Everyone involved with a construction project hopes to avoid challenges or hiccups along the way. This series of blogs describes the red flags you should look out for if “smooth sailing” doesn’t seem to be the direction your project is going. In this final installment, we give you red flags #10 through #12:

1. Ignoring or dismissing an updated construction schedule. If the contractor is reluctant to update and distribute the construction schedule when it needs to changed (see red flag #9 in our last blog), all parties are forced to get from hereto there without a map. This is not a good idea and will likely result in rework.
2. Blame-shifting. A contractor who resorts to blaming anyone (Owner, architect, subcontractors) or anything (weather, material availability, existing conditions) else for poor performance is usually grasping at straws. There are legitimate reasons why a contractor may have challenges, but resorting to blame-shifting for their contractual responsibility indicates you may be past the point of expecting a good outcome.
3. Taking excessive risks relating to sequencing/weather. Installing products out of sequence (i.e. installing drywall before the roof), and failing to protect installed work (wet drywall) indicates the contractor is taking too great a risk by gambling on the weather.

Our list of 12 red flags is not exhaustive, but they are the ones we consider to be the most common when a construction project goes awry.

Have you observed these red flags (or any others) on your projects? Let us know. We’ll share your experiences on our blog so others can learn from them.