Overheard our lead PM say 'schedule is just a suggestion' and I wanted to scream

We're on a mixed-use project in Denver, about 18 months in, and last week during the weekly meeting our lead project manager literally said the schedule is just a suggestion because we can always push things back. I've been in construction management for about 12 years now, mostly commercial jobs, and that attitude is how you end up with a 6-month delay and a pissed off owner. We're already behind because of some concrete pour issues back in March, and now we've got the interior trades stacked on top of each other. The GC is bleeding money on overtime for the MEP guys trying to catch up. Has anyone else worked with a PM who treats the schedule like a wish list instead of a binding document? How do you get them to take it seriously without starting a full blown argument?

3 comments

3 Comments

reese_hayes7112d ago

Dude that would have sent me through the roof too. A schedule is a schedule for a reason, calling it a suggestion is just asking for everything to fall apart.

shanef3412d ago

@reese_hayes71 Exactly man. I learned the hard way that if you treat a schedule like it's flexible people will walk all over it. Best move is to set hard deadlines upfront and stick to em no matter what.

aaron74012d ago

Yeah @shanef34 nailed it, a schedule that's just a suggestion is basically a guarantee you'll be eating overtime costs for months. I've been that guy who treated a timeline like a loose idea and ended up with drywallers and electricians fighting over the same hallway, felt like a real genius then lol. Hard deadlines hurt in the moment but they save your whole crew from a world of pain later on.