Written by LetsBuild
Last updated September 19, 2023
Construction is usually involving and delicate, with different teams like trade professionals, project managers, and subcontractors working together to deliver successful projects. The whole process hinges on seamless coordination and fluid team transitions for better outcomes.
Today, construction teams rely on Building Information Modeling (BIM) to create and manage information during the entire lifecycle of a project. It brings architects, engineers, developers, contractors, manufacturers, and other professionals together to work within one 3D model.
Unlike blueprints and CAD, a BIM is intelligent, stores data, and features geometry, allowing for a collaborative experience. While BIM is an effective solution in construction, it might require a substantial initial investment to set it up. Plus, not all your partners might be familiar with it.
This post will explore how you can ensure seamless trade coordination without BIM.
Free eBook: Quick guide to Lean practices for construction professionals
Power your team with data
Reflecting on the performance and progress of your project is an integral part of running a successful team. In this case, you can use the plan vs actual data comparison tool to track your performance and power your team.
When planning for any phase or task, involving all the key parties and stakeholders is vital. You must define the essential tasks, priorities, and objectives as a team. Your plan should cover expected material usage, related costs, and potential timelines.
The planning phase is actually crucial since up to 77% of project teams disagree on when a project should be executed. With the plan in place, you can analyse the report of the project to assess your goals, costs, and the progress of the project.
Make the process easy with a digital tool, which allows you to visualise planned vs actual work to highlight non-working gaps and keep track of your schedule. This will enable you to keep track of your initial targets and manage change controls.
More to read: 3 benefits of location-based planning in construction
Simplify work with a line of balance (LOB)
Does your team understand the scope of work at a given time in a specific place? You can simplify this using the LOB technique, giving your team a clear view of all construction activities, both completed and uncompleted, for effective task management.
LOB helps to analyse the work completed by individual teams and lets you know the number of workers in your teams. This allows you to identify idle crew, making it easy to move teams from one activity to another through overlapping to improve project timelines.
The LOB technique is instrumental in completing repetitive tasks in the construction project, thus saving you lots of time. It allows you to identify issues in advance and make modifications and changes to the schedule without delaying the project.
More importantly, LOB helps to improve resource management during hard stops and buffers, and it provides a single glance at all the construction activities. This level of insight into the project allows managers to coordinate teams, shift crews, assign tasks, and optimise resources.
You might also like: How project managers are using technology to ensure on-budget and on-time construction
Leverage mobile inspection
Mobile apps and solutions have made it possible to connect technical teams, whether off-site or in-site. They have simplified office-site communications, supporting extensive data gathering for health inspectors, building inspectors, fire inspectors, and other regulatory professionals.
With mobile tools, uploading all project details and data, including photos, test results, templates, and costs, is simple. This makes it simple for inspectors and technical teams to review progress and make changes as needed without necessarily visiting the site.
Mobile apps also support on-the-go printing, making it easy for inspectors to generate and print permits, invoices, reports, and compliance documents. They also provide 24/7 access to all regulatory codes and standards to ensure compliance.
The ability to capture, store, and share data provides teams access to up-to-date data they need to make constructive decisions. Plus, teams can communicate on the go and check project status in real time for efficient processes and seamless collaboration.
Further reading: Five benefits of inspection reporting software
Improve trade coordination for your construction projects
In building projects, coordination between the technical and construction teams is essential for a successful project, whether with BIM or not. The ability to share information and communicate seamlessly helps to set clear objectives and foster teamwork.
The use of construction management tools and apps allows teams to assign activities and take actions at the right time. With real-time updates, technical teams can monitor every aspect of the project, provide feedback, and guide construction teams as needed.
At LetsBuild, we provide an effective product for coordinating construction teams and ensuring lean construction. With LB Coordination, site managers and supervisors can work seamlessly and coordinate trades, especially when working on multi-storey residential projects.
LB Coordination allows teams to ditch spreadsheets and physical whiteboards, delivering a single platform for connecting teams, breaking down silos, measuring performance, and working in lean zones. Book a demo or get a free trial to learn more about our powerful solution.
