What a realistic construction schedule looks like, phase by phase
A schedule is not a wish. Here are the phases a ground up build actually moves through, and the points where projects most often slip.
6 minute read
Preconstruction
Before anything moves, the budget gets built, the drawings get a constructability review, and the schedule gets planned. Long lead items get identified and ordered. This phase does not look like progress, but it is where the rest of the schedule is protected.
Site and underground
The site gets graded and the underground utilities go in: storm, sanitary, and water. This comes before anything vertical, and it is one of the most common places a schedule slips, because a failed test or an uncoordinated tie in stalls everything behind it. Getting it right the first time is the whole point.
Structure and envelope
Foundations, structure, and the building envelope go up. This is where the project starts to look like a building. The pace here depends on how well the trades were bought out and coordinated during preconstruction.
Interiors and systems
Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing rough in, then the interiors take shape. This phase has the most trades working at once, so coordination is what keeps it on track. Poor sequencing here shows up as crews waiting on each other.
Closeout
Final inspections, the punch list, and the closeout documents. The building is not done when it looks done. It is done when the punch list is closed and the owner has a clean set of closeout documents in hand.
Common questions
How long does it take to build a commercial building?
It depends on size, type, and site conditions, so any honest answer starts with the drawings. What is consistent is the sequence: preconstruction, site and underground, structure and envelope, interiors and systems, then closeout. The most common delays come from the underground and from poor trade coordination.
Where do construction projects usually get delayed?
Two places most often: the underground, where a failed test or uncoordinated tie in stalls everything behind it, and the interiors phase, where many trades work at once and poor sequencing has crews waiting on each other.
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