Housebuilding: it’s as easy as taking a holiday

The articles in your magazine have corroborated much of what can be witnessed on site and in offices.

Whether it be D&B, housing developers starting construction before designs are completed, or using old standard house plans containing blatant errors that have never been corrected or revised, site managers always get the blame when things inevitably go wrong.

So much time is used (read wasted) at the wrong end of the project, to fix defects, finish off shoddy workmanship, pacify irate homeowners who have waited long enough and so on. Why not spend more time at the beginning to plan the project through, thereby ensuring that everybody involved knows what, how, when and by whom, the project is to be constructed.

I often hear about people having had a great holiday. I ask them how they did it and, most times, get a blank look in return. I tell them that they planned it. So if they can plan their holidays and have a great time, why can they not plan their work properly and let everyone be part of a successful project?

After 20 years of practical project management, I am setting up a training consultancy, based in the north west, to address this issue.

Mike Preece, ICIOB