Defining the scope of the project, establishing a budget, scheduling timelines, procuring building resources, collating with contractors, and adhering to site rules and regulations are only the tip of the iceberg for project managers.
It is easy to get sidetracked amidst the chaos and confusion surrounding a construction project. What you need is a checklist of things and tasks to avoid skipping anything important. This list is useful not only for project managers but also for site employees, stakeholders, administrators, clients, inspectors, and everyone else involved.
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In this article, we explore the pre-construction checklist for project managers highlighting the 5 vital tasks to tick off before beginning the project.
1. Seek, Accept and Finalise Bids From Contractors and Subcontractors
The right building materials, construction machinery, and workforce are non-negotiable elements to ensure your project’s smooth completion. Whether you’re looking for aggregate suppliers or heavy machinery hire, managers need to send out requests for contractor and subcontractor bids early into the project’s planning stage. This gives contractors and sub-contractors enough time to respond and reply to your requests with their costs and terms for the project or job.
Before you sign any contracts, make sure you understand the common types of contracts. The four main types of contracts are lump-sum or fixed-rate contracts, cost-plus contracts, time and material contracts, and unit pricing contracts.
Depending on the scope of your project and the shortlisted contractors, you can choose either of the contract formats. Before finalising contractors for the jobs, ensure their costs and terms align with your supply plan and preliminary budget. Once finalised, organise a meeting with them to specifically run through the job. Always check all the details and terms before signing.
2. Ensure Welfare Regulations Are Met
In any building project, this is possibly the one task that gets neglected the most. However, with mandatory rules and regulations governing the welfare needs of workers, it cannot be brushed off easily.
Before the project begins, site operations managers or project managers must ensure welfare requirements stated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are met. The welfare regulations state businesses must appoint appropriate welfare facilities including
- Clean and working toilets
- Regular access to clean drinking water
- Sink to wash face, hands and forearms
- Changing rooms
- Storage
- Drying areas for drying clothes
- Resting areas
- Dedicated space with seating for eating and drinking
- Amenities to prepare food and boil water
- Proper heating and ventilation
From welfare units to portaloos, these amenities are essential to the well-being of your workers. Inadequate welfare amenities and poorly maintained facilities can attract action and penalties from the HSE.
3. Finalise Project Execution and Completion Timelines
Half of your job is set when you have the right plan in place. In the project’s initial stage, you will need a roadmap outlining the various aspects of project scope, execution and control. With further developments and additions, you may have to proactively revisit this roadmap and flesh out a final plan of execution with updated timelines.
It’s important to consult and keep clients and stakeholders in the loop when setting project timelines. This step includes setting your project’s start and finish dates, and various completion milestones to track progress.
Unexpected challenges and setbacks such as labour shortages, unfavourable weather, and material supply delays can derail your project completion schedule. Ensure you account for them and allow some flexibility when estimating the timelines.
4. Secure Construction Permit Paperwork
Ensure you have all the necessary construction permits before the start of your project. Obtaining permits from officials is time-consuming and should not be left to the last minute.
On receiving all the permits, make multiple photocopies and keep them on site. This step ensures you have all the mandatory paperwork if an inspector or official visits your site.
It’s best to keep all copies of the documentation on your project site and the originals in a safe off-site location.
5. Pre-Construction Meetings
Conducted meetings with all the stakeholders involved right before starting the construction. This step ensures all project stakeholders are on the same page and aligned with the project’s objectives and timelines.
In these meetings, clearly define your agenda and keep project-related documents like contracts and project execution plans ready. You can explain and clarify the roles, responsibilities, and deliverables of all parties involved in the project.
Take this time to critically review and run through project designs, blueprints, execution schedules, completion timelines, safety plans, risk management plans, and communication plans. Encourage two-way communication with questions among the team to facilitate better understanding. To conclude, craft a follow-up plan, distribute the action item list, and decide on the next meeting.
To Sum Up
As the saying goes, "well begun is half done." This phrase applies to any major project, including building projects. With a project management checklist in place, you can ensure all your vital tasks are completed and checked off without any oversight. Along with the mentioned tasks, ensure your project scope, budget, and design and development plan align with your project.
Be open to tweaks and changes in the checklist throughout the project process due to additions or unexpected circumstances.
*Collaborative post
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