How to Handle Losing Key Personnel in the Middle of the Construction Project

Losing a project manager in the middle of a commercial project is never pleasant, and that’s dramatically understating how terrible the process can be. Wasted time, lost man hours of productivity, and ultimately money and possibly claims are all risks. Here’s a quick list of steps to take if you suddenly lose key personnel to health or job related issues.

Fill the Role

Priority one is filling the role, even if that person will hold the position temporarily. You’ll want to hire a construction expert, someone who has years of experience to be able to assess the state of the project and how to move forward. Hopefully, your project manager left some steps to keep the process going but illness and stoppages strike at random. An expert’s job is to figure out the path forward and steps to take to get there.

Consult with Others

Let every stakeholder know what’s going on. Don’t keep this kind of void under wraps for very long, even if your intention is to find a replacement first. If there are any claims, speak with construction claims consultants to get them resolved so your crew can get back to work. The claims consultant may also have some advice on documenting the loss of personnel, and how best to move forward to avoid future claims.

Hire as Needed

Once the role is filled, and all stakeholders informed, get budget cleared to hire as needed to bring the project up to speed. Construction turnaround services usually last about a week or two, so you’re not hiring a new full-time team. You can also consider authorizing overtime, but that has a cost of fatigue. Fatigue leads to accidents, so be careful how you balance your workload.

Lyle Charles Consulting is a firm that specializes in commercial construction claims resolution, consulting and advisement services.