By and large the local residential construction business is not as regimented as the commercial construction business. While I doubt he would even have a clue as to what a Gant chart is he very can and should give you at the very least a calendar type schedule. Again maybe not as detailed but at the very least what should be expected to happen weekly.

Welcome to the club! That was one thing we were very serious about. We get it, delays happen, etc., but there isn't enough a rough timeline for us. We find everything out through subs who all tell us that, while our builder is a nice guy, he is absolutely the worst planner. Very frustrating that it's a joke among the subs. We're hoping this is our biggest complaint of the build. We're unfortunately already a month and a half behind and not don't even have a roof.

I have been at the site almost everyday for few minutes early morning, but never ask subs anything that relating to the schedule, jobs, etc. I respect my builder and subs as well. My builder is acting a lot better now than he was first signed contract with us. He is willing do more things at no cost for me when I ask. Although, am going to reward them when finished building.

Our builder uses Buildertrend. So far it has streamlined a lot of things for us. Especially when it comes to interior selections, for example as soon as we approve and sign off on fixtures in buildertrend, our plumber gets notified. The electrician knew what to expect before the electrical walk through since we had specified some things prior to the meeting.
One of the tabs in the interface is the calendar, last month ours looked like this:

Uhm, who is being disrespectful to their builder?

My builder used MS project, not that it did any good. They put in some doors yesterday. ..almost 4 months behind schedule.

Write it into the contract. Provide a schedule...update it monthly...have weekly update meetings every Friday at 10 am...etc.

We were 1400 miles away so no urgency until we actually showed up with suitcases. I had asked, too late, for an updated schedule about a month before rhe original completion date and that was when the extent of the delays became aparent.

We negotiated a new completion date and he even missed that by 2 months!

Good luck!

Won't give you a schedule? Umm, builders never, ever as far as I know, finish on schedule. That is why they won't give a completion date. When they do, it is only to appease the owners for as long as possible. Our build was just finished 2 days ago and we have begun moving in. It was about 3 months over what they originally told us and we had to crack the whip on them A LOT this past 2 months to get it finished by the first week of August because we sold our house and had to be out by August 12.

kellbell03 - Are you used to seeing a schedule with a critical path? It would be wonderful to see when building a house, but I don't think it happens very often.

Good to know it's not just us, but disappointing that it's such a common occurrence. Our builder gave us an 8-10 month build time. That was a year ago. Granted there were delays due to winter and supply shortages, but we still have a TON more to go. As an engineer in a different discipline, the lack of a deadline or even milestones bugs the hell out of me.

Whatever timeframe your builder gave you, double it. Then you won't be as frustrated and it will be closer to what the actual build time will be. So if he told you 8-10 months, figure on 20.

Where I am from its not typical to get a construction schedule as it will be constantly changing due to trades taking longer, weather Issues, firing and hiring of trades or in a lot of cases it's the city causing major delays on permits or inspections.

I work for a builder in Canada and I send out weekly updates by phone call or email. I also provide rough estimates to people for the process of the build.. for example timelines to frame a house, time lines to drywall or to get plumbing or electrical done. These processes provide a best case scenario if things go perfect but with the weekly updates our buyers are kept in the loop so when there are changes or delays they are informed immediately.

I always tell people that you should expect things to go wrong but if the communication between us is good then there will be no surprises and we can figure out anything that comes up together.

Our builder uses Builder Trend plus has a standing weekly meeting at the site with us, the architect and the onsite project manager. Each week we discuss current questions and then the tell me topics for the upcoming week so I have time to think about my answers. The builder trend app keeps a date in front of me. We also text/email during the week.

I will say this isn't our first project so we are very reasonable in that dates move etc.. But we did prioritize with this build that they have to communicate. That was part of the reason we chose this builder as he showed us his communication process and references also gave positive remarks in regard to communication.

If someone is reading this and has not yet picked a builder - prioritize one that can demonstrate good communication! Building is frustrating at times. Across our experiences I will tell you by that by the end (even with a great partnership) you and your builder will be sick of each other. You are sick of writing checks and answering questions. But good communication makes a huge difference in getting across that finish line with your sanity.

Same song and dance here. At 4 months we were 3 months behind with no explanation at all. Now looking at at least 5 months behind. Yes covid has played a part but as with any business communication is the key but our contractors don’t think so I guess!

Many builders view a project schedule as extra work for the client's benefit. Better builders know that project schedules are a project management tool that helps deliver projects faster-- which is in everyone's best interest.

