectively plan ahead in time – now every single material requires securing long before work happens or else delays result.
Covid also brought different standards: materials quality control became more time consuming than in years past. Gone are the days where specific cement was ordered, mixed with water on-site by skilled laborers – or 90% with only a tenth percent margin – now every cubic ounce requires thorough testing to qualify compounding amounts to rubber stamp approvals – and if out of bounds – and constituents once again shifted.
Communication Breakdown
More planners involve an increased number of consultants specializing in areas where general contractors once empowered all stakeholders – or forepersons could complete additional items on-site instead of traveling offsite.
It’s believed that technology will connect everyone better but nonexistent Wi-Fi or struggles with cross-collaboration software create more pitfalls than expectations. Hours wasted find mixed signals not strong enough and then construction lags; this could be avoided if checked beforehand.
Reality Check
Construction expectations have changed since pre-technical developments; now project planners need to give buffer room for permitting issues and implement expectations that utilities will cause issues once they’ve transitioned.
They need to consider when one person’s caveat is better than a nonintervention and safety considerations dig deeper into limiting cold snaps instead of boosting potential progress. Time taken now represents time-avoiding pitfalls later.
The twist is that modern project planners employ ancient project planning realities; it’s unrealistic before through antiquated worlds. As such, if someone acknowledges contingencies from the start, they’ll finish on time; everyone else will inevitably realize they’ve succumbed to all-too-modern delays.
