The 8 Biggest Construction Materials Management Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid

materials-pallete As a construction manager, you are responsible for all of the project details including maintaining the materials inventory. Construction materials tracking must be done correctly to avoid overruns in material costs and job delays. There are several areas where mistakes in materials management can be made; once you understand the problems, you can take effective actions.

1. Was it ordered?

While you may not be the one responsible for placing material orders, you need to ensure that this part of the job is done. The ability to track order placement, backorders and expected delivery times will help you avoid forgotten orders.

2. Was it really delivered?

You may have an expected delivery date and several different deliveries scheduled. You must make sure that every item on a list is actually delivered or marked as a backorder. Improper delivery counts can create major shortages.

3. Where was it stored?

You checked off the items on receipt, unfortunately no one knows the exact storage location. Your construction materials tracking program needs to include item locations.

4. Inventory transfers

A major source of material losses occur when materials transfers are made from one job site to another, or sub-projects on large sites. When inventory transfers are made, they need to be recorded correctly, showing both the original inventory location and receiving location. Without this type of control, you end up with materials shortages and incorrect job costs.

5. Wrong units of measure

You need to have the correct units recorded for inventory receipt, materials transfer and job use. If a case of switches are removed from inventory, but only recorded as a box, you have lost inventory control.

6. Poor estimation

While you may not be in charge of materials estimation, you should have a solid understanding of how much of any material is needed for the size of the project you are working on. You need to have easy access to the original material estimates to ensure that the correct amounts are included.

7. Poor storage

Many materials used on construction sites can be damaged by exposure to rain. Other materials are highly subject to theft. You are responsible for making sure that the trailers or other storage locations are weatherproof and secure.

8. Not tracking damaged materials

Construction materials can be damaged in storage or through improper installation. You need to track these inventory losses the same way you would track materials transfers. You need the ability to recorded items as damaged and make sure that needed replacements are ordered.

You can easily and securely handle construction materials tracking from a job site or your office. Cloud storage also allows you to access the needed data from any device including a tablet or Smartphone. Take advantage of the solutions available and prevent delays and job cost issues.