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Availability in Construction: What to Expect With A Time-Sensitive Project

Published: Tuesday, December 24, 2019

During the long, cold, winter nights, many homeowners dream of building a new home, or adding onto their existing home during December and January. While a lot of construction companies would consider wintertime the offseason, there are still companies that will work through the cold weather when permissible. While there may not be as much construction going on during this time, there are some companies that quit working all-together. There are also companies, who just simply don’t have work lined up and can’t stay busy during the offseason. For homeowners in need of work on their homes, this can usually work out well for both parties. However, there may be some unexpected delays or disappointment ahead.

When a homeowner is in need of work immediately, they are much more likely to call around and find the person that has the soonest availability. This can work out just fine in some scenarios, and disastrously in others. As a homeowner, you would expect the professional to come to your home, provide a quote, sign the contract, and get started ASAP on your emergency project. Sometimes, however, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Unfortunately, a lot of the service professionals that have “right now” availability, simply don’t have the reputation or technical know-how to win other types of jobs. Sometimes these are new contractors who are earning their spot in the marketplace. Other times, these contractors lack the “people-skills” or business savvy to stay booked during the winter times. They may even have a bad reputation, and are only able to find work when everyone else is scheduled out for a couple of months.

The worst thing that can happen in one of these scenarios though, is when you sign a contract for an urgent job, and the contractor doesn’t come through for you. In some cases, the contractor will start working on the project, leave for bad weather one day, and then they just never come back. In other cases, they may not start at all! It happens way too often in the trades, and it’s truly a shameful thing to see. However, this is the type of thing that will happen if you don’t exercise your due diligence when researching companies. If you are looking to have a professional out to your home for a project, be sure to research them, call and talk with them, learn about their schedule/out-time, and make it clear that your project is urgent. If they are able to take you on immediately, and they have a spotless reputation, they likely do good work and very efficiently at that. With that being said, if they have a bad reputation, and they’re ready to start your job today, consider that a red flag in most scenarios.

While this isn’t an exact guideline to how all companies work specifically, it will provide you with a general idea of what to expect in these circumstances. Be sure to research and speak with all of the contractors you contact. Make sure they have active licenses, bonding, and insurance, as well as a solid reputation for the work they do, and the service they provide. Regardless of who you choose, just be sure to be thorough and follow up with your service professional regularly, especially if things aren’t progressing as promised. Hopefully, these suggestions will guide you to a successful time-sensitive project.