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During a typical construction day, more than 35% of a contractor's time is spent on activities other than actual installation work. This could be anything from time spent moving around the job site, mobilizing, and cleaning up to studying the plans, laying out the work, and any other activities not directly related to actual installation. This "non-installation" time is spread evenly over the course of a typical project. A few minutes here, a few minutes there, day-by-day, distributed over the entire crew. More than half of this "non-installation" time is spent on plans, layout, and material logistics.
What if you could shift those activities to the front of the project, to the "pre-planning" stage, if you will? Could those activities be done more efficiently as a dedicated task, rather than in the field a few minutes before going to work? How much money could you save if more of the work was pre-planned? Could you get your crew to work a few minutes earlier? Could you minimize trips from the work areas to the job office or gang box if things were better planned?
Every type of project is slightly different, just as every company is different; therefore, every company's outline of a pre-plan will be different. The following 10 ideas for pre-planning should help you see how your organization can save time and money. Although every idea isn't meant for every organization, you should find a few that will strike a chord within yours.
Under-slab detailing
You can maximize the savings and minimize the costs if you spend the time to create a detailed under-slab plan, including exact dimensions for conduit stub-ups in walls, detailing footing penetrations, and creating specific plans for equipment rooms with many conduits. Using CAD tools and a color printer can make the drawing much easier to read. The CAD tools will help identify conflicts and will allow you to visualize under-slab routing, before
you start installing.
You will save hundreds of dollars for every conduit run that can be put under the slab rather than being run overhead. In addition, every conduit stubbed up in the wrong place will cost hundreds of dollars to fix. At this point, you may also find opportunities for pre-fabrication work for the...