TL;DR Efficient area utilization can reduce construction delays by up to 50%. This blog explores how Buildots’ Work-Ready Areas feature helps project teams make the most of available space, leading to faster progress and fewer bottlenecks.
Construction delays are all too common, and one major but often overlooked factor is poor area utilization – a term that refers to the percentage of available space on a project actively worked on each week. Buildots’ proprietary data shows that projects with higher area utilization see 50% fewer delays on average. The impact of such delays can be substantial, leading to inflated budgets, missed deadlines, and reduced productivity. By focusing on improving area utilization, project teams can cut delays significantly.
The reasons behind poor area utilization
Maximizing resources is crucial on construction sites, but a lack of visibility often hinders it. Trades arrive on-site ready to work without knowing which tasks to start next, wasting valuable time. And if a task is delayed, there’s often no backup plan of what trades should work on in the meantime. Without a clear view of which areas are available to work in, it becomes challenging to utilize the workforce effectively.
Another common issue is that teams often remain reactive rather than proactive. They miss opportunities to accelerate tasks or address them ahead of schedule because they can’t see beyond the plan. Without a clear understanding of area readiness, they default to a reactive approach, missing valuable chances to make progress.
Adapting when unexpected issues arise, such as delayed inspections or resource shortages, is equally challenging. Without insight into alternative tasks that are ready to go, project teams struggle to recover, resulting in prolonged downtime and inefficiency.
Why does poor area utilization lead to delays?
One key reason is that construction work is highly sequence-dependent. Once an area is ready but left untouched, that opportunity is lost. There’s no simple way to make up for the idle time later. By tracking and improving area utilization, project teams can ensure that no available space goes to waste, making the most of every work cycle and keeping schedules on track.
Ultimately, improving the situation comes down to quickly and accurately spotting which areas are ready for work by specific trades, while also ensuring that multiple trades aren’t sent to work in the same area, getting in each other’s way.
Introducing Work-Ready Areas: Keeping your project on track
One effective way to manage area utilization is through Buildots’ Work-Ready Areas feature. This tool identifies areas ready for work, helping project managers proactively assign tasks and resources. Here’s how it works:
- Users start by selecting an activity they want to work on, specifying focus areas and deciding whether to concentrate on areas with the lowest completion.
- Next, they choose predecessor activities, tasks that must be finished before the selected activity can begin. For example, starting ceiling closures depends on finishing ceiling framing.
- Finally, the feature generates a comprehensive list of areas ready to work in, which can be annotated, exported and shared.
Work-Ready Areas significantly reduce idle time by helping you boost trades’ productivity by increasing area utilization. The feature enhances proactive planning by rapidly identifying areas where work can potentially start, minimizing downtime. Additionally, it allows for rapid response when site conditions change by quickly suggesting alternative work areas. These features help keep construction projects moving efficiently, even when unexpected issues arise.
This feature supports Buildots’ Performance-Driven Construction Management (PDCM) methodology, facilitating multiple steps of the PDCM cycle. It helps project teams analyze the site to identify opportunities to accelerate tasks, optimize resource allocation by determining which areas are ready for work, and act with confidence by executing plans that make the most of available space.
Is your project space working hard enough?
High area utilization is directly linked to fewer delays, making it an essential focus for any construction project. With Buildots’ Work-Ready Areas feature, project teams can optimize area usage, improve planning, and minimize idle time.
Ready to see the difference? Discover how Work-Ready Areas can transform your next project today. Book a demo.
