Whistle While You Work

We keep our job sites clean as a whistle. Something about an orderly job site just makes us feel good.

I recently met with a potential client who wanted to build a large custom home. After I mentioned how much importance we place on keeping our sites tidy, he told me that he didn’t care whether or not the job site was kept clean and orderly. He just wanted his house built fast and was searching for the builder who would do it the cheapest. He more-or-less told me he didn’t see any value in paying more for a builder who is conscientious and takes pride in his work.

Needless to say, we didn’t end up working together.

What he failed to realize is that there are economic benefits in working with a custom builder whose job sites are kept clean and organized throughout the building process.

A clean and organized job site is usually a good indicator of how professional the home builder is and whether or not he or she runs a well-organized operation.

A messy job site is a good indicator of the degree to which that project is out of control.

3 Reasons a Clean Construction Site is Important

Clean job sites are safe job sites
As a homeowner, this should be very important to you. The worst thing that could happen while your custom home is being built is for someone to get injured or, even worse, killed on your project. As we mentioned in our blog post on Workers’ Comp, even a small accident can have trickle down effects — from construction delays and suspensions, to lawsuits, and more. The goal for every one of our new construction projects is zero injuries, and having a clean and organized job sites is a major factor.

Clean and organized job sites finish sooner
Homeowners naturally want to move into their new home as quickly as possible. You only need to watch the activities of a disorganized framing crew, as opposed to a clean and orderly framing crew, to realize just how much time can be wasted by each individual subcontractor if the job is not organized.

Building a custom luxury home involves a seemingly infinite number of components, suppliers, and specialty contractors. When a job site is in chaos, it not only moves slower, but it is also much easier for mistakes to be made. It only takes one mistake to cause scheduling delays. Materials may need to be reordered and trades may need to be rescheduled, potentially putting a project on hold for days, weeks, or longer.

Clean job sites result in higher quality
A clean site communicates to all subcontractors that the home builder cares about the project. If the builder cares, the subcontractors will also care. If a subcontractor comes onto a job site that has been left in a state of chaos, the message is that the builder cares more about getting the job finished fast, rather than getting the job finished right. If the message is quantity versus quality, not only are more mistakes made, but they are also more likely to be covered up, or “fudged” rather than fixed.

Bottom line is that a clean and organized job site is safer, finishes sooner and produces a higher quality custom home.

We don’t just talk the talk. We walk the walk. You will find this sign posted on every single Charter Bay Home Builders job site. We hang it with pride and we demand that every person who works on behalf of Charter Bay lives up to our standards.