Start at the end and work backwards
Every specialist contractor knows the feeling. The programme lands, your install date is in six weeks, and the drawings haven't even gone to the architect. The only way to know whether that date is possible is to work backwards from it, one stage at a time.
Write the stages down in the order they happen, then put a realistic length against each one. For most fabricated work it looks something like this:
- Site survey and design drawings
- Drawings out to the architect or engineer for approval
- Fabrication drawings once approved
- Materials ordered and delivered
- Fabrication in the workshop
- Finishing: galvanising, powder coating or painting
- Delivery to site
- Installation
A worked example
Say the main contractor wants a run of balustrades installed in the week starting Monday 8 March. Working backwards in working days (not calendar days):
| Stage | How long | Must be done by |
|---|---|---|
| Installation | 5 days | Start Mon 8 Mar |
| Delivery | 1 day | Fri 5 Mar |
| Finishing (powder coat) | 10 days | Thu 4 Mar |
| Fabrication | 10 days | Thu 18 Feb |
| Materials in | 10 days | Thu 4 Feb |
| Fabrication drawings | 5 days | Thu 21 Jan |
| Architect's approval | 10 days | Thu 14 Jan |
| Drawings out for approval | Sent by Thu 31 Dec |
So for an install in March, your drawings need to be with the architect by the end of December. That already skips weekends and New Year's Day. Add your own Christmas shutdown and it moves back again.
The mistakes that catch people out
- Counting calendar days instead of working days. Ten working days is two weeks, not ten days.
- Forgetting bank holidays and your own shutdown over Christmas and Easter.
- Assuming approval comes back on time. Architects often take longer than you'd like, so allow for it and tell the main contractor in writing when you need drawings back.
- Not re-working the dates when the programme changes. A two-week slip on site can mean you're suddenly fabricating too early and storing work, or too late.
- Planning each job on its own. Three jobs can each look fine, but all need the workshop the same fortnight.
Put the key date in writing
The most useful thing you can send the main contractor is one line: “To meet your install date of 8 March, we need approved drawings back by 14 January.” If approval comes back late, everyone can see why the install moves, and it isn't on you.
Doing it without the calculator
Working this out by hand for one item is fine. Doing it for every item on every job, and again every time the programme moves, is where it falls apart. That's what PAD360 does for you: type in the client's programme date, and it works back to when drawings, approval, materials and fabrication have to be done, skipping weekends and bank holidays. When a date moves, every date before it moves too, and anything running late is flagged.