02 Aug Challenging Times Calls for Advance Planning
If there’s one thing we can be certain of in the next year, it’s uncertainty. Specifically, when discussing timing of different construction projects, there seems to be a great deal of uncertainty among contractors and designers alike. Obviously, there are the supply chain issues that we’re sure you’ve heard about a million times already, but there’s also a labor shortage plaguing the industry. Not only has the Great Resignation spread across the entire economy, one place that was hit hard was the construction industry, which had already been experiencing a labor shortage prior to the pandemic hit.
The workforce is continuing to move toward a multigenerational dynamic with young, inexperienced laborers working alongside those who have needed to remain in physically demanding positions longer than they had hoped. There is a higher potential for injuries with this demographic, and with the younger generation more susceptible to safety issues on account of their inexperience, we have created a recipe for concern.
There are many items that are simply out of your control. In those situations, it’s important to focus on what IS in your control, and that’s when you get started. If you take nothing else away from this blog, take this: get started on planning your project sooner rather than later. Especially when working with an asset with ongoing leaks or systemic failure.
For starters, you can’t request precise bids without a scope and most of you can’t generate an accurate scope until you’ve engaged a professional design firm. Once bids have been received a professional consulting firm like us can better evaluate the bids and bidders to determine their labor pool, project backlog, purchasing capacity, material availability, and project timelines. There are many steps to come but this is a great starting point. We can’t go about solving the world’s problems in terms of shipping supplies or attracting more skilled workers to the labor market. However, understanding that these issues exist is a step in the right direction.