Planning to upgrade your home with the stimulus money? You are in good company!
Up to 57% of homeowners plan to use the March 2021 stimulus for home improvement projects.
This huge increase in demand will impact current construction projects in progress and potentially delay future projects.
Types of supply delays that may occur
- Excusable delays are caused by conditions that are reasonably unforeseen and not within the contractor’s control (such as floods, site conditions, or intervention from outside agencies).
- Non-excusable delays are within control of the contractor (such as failure to submit permits in a timely manner, delays by subcontractors, or faulty workmanship).
- Critical delays impact the project’s final delivery date. Critical delays can be either excusable or non-excusable.
- Compensable delays mean that some compensation will be required for the delay to the project.
- Concurrent delays happen when 2 or more parties are at fault.
How to set appropriate expectations
Home builders, like Chuck Fowke from Tampa, want to make sure to caution buyers interested in new home construction:
“Material shortages [are] forcing builders and buyers to grapple with rising affordability issues, as soaring lumber prices have added more than $24,000 to the price of a new home.”
Michael Tester of Tester Construction Group shares that delays and shortages aren’t just limited to just lumber. Gas, electric, and water providers also are slogging through service backlogs, which delay construction.
In this market, expectations can (and should) be set at many stages in the construction project management process:
- Project inception – address any unrealistic expectations and create a realistic alignment between the promises made by one party to the understanding of the other party
- Project execution – have preliminary meetings with key stakeholders to discuss plans and expectations, clarify the roles and responsibilities of the parties involved, schedule and task dependencies
- Regular communication – have regular status update meetings to discuss potential issues, why they are happening, what is being done to remedy them, and what the possible outlook may be
- Commitment management – if a promise is made, the degree of its certainty should be clearly conveyed and confirmed in writing
- Anticipate problems – have some possible solutions ready to go in case something goes awry
- Responsiveness to customer – if there is a perceived change in the owner’s level of satisfaction, it is important to identify it and respond accordingly
Why choose A-1?
At A-1 Renovation, we have the expertise to maintain, remodel, or upfit your commercial building or residence. This includes anticipating and accounting for delays.
We are able to make sure spending your stimulus money on your home or business is a great investment.
We offer:
- Highest Quality Project Management – We pride ourselves on our project management expertise. We’ve handled jobs of all kinds over the 20+ years we’ve served the Winston Salem area, and have developed a knack for anticipating challenges and keeping projects smooth from setup to cleanup.
- Trustworthy Subcontractors at the Best Rates – We have highly proficient craftsmen who keep the commercial renovation on schedule and within budget without sacrificing quality. You will have peace of mind that your project will done right all the way down to the last detail.
- Get the Highest Possible Profitability – With our complete construction project planning, we budget and estimate for crews and materials, set milestones, manage process flow, anticipate of snags, and organize plans around them.
- Comprehensive Project Wrap-Up – In addition to our commitment to your bottom line, we provide extensive communication throughout the entire project and tie up every loose end by the time we hand the keys back over to you.
Give us a call today at 336-893-5901 to discuss your project!