Reducing Project Rework

Rework can quickly increase both the time and money spent on your projects. One of the reasons we focus so much on collaboration and communication is to improve your workflow and avoid the costly mistakes that lead to rework. Recently, the folks over at Procore put out an awesome article highlighting some of the numbers associated with project rework.

5% of your contract value means that in a typical project a GC will spend $250,000 on rework for every $5 million spent on the job. Those are numbers that really cut into your profit margins.

The article, by Duane Craig, goes on to say:

“Furthermore, a different study conducted by Navigant Construction Forum suggested that this 5% average cost of rework was merely the price associated with the direct cost of reported rework, and that the actual total is higher. The study’s authors placed the total cost of rework––including both the direct and indirect factors combined––at more like 9% of the total project cost.”

In addition to the above numbers, Craig also mentions a study that estimates 30 % of the work done by construction companies is actually rework. There are many factors that lead to the need for rework. One near and dear to our hearts is confusion with planning and scheduling. If you are not talking to each other there can be “problems due to non-compliance with specifications, untimely deliveries or lack of materials at the jobsite. Each one of these issues can potentially create a mountain of rework.”

Are you wasting money correcting work that should have been done right the first time around? Improve your communication and collaboration and avoid spending your money on rework.

It is nice to see that we are not the only ones thinking about the impact rework has on your bottomline. You can check out the full article over at Procore’s The Jobsite.