What Is Phased Construction?

Advantages of Phased Construction

There are many advantages for business leaders to use phased construction. Here is a list of advantages of phased construction.

• Limits the impact of construction on a business. Construction in stages minimizes the headaches of temporarily closing down.
• Customers are still served: Businesses can still produce goods and services to customers.
• Businesses are profitable: The revenue received during the construction process can offset the expenses and cost of construction.
• Keep employees happy: employees can work, preventing you from laying off or cutting hours of employees.
• Financial risk is reduced: The initial investment for projects is smaller.
• Cash flow is protected: Smaller payments and smaller startup cost for projects helps protect your cash flow.
• More affordable projects: Construction projects can become expensive. By breaking it up into stages, a big project can become affordable.
• Flexibility and convenience: businesses can progress thru the construction process at their pace, instead of all at once.
• Project Foreshadowing: By doing a section or part at a time, you can predict or know what to expect in the future as far as results or concerns.
• Contractor test run: Doing a project in sections enables you the flexibility of seeing if the contractor is up to your standards in quality, safety, and other factors.
• Flexible design changes: Instead of setting everything in stone at the start, phase construction enables business leaders to pursue design changes throughout the construction project. They can adapt situations, new technologies, and market changes.

Disadvantage of Phased Construction

There are some disadvantages to phased construction that business leaders should be aware of when seeking phased construction. Here is a list of disadvantages of phased construction.

• Construction process is longer: By separating the overall construction project into sections can extend the lifetime of the project.
• Overall project cost is greater: the longer the construction project is the more it will cost. Due to the repetition of starting and restarting the construction process for each stage. Cost will build up from higher inflation, decreased efficiency, contractor markups are greater for small projects, set ups, deliveries, and more.
• A construction site for a workplace: The longer the construction project, the more the norm of construction will be for your workplace. This includes the noise and distraction of construction itself. In addition to the inconvenience of parking, utility shutdowns, construction traffic, and more.
• Potential delays: A delay in one construction stage will delay all the other stages.
• Lender Difficulty: Obtaining funds for the project may be difficult due to the lenders ability to assign a value to these projects.

Summary: To Phase or Not Phase for Your Construction Project

Ultimately, this decision will have to be made with you and your team. However, it is important to note that this decision should be based of the most rational approach depending on your situation and resources. For example, if money is no option for you, then sure go straight for the one large construction project. However, if money is a concern or there is no alternative for your operations then you should seek out the phase construction process. Find a contractor that is willing to work with you and provide you with a flexible and accommodating construction process. Make sure they understand your business operations and partner with them in limiting the impact of construction on your business.