Frankly, we've seen a lot of changes inconstruction supply costs over the last couple of years. It’s enough to makeeven a seasoned project manager throw up their hands in frustration!
People are talking about these thornyproblems quite a bit – you can see it in trade magazines, and on the streetwherever people are dealing with heavy project logistics.
So what do people do to deal with thisdispiriting phenomenon?
Here are some of the tips that we use tokeep our deliveries running smoothly, and help our clients to succeed inwhatever they're doing in these volatile times.
Material Flexibility
One thing that project managers can do tosave with high construction costs is to consider alternative materials. Thereis often something else that can be used, at a fraction of the price.
A certain type of wood may be cheaper dueto market dynamics, or an alternative to aluminum or brick or stone may provideunexpected savings.
This is one component of keeping costsdown as overall costs skyrocket on the market.
Shorter Project Times
Where there are alternate components in ajob, the bid can be stripped down to operate on a shorter time frame. Every dayspent costs money, so on the other hand, shortening a project can save quite abit. Think about shaving some of the extra bells and whistles off of the joband shortening your project horizon.
Escalator Clauses
Here, stakeholders can use adjustablerates to handle some types of changing costs.
Now it's not advisable that parties justtry to push all of the cost onto someone else. That tends to get complicatedand result in a vicious cycle. But a properly executed escalatorclause can be an effective part of cost management. Consider this asyou make your budget for jobs to come.
Shorten Bid Times
Sometimes cutting through the red tape ofthe bid process can save money as well. Doing more efficient bonds for aproject can take money out of the equation. Where parties can safely save onengineering costs, there may be some cost savings there as well. The key is toknow when this is appropriate and when it's not.
Other Types of Planning
There are many ways in which you candecrease your construction costs and still get a project done. Talk to Eastwood & Co. aboutthe routine deliveries that will keep your projects humming along, even whenperil seems imminent.
