Clean Up Loose Ends

When employees report that they are complete with a project, a field supervisor should check to verify that it is really complete. This is part of a field supervisor’s responsibility. Inspect what you expect, if the inspection is completed before the employees has cleaned up and left an area, staying to finish those pesky loose ends that seem to crop up will not cost you as much time or money. A supervisor working hand in hand with the crew can often remove many loose ends

Very few projects are completed with no loose ends, some loose ends may be inevitable. The trick is to avoid as many of them as possible and keep track of those that cannot be avoided. While tracking those that are unavoidable it will be beneficial to look at how they were caused. If poor planning in either your office or field caused the problems, then look ahead of yourself to see how similar problems can be avoided in the future. If the loose end was the result of someone outside your firm, notifying the general contractor, in writing, may result in eliminating similar errors in the future. If the errors do not stop or are large enough that the cost to your firm cannot be tolerated, then the notices that you have sent could result in a change order for your firm.

When employees report that they are complete with a project, a field supervisor should check to verify that it is really complete. This is part of a field supervisor’s responsibility. Inspect what you expect, if the inspection is completed before the employees has cleaned up and left an area, staying to finish those pesky loose ends that seem to crop up will not cost you as much time or money. A supervisor working hand in hand with the crew can often remove many loose ends

Here are a few items that always seem to crop up,

• Labeling not completed.
• Boxes not made up.
• Covers either not installed or hanging off the side of the box.
• Excess material left in the work area when a job is complete (a job is not complete until the work area is cleaned and excess material has been removed to a storage area.
• Demolition not being completed.
• Equipment not touched up and cleaned.
• Ground busings not installed or connected to the ground wire.
• Complete any required fire sealing of penetrations per your projects requirements.
• As builds completed and turned over to the general contractor or owner. (Get a signed transmittal when you turn these over)
• Any training required completed. (have a sign in sheet for anyone attending the training to prove the training did occur.)
• Turn over completed owners and maintenace manuals as required per the contract. (Get a signed transmittal when you turn these over for your firms records.)
• Spare parts delivered with a transmittal to the general contractor or owner (get a signature for the parts to prove their delivery).
• Remove any temporary power that may need to be removed.
• Have all tools, lifts or other equipment returned to the your office or rental yard.

This is but a small list of items that can cause stress and lose substantial amounts of money for your project needlessly. Being proactive regarding loose ends will relieve stress in every area of your project. General contractors and owners will want you back, your firm will benefit financially and emotionally, and field crews will benefit from a little less stress on the job site.