The problem is not that theyre not meeting the sched. The problem is the schedule itself is too lax. We are wasting money as well in years of delays and lost productivity because the sites work only from 8-3 for the most part yet get paid more than engineers who work much longer and harder to produce the drawings.
First of all, most sites run 7AM to 330PM.
And how have you measured that engineers "work much longer and harder"? I won't argue with the hours, as many engineers do in fact work long hours and work very hard. However, many don't, and many construction workers do in fact work long hours. The opposite is also true. Generalizations, as always, are doomed to failure. I've worked 10-12 hours a day for most of this year, for instance. As has most of my crew.
But harder? Is it harder to consult a chart to tell you what beam to put in? Is it harder to click and make lines on AutoCAD? Maybe. Maybe not.
Your engineer-versus-trades shot sounds like sour grapes to me, too. With construction going full tilt in Toronto, you won't see labour rates falling. Whereas there are thousands of engineering professionals out of work in Alberta, many of them mobile. Tightening the schedule doesn't assure that labour is more productive - one glitch and you have even more people sitting around waiting for production to get going again.
Indeed. And unfortunately, no matter how many hard working engineers and estimators are working on these projects for peanuts (according to some), they still fail to properly plan their projects. So you are already ending up with people sitting around waiting for production to get going again. So much for working harder.
As you correctly said before, any accelerated schedule will require more manpower, will entails more risk. Companies are correctly pricing that risk into their costs for these projects.
Call it sour grapes but you know it's true... The avg blue collar contractor works less for more and it's costing us as well. But sure you can be satisfied with the schedule. I'm happy too that theyre adhering to the schedule too...unfortunately our expectations are akin to those of a rookie team who just got promoted to the premier league....low low expectations
Not sure how you are measuring less for more. Is freezing my balls off for a full days work so that you can have glass condos working less for more? Is laying asphalt for 10 - 12 hours a day in the heat, humidity, sun, working less for more? Is slugging drywall all day so that you can buy frozen yogurt or fancy burgers working less for more? Is working from dawn to dusk for 7 days a week so that renovations can be complete for school openings working less for more? Is brutalizing your body and health for years on end working less for more? Is exposing yourself to constant risk of injury or death for years on end working less for more? Please.
Or perhaps it's simply that different people have different skills and you are feeling a bit jealous that your skills are not as valuable economically in the current market.
