Why Installation Timelines Can Change, Even When You’re Ready for Installation

The week that you have been preparing for is finally here! You’ve signed all the paperwork, prepped your site, and cleared your schedule. But something happens and you get a call from your manufacturer letting you know that your installation date has been delayed. Believe me when I say, I can just imagine how you feel. Probably a little bit of disappointment and honestly very frustrated, but don’t worry, this doesn’t mean there is a problem with your project. 

Honestly, installation schedules depend on a number of moving parts that are coordinated behind the scenes. It’s important to understand why an adjustment to the timeline of your metal building installation may be necessary. 

You Can Be Ready and Still Experience a Schedule Change

It is natural to assume that once an installation date is provided, that it is set in stone. When I order something from online stores and receive a delivery date, I expect what I order to arrive by the provided delivery date as well. However, when it comes to delivering and installing metal buildings, timelines must remain flexible because oftentimes final checks and schedule coordination could still be taking place. Our manufacturers also want to ensure that all installations can be completely safely, efficiently, and correctly. 

Final Readiness Checks Matter

Before installation, you could receive a call from the manufacturer ensuring that nothing that was originally reviewed has been changed. They want to ensure that the site still looks the same as the site photos that were sent in, that the installation area can be accessed by the crew easily, and that the ground and surrounding site conditions meet the requirements for installation. 

In the chance that the site isn’t prepped correctly or the site cannot be accessed, manufacturers will more often than not charge a restocking fee. This is the fee that several manufacturers charge to customers if they have to take material back to the manufacturing location due to not being able to install your building safely. In this case, your installation can be delayed until further notice. 

Your Project Is Part of a Larger Schedule

Installation crews usually do not just install one building within the same region. Typically they handle several projects and your building is part of a larger route that usually includes multiple jobs sites and several days of travel. The schedule that the manufacturers develop depend on crew availability, travel time between job sites, the order in which projects are completed, and the overall demand in the region. 

It is important that you understand that if an installation earlier in the schedule takes longer than expected, it may affect the projects that come afterward. A crew may run into difficult site conditions, unexpected travel delays, or a project that simply requires more time to finish properly. These changes are often outside of both the customer or crew’s control, but can still affect the overall schedule. 

Weather Affects More Than Your Job Site

Weather conditions are one of the most common reasons installation timelines can shift. Even when the weather may seem perfect where you are located, conditions at another job site and conditions along the way to your job site can still affect your installation. As mentioned before, your project is a part of a run, so delays earlier in the route can carry forward to all of the installations prior to yours. 

There are several weather conditions that can affect the installation of your metal structure. High winds can cause the metal panels to act like sails, making them both difficult and dangerous to lift. Heavy rains can lead to wet surfaces becoming slippery, increasing the risk of accidents. Flooding and saturated ground could result in your site no longer meeting installation requirements until it dries. Lightning and thunderstorms can lead to crews stopping work immediately until the storm has passed.  Heavy snow accumulation can prevent the crews from accessing your site. While these conditions may not affect your site directly, it could affect a site of an installation that was scheduled prior to yours, which could result in delays. 

Why Adjustments Are Sometimes Necessary

Manufacturers do not make adjustments to the schedule to intentionally slow your project down. When a scheduling adjustment is made, it is typically done for several reasons, to ensure that the crew installing your building can do so safely, to ensure that the site is ready and fully accessible, and to ensure that the correct materials and specifications are available. A short delay can oftentimes prevent much larger problems later. 

It’s better for both the customer and the manufacturer to move the installation date than to have the crew arrive and encounter unsafe job site conditions or rush through an installation to try to stay on schedule. The goal is not to complete the installation as quickly as possible, the goal is to complete the installation correctly. 

The Bottom Line

Your installation date isn’t just your installation date. It’s a part of a larger process that involves coordinating crews, materials, travel, site conditions, weather and safety of both the installation crews and our customers. Even when your site seems fully prepared and everything appears ready, if one of those factors change your project timeline can shift. 

I know that this doesn’t make schedule changes any less frustrating and annoying; however, these adjustments are made to protect the quality of the installation and help the project go more smoothly once the crew does arrive.