How to Manage Weather Related Delays in Residential Construction

Bad-weather delays are unavoidable in residential construction. Whatever area of the country you work in, you are probably familiar with its normal annual weather patterns. You know when the cold season is, or the rainy season or hurricane season, and you can plan major projects for months with favorable weather patterns. However, day to day weather is unpredictable, and this has a serious impact on project scheduling, particularly for the landscaping trade. 

Poor, Inclement Weather Requires Continuous Rescheduling and Replanning 

You should be writing extra time into your project schedules for inevitable short weather delays. Even if your schedule has some flex, however, that thunderstorm that pops up unexpectedly one afternoon when your crew is onsite to lay sod can cause administrative headaches. You have to stop whatever you’re doing to make sure your crews have followed safety procedures and your builder and/or owner are notified of the change in plans due to weather conditions. You also need to reschedule that task for another time at which an appropriate crew with the needed skills is available. Will the storm last a few hours and push the schedule back a little? Or is this the beginning of a larger storm pattern that could stop operations for days? You may reschedule and then need to reschedule again. 

Construction Weather Delays Can Push Project Timelines Back 

What if that sod crew is busy later and you don’t have another skilled crew available until next week? What if this delay affects other tasks? You may have walk paths to lay, trees to plant, shrubs and flowers to place. Now you are scrambling to rearrange schedules for multiple crews and even multiple projects. You also may have to change delivery orders with your suppliers, to avoid having valuable materials ruined by planting delays.

You may need to go back and forth among crews, builders, and suppliers to develop a new schedule and ensure all issues are solved to everyone’s satisfaction. The longer it takes for this rescheduling and negotiating, the further back your project timelines are pushed. Not to mention, you are losing time you could be spending solving other issues or growing your business.

Incorporate A Residential Construction Scheduling Software 

Landscape business management software like Hyphen’s SupplyPro GM can provide solutions. With SupplyPro GM, rescheduling and replanning is easy to do. Adjustments and fine-tuning of schedules can be done in the office or even in the field, directly by the field manager or even crew members who are on site and most familiar with minute-by-minute conditions. Everyone involved — you, the crews, suppliers and builder — will be notified in real-time of any changes and issues that need to be resolved. With the visibility into the whereabouts and availability of all your crews offered by SupplyPro GM, you can easily shuffle schedules of multiple crews around as needed. 

SupplyPro GM also facilitates the complex schedule updates required if a serious weather event pushes all work back a day or two. Our residential landscaping software has a batch scheduling feature that allows you to conveniently move all the events for a job, subdivision, or even an entire city. 

Manage Delays & Facilitate Scheduling Changes With SupplyPro GM 

SupplyPro GM is cloud-based construction software that enables you to manage residential projects from work order creation through approvals and payments, with visibility and consistency. Feature-rich and built for mobility, this effective contractor and supplier software gives you real-time information and control in every part of your landscaping business, so you can increase productivity, profits and builder satisfaction.

Learn more about how SupplyPro GM can help you manage your landscaping business more effectively or schedule a demo today.