Effective project management includes keeping the project within budget. While electricity consumers should be concerned with how many cents per kilowatt they spend to keep the lights on, project managers have to juggle multiple expenses per project while considering national averages. From legal fees to equipment deliveries, completing just one project can play havoc with its bottom line.
Don’t let your utility project cost increase more than it needs to. With some initial planning and project management skills, you can meet your project goals without upping the budget. This article can help you avoid extra costs so you can keep your project within budget.
Thoroughly Plan
“Be prepared” is not just a cliché but a wise tip. Planning a project takes time and research.
Using previous projects as examples can help you determine how much your project could cost. You can also learn from mistakes that were made so you can take steps to circumvent them. Identifying all of the possible roadblocks like stakeholders and other people who could slow your project’s progress can let you know what to expect. When you are more aware of all the risks, you can make room in the budget to account for the financial impact of those obstacles.
Streamline Repeated Processes
When your project requires performing certain activities several times, you should ensure that those processes run as optimally as possible. When they do not, you could be wasting time and exposing your project to risks that could adversely affect your budget.
If you want to improve on these processes, you should determine any problems that could prevent them from running smoothly. You can seek improvement suggestions from employees familiar with them. You can also look at past examples.
Once you have perfected these processes to your liking, you should monitor them as they occur to maintain job site safety and general efficiency.
Follow Safety Procedures
Job site injuries can not only delay your project but they can also cost a fortune. Insurance claims and lawsuits can ruin a project’s chances for success. They can also force companies into bankruptcy.
Following safety procedures at every level of any utility project is vital to mitigate unfortunate incidents that result in physical harm and property damage. First, you need a safety plan.
Again, you can use past examples to create policies and procedures that can keep your job site free of injuries. Determining the most hazardous aspects of a project can lay the groundwork for a plan. Surveying employees can also help close safety gaps.
Having and implementing a safety plan is great but you have to make sure employees follow the rules. Random, frequent inspections can keep everyone safe. Documenting each one can help you in the future. You can use this information to fine-tune safety protocols for all of your upcoming projects.
Expect the Unexpected
Accidents happen. No matter how well you planned, no matter how safe your employees are, something could go wrong. Severe weather could suddenly strike. A man-made disaster could happen without warning. You have to make allowances in all of your plans and budgets so your project can continue as quickly as possible.
Keep Looking for Solutions
Although this article contains several tips on how to avoid extra costs during your utility project, many others might remain undiscovered.
Some tips might apply across different areas of public utilities. For example, if you insert avoid extra cost gas water utility project or avoid extra cost electric water utility project into your preferred Internet search engine, then you might find hints not covered in this article. Utility project managers across the world have to deal with mitigating their expenses just like you. Some are willing to share what practices work for them. You can take advantage of their generous assistance and add their tactics to your playbook.
Act Now
Finding cost-effective solutions is just one piece of the picture. Using these solutions is crucial to offset all the unexpected and hidden costs. Let us help you implement this advice.
Outsource to Blackwood Resources
Although utility infrastructures can last up to 30 years, utility damage can shorten their lifespans. Utility companies have to repair old and damaged infrastructures no matter the cost. Above and underground utility repairs do not have to throw your projects off budget. It’s not just repairs that threaten your budget. Improvements to water, gas and electric infrastructures can cost just as much money.
Consumers expect service when they pay their utility bills. Whether it’s a broken water line or a decaying utility pole, repairs must be made no matter the cost. If utility customers practice methods to increase energy efficiency in their homes, then why can’t you save money on your utility projects?
You can prevent your utility construction projects from incurring expensive transportation expenses when you outsource to Blackwood Resources.
Renting trucks, cranes, and other equipment as well as hiring drivers and riggers take time and stretch your budget to its limit. You also have to contend with the additional liability risks all of those elements bring to the job site. We can alleviate the hassles that come with the entire undertaking.
Our specially-designed trucks have attached cranes that our operators use to load and unload your utility poles and other oversized equipment. Deliveries can be that easy.
You do not have to rent anything. You do not have to hire more workers. When you let us manage your transportation duties, you deal directly with us – no middlemen. You can contact our drivers, knowing you’re talking to them and not a broker who has no vested interest in the successful delivery of your shipment.
Our reputation depends on how well we serve you. This includes how effectively our trucks and drivers get the job done. We own and maintain our trucks. We also hire our drivers and operators. They are our responsibility. The burden is on us to employ the highest-skilled drivers. We realize that people are ultimately the greatest resource on the planet. We want the best for you so we will only allow the best people to take your cargo to its final destination. Our commitment does not stop when our trucks arrive where you need them.
Some hauling companies only load their haulers but do not unload them, leaving the most essential part of the job to project managers like you. You've already got enough to handle. We know the obstacles you must overcome to finish your projects. We are committed to seeing our end of the job completed without giving you extra work and more expenses to worry about.
Water, natural gas, communications, and electric utilities do not have to be costly liabilities. We’re here to help you. Please contact us today.
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