Defining the Undefinable
A project is not a definable thing. It is a process; it is a development; it is the sum of many parts. However, we can start to define it more accurately if we look at it as the synthesis of three key elements: budget, schedule, and design. Our role is to control all three.
In our very first meeting, often without even schematic drawings in hand, clients will often ask, “what will something like this cost?” or “how long does a project like this take?” My canned response to this is “well I don’t know, I have never built your house before!” I then will jump off into a broader discussion about the nature of projects, their unpredictability, and the importance of developing the hypothetical project into something more concrete. The “project” in these early stages is something that none of us can really understand: the architect, the designer, the contractor, and the client all have different internal visions of what the project looks like: the finishes, the colors, the ceiling heights, the window hardware etc. Until all the decisions are complete, the final check is written and the paint is dry, we really cannot know what the budget, the schedule, and the design are. Without knowing all three of these things with great precision, we cannot know either of the other two. Only when the project is complete, can we truly understand exactly what went into it.
But we cannot run our businesses and build our client’s homes running blind! And no one will hire us if when they ask “what’s the budget,” we respond with, “I’ll let you know when I finish…”
As I explain to potential clients in our initial meetings our development and billing process, I also educate them on the undefined nature of their project. I explain that although we will develop a budget and a schedule, we will also need the flexibility to modify these given design changes, onsite developments, and unforeseen circumstances–-this is why we use a cost plus model along with a detailed pre-construction process. Our initial schedule and budget is schematic in nature and is as loose as the architect or designer’s schematic renderings. As those drawings become more accurate, so too does our budget and our schedule. As we attach time estimates, dollar signs, and renderings to the project, we inch closer to defining the undefined; we close in on a shared vision. But as anyone who has ever worked on a 12 month renovation will tell you, no matter how close you get during your pre-construction budgeting and scheduling, you will always be modifying, especially when working with a heavily involved architect and designer.
As builders we notoriously grumble and moan at our design colleagues for brutally disregarding our schedule and our budget, but we should cut them some slack: it is not their role, and furthermore it is our role to synthesize their design and changes with our schedule and budget. What we really need is control. We need to control the budget, we need to control the schedule, and we need to control the design. That is how we control the project, which is ultimately our goal as builders, GCs, remodelers, and project managers.
What exactly does control of these three elements mean? Well, remember that the schedule and budget are arbitrary measurements of time and money that we use to help define the undefinable project. What is the design? It is lines on a page, tile samples, and color swatches that also help us to define the project. None of these are the project on its own. A project delivered 2 months beyond the target date, with flawless design execution and deadly budget accuracy is obviously not a failed project (assuming the 2 month overage was not a surprise to client!). In this case we modified the schedule to the benefit of the budget and the design. We did not let the schedule rule the design or the budget. We did not let the schedule rule the project. The same can be said of any of the three elements. If we are on schedule and on budget, but we were not able to deliver that hallway paneling with mirrored glass, or the inset cabinetry the client dreamed of, did we succeed?
We have to throw away notions that any of these three elements is more important than the other, and certainly that any is more important than the project as a whole, and without a doubt, we need to train our clients to operate with this same project philosophy. So when the designer brings up a change that will push the schedule and the budget, we cannot immediately dismiss it. We cannot allow our past obsession with schedule and budget to cloud our duty to the project as a whole. This absolutely does not mean that we accept the design change without considering the other two elements; we cannot do that either, because we would be missing the point.
The project itself is the measure of all these things. When a client asks you what the schedule is, well that depends on what the project is, and the project is defined as the synthesis of schedule, budget, and design: it’s tautological; undefinable. However, we can use our experience to make a good estimate, and this is what we must present to our clients; this is what we do as builders. We help to define and shape the project by controlling the three key elements.
Throughout the ongoing process that is the project, these three guiding elements are developing forward in a linear fashion. As one changes we must update the other two to reflect this. If the design changes, the budget changes and schedule changes. But has the project changed? No. The project is what it is and always would be. The schedule is what the project demands. The budget is what the project demands. The design is what the project demands. So we should not rigidly adhere to the budget or to the schedule or to the design; we must not fixate on a number, a date, or an elevation drawing. These are just marks on a page. They are not the project. Our duty is to the project and not to the paper.