Scheduling

Scheduling is just making a few phone calls, ordering material, and closing your eyes with hopes it all falls into place, right? Well, not exactly. But how hard is it? What goes into scheduling for a New Home? And why is it so darn important?

Effective Scheduling, in my opinion, consists of three main components: Experience, Planning, and Scheduling tools. Our Custom Home schedules are made up of approximately 113 subtasks contained within 9 milestones. That may seem like a lot, and that’s because it is.

Put simply, scheduling can make or break a project. Scheduling can be the difference between a smooth process and costly mistakes. Our team has many years of experience in Residential Construction and that experience is critical when effectively scheduling our New Homes.

Why is Experience critical?

Do you know why we schedule our HVAC contractor before our Electrician during rough-ins? Going further, do you know why we may bring the Electrician in before the HVAC Contractor? Wait. That makes no sense. I just said the opposite!? Well here’s where experience comes into play. HVAC contractors typically require the most space when they are performing their rough-in. Sheet metal, supplies and returns all take up large portions of the floor and ceiling systems and they are less able to maneuver around obstacles such as pipes and wires. Ok, that makes sense. But why would we bring the Electrician in beforehand if we’re bringing the Electrician in after?? You see, no one sees the plumbing pipes in the wall. Not much of the HVAC system is seen in the finished project. But Electric! Yes, the placement of lights and switches can make or break an effective layout. Oftentimes, it’s critical to have the electrician mark out or even place some boxes and lights before pulling any wires so that the HVAC contractor AND Plumber know where to NOT place their pipes and ductwork. Make sense? Guess what happens if the HVAC contractor has to move a register because it’s right where a light needs to be placed? You guessed it: extra cost. 

While this is one example, the entire New Home construction process is made up of similar examples. We at JT Custom Builders have the experience to navigate these examples and more.

So I hope I have convinced you that Experience is important. How about Planning? 

The very first construction task is excavation. The most exciting day. The first scoop of dirt is still one of the best moments during a new build. Most excavations take just a day or two. So in comes the footer crew. Your phone rings and it’s the footer crew foreman. “Where are we putting the ground wire?” Wait, what? Why do I have to think about my Electric panel already?! (This is assuming you knew the ground wire was related to the electric panel in the first place!). There are technical details beyond the scope of this simple example related to WHY a copper wire goes into the footer, but suffice to say, it needs to be placed in the direct vicinity of the electric panel. 

Not so common sense, huh? That’s why it’s critical to think through even the most minute details prior to starting. Again, we at JT Custom Builders like to put an emphasis on building your home on paper before we ever scoop the first bucket of dirt.

Ok, so now that you realize Experience AND Planning are important, what could be left? How is it possible to manage 113 tasks and 9 milestones, order all the material, get people scheduled in the right order, and build the entire home on paper, let alone actually building the home and managing the process?