When selecting a builder for your home or a remodeler for your remodel project, homeowners will be well served to ask how they schedule work, how often the schedule is updated and how often it is available for review by the homeowner.

my builder sucks . Altura homes in Texas its going a year now since we sign our contract and they barely finish with hvac and electric rough in. plus sales person and project manager dont even give us updates.

Same BAD situation here. 14 months into the custom build. No interior door, no locks on exterior doors, and to top it off... The cabinets builder is going to install the finished cabinets with no backdoor on the house and no locks. Plus there is at lease $3000 worth of handles and pulls on the cabinets. I have demanded that the hardware be removed and returned to me until there are door and locks on the house.

Doors are really hard to get these days.

Uh pumpkin. I am actually removing them myself. Sugar, I think you missed my entire point.

We are at 12 months with no foundation builder and realtor realtor/ baby momma to the builder are complete liars . Won’t meet in person after we requested even worse it’s my elderly parents that are the buyers. the latest is charging us a materials increase at the POA date we asked for closing however they wouldn’t do it told us oct 2021 it’s feb and not even a foundation its a 1500 sq foot on slab townhome mark elliot homes in minnesota horrible comoany and people

Our neighborhood is custom. The house next door to us is on month 18. We are thinking maybe they'll be in in a couple months. Crazy time to be building. Their builder doesn't even give estimated finish anymore.

I'm in SAME BOAT IN NC MY BUILD IS AT 18 MONTHS & NOT DONE SEEMS HE KEEPS SENDING WORKERS TO OTHER PROJECTS THAT PAY MOR PER HOUR THAN MY BANK HOPEFULL YOUR BUILDER IS MAKING SUR ITS DONE CORRECTLY I SEE A NEIGHBOR DOWN ROAD FROM MY BUILD & HIS NEW HOME HAS WRONG DRAINAGE ON FOUNDATION THAT NEEDS CORRECTING SO MY BUILDER at LEAST USES 2&6 & MAKES SUR ALL IS DONE BUT DOES TAKE LONGER I HATE HAVING NO CONTROL GOOD LUCK I USED SILVERTON MORTGAGE FOR CONSTRUCTION LOAN

This whole post helped me. We have been doing weekly updates with my builder, but things are months behind what we were given told at the outset. It’s all very cliche. We were told 6-9 months. It’s now cresting a year, and there’s a good couple months to go.

The ”game of dates” does not work. It forces the builder to choose either of three options (1) a date that is too soon to be realistic (but could conceivably be met if all the stars align, which they never do) (2) a date that is too far out (which is almost always going to inflame the client) (3) admit that there’s no sure way to tell and that they just have to work week to week and hope for the best (which feels so unacceptable to most people because we all have deadlines don’t we?).

We recently forced our builder to give a date. I had this feeling that it was a bad idea to do, but I felt pressure from my spouse to do this. And what do I know? All you hear are bad stories so maybe forcing a date is the right thing to do. It’s not. I knew from my weekly updates that’s it’s not something that can be predicted with the correct accuracy. That date we got is today, and it’s not done. And now there are tears and anger and frustration.

I’ve reflected on this a lot and take a lot of blame for this. I knew the only way to ensure progress was with weekly calls. I know this from all my own work experience. And while a finish line is important, they do get blown. I recently worked on a complete software upgrade for a business, CRM and ERP system. It went years past planned completion too. But it got there. And now it’s done. And it’s good. But forcing my builder to give a date has now done damage to his standing with my team, and he’s frustrated too because he had done excellent work so far. It’s just taking longer than anyone wanted.

I’m proud that it was my own idea to do a weekly meeting, it seems a common theme here. I do a weekly call and takes notes and publish them. My builder says he uses them. He’s got multiple projects and it helps him to know what is always upcoming. It’s interesting to me that in a 15-20 minute call with him I can have an hour’s worth of typing the notes and 12-15 updates.

Most builders have tools in their hand all day. They can only do these updates after hours and weekends. They can only keep that pace for so long. My builder is starting to use Builder Trend. This shows he wants to do better.

We, as owners, need to assume positive intent. Builders do not need to drag jobs out for their own benefit. They want happy customers. There’s that old saying in the sports world ”don’t hate the player, hate the game.” Don’t play the game of dates, it’s a losers bargain.

Do your part to help by documenting the communication. Keep it simple, and helpful, and positive. Imagine, one day, having the builder back for a coffee or a beer to enjoy the work they did.

I had a project where the builder promised to be completed by the end of May. Sure enough, he completed the project and handed over the keys to the owner on May 142nd.

(love old posts)