There are (3) main variables to a Construction Project – Cost, Duration (Schedule) and Quality. The overall goal is always the same: build it for the lowest cost, as quickly as possible and without sacrificing quality. But what is “the lowest cost”? How can one know that a job could have been done faster? Define “quality”.
Without clear answers to these questions, one can’t definitively say that they’ve fallen short of, reached or exceeded the goal. How close one comes to meeting each of these (3) “conditions” of the goal, then, is a matter of opinion – it is subjective.
Cost, Duration and Quality are all intertwined. A high-quality product will necessarily take longer to build than if it were less so. The work can be done faster, but at a premium price, etc. Schedule can be defined, but is notoriously hard to maintain and track. Quality is dictated by the Plans and Specifications, which themselves vary from Project-to-Project. There are established minimum Standards, so Quality can be better measured, but not universally. Ultimately, Quality is perceived.
But, (2) things are certain: 1) none involved want the construction to take any longer than it has to and 2) none want a low-quality product.
So it is that Cost is pushed to the fore. It can be measured – easily and by most everyone. It is flexible – affecting Cost, effects Duration and Quality. Cost stands apart because it controls and can itself be controlled. Cost trumps Duration and Quality. It serves to drive the entire process. How it is managed will determine whether a Project is successful – or not.
The overall goal is always the same: build the Project for the lowest cost, as quickly as possible and without sacrificing quality. It is like a math equation. It is Cost that will dictate the outcome of that equation.
By definition, Custom Construction projects are subject to change. And do they ever! Constantly, in innumerable ways. Changes to a project’s Scope of Work act as added variables to the equation, complicating it ever throwing it out of “balance”. Custom jobs, therefore, require a level of diligence that most Builders struggle to meet, much less maintain.
At Naples Custom Home Cost Consulting, we are Project Cost Management EXPERTS who strive to strike the optimal balance between Cost, Duration and Quality on EVERY Project. We balance the equation and see it through to a solution that best serves each Client’s unique wants and needs.
Let NCHCC “do the math” for you on your Project.