How can construction teams avoid the biggest mistakes made on-site?

Mistakes in construction often come with a gargantuan price tag; budget overruns and project delays have wide-reaching consequences that can hit construction companies in the pocket and damage reputations. Construction projects are complex and require precision, coordination, and effective management to avoid costly mistakes. 

There are several reasons for mistakes, but one of the recurring themes we see is the sharing of out-of-date or incorrect information on-site that contributes to the need for rework. Sometimes, these errors are unavoidable but often there are steps construction leaders can take to ensure that their teams are consistently on the same page – reducing the likelihood that errors can happen.   

Best practice for handling mistakes  

• Open and clear communication 
• Documenting errors
• Performing risk assessments
• Tracking accountability
• Adopting technology 

Open and clear communication 

Fostering a culture of transparency and clarity should be a priority for construction teams.  

Regular meetings: Checking in with your team to ensure everyone is clear on project goals and outcomes. 

Accessible information: Whether using a bespoke construction management platform or generic cloud document hosting, everyone who needs to access files should be clear on where key documents are kept. 

Clear instructions: Best practice should be second nature across all projects; from safety procedures to documenting important information for building regulations and O&M manuals.  

Have a process in place for documenting mistakes 

When mistakes do happen, it’s important to document what happened so you can work towards avoiding the same issues again. 

Error logs: Tracking mistakes and how they were resolved. 

Root cause analysis: In the case of incorrect information being shared, work backwards to assess where the original document was shared. Having a dedicated construction management app can be a massive benefit for automatically sharing new uploads with key project members. 

Continual improvement: Learning from mistakes is a lesson we learn in life – using errors to refresh processes on-site can be a great opportunity to grow as a team and re-establish a reputation for strong working practices. 

Risk assessments 

Identifying and mitigating risks can prevent wrong information being shared in the first place. 

Preventative action: Implementing preventative measures from thorough risk analysis is good practice. 

Ongoing monitoring: Having a clear process in place for ongoing monitoring, including knowing who is responsible for continued risk analysis. 

Tracking accountability 

Accountability is key to maintaining the highest standards and avoiding errors. 

Clear roles and responsibilities: From site managers to subcontractors, knowing who is responsible for what and where they share progress reduces the likelihood that things will be missed.  

Accountability systems: The right construction management tech will allow you to assign specific tasks to team members, meaning there is a clear audit trail of who is responsible for what.  

Adopting technology 

While a lot of teams are likely already using WhatsApp, DropBox and emails to communicate and share documents, there are benefits to choosing a system that is built specifically to support the way a construction team works.  

Automated documentation: Teams are notified of key updates when they are uploaded, so teams aren’t spending unnecessary time searching through chat logs or emails to find latest plans. 

Project management tools: From task tracking to snagging and Part L documentation, having a centralised data platform ensures a smooth process for sharing information and the all-important O&M manual production at the end of a project. 

Mitigating risk and avoiding mistakes can be a time-consuming – and costly – process but a necessary one given the potential problems associated with on-site errors. Technology can ease most of this burden, seamlessly bringing together a lot of these points into one system that serves as a single source of truth for your team. 

Avoiding mistakes can be as simple as implementing the right software. Contact our team to book your free demo today.