Impact of pre-construction planning and project characteristics on performance in the US electrical construction industry

The mild recession experienced in the early part of this decade forced many US electrical contractors to reduce their profit margins as a way to win jobs and survive economically. However, to make up for lower profit margins, contractors turned to 'better planning' as a method for improving their efficiency and increasing their profitability. In general, contractors believe that better planning contributes to better project performance, but the evidence has been mostly anecdotal. A study was conducted recently that transformed anecdotal evidence about the impact of pre-construction planning on performance into quantitative evidence. The research resulted in the development of a model pre-construction planning process that was based on outstanding projects that were well planned and performed well. The study quantified the relationship between pre-construction planning activities, project characteristics and performance, and a separate validation study found that those projects that performed a comprehensive planning process similar to the model planning process were more likely to achieve their estimated work hours, profit, budget and completion goals.