Step-by-step guide to construction project scheduling

Would you go on a road trip without a map? No way! Is going to the grocery store much harder without a shopping list? That’s a definite yes.

Completing construction projects without a schedule is like taking a road trip without directions or not making a grocery shopping list. You may reach your goal, but not without wasting time and money – two things you definitely want to avoid.

And although scheduling can often be a daunting task, we’re here to give you the pointers you need to feel confident and coordinated in your next construction project.

We’ll dive into construction scheduling basics, outline how to create a project schedule that serves you and your crew and point to some Buildertrend features that will make managing your schedules easy and efficient. Let’s do this.

What is construction scheduling?

When it comes to project management, construction scheduling is the act of outlining each step that should be completed by a certain deadline before the next step can be taken. It involves creating a detailed timeline or roadmap that outlines when specific construction activities will be performed, the sequence in which they’ll occur and the resources required to complete them.

For example, you’d certainly want to complete the build of a kitchen island before installing countertops. There are loads of different steps in every kind of construction project, so tracking and managing all the moving parts is no easy task — but it might be the most important part of construction project planning and execution.

Why is construction scheduling important?

A well-organized construction project schedule is important for builders because it keeps everyone – including subs and clients – up to date with how the build is progressing.

You and your team can refer back to your project schedule to see when and where you’re supposed to be, what delays or challenges you might encounter and what your clients can expect as the build advances.

Not only is construction scheduling a vital part of managing your time; it’s an essential quality control measure. Being able to depend on a construction schedule allows you to streamline resource management in every phase of the build.

Who uses construction scheduling?

Lots of seasoned builders depend on reliable construction scheduling software every day to get the job done. Take Buildertrend users NOVUS Building Services and Sidar Builders, for example.

These two construction companies have improved their construction project management and their bottom line by integrating dynamic project scheduling methods to their workflow. 

The best part? The Buildertrend Schedule tool is a helpful resource for project owners, crew members, subs and clients alike.

For example, a project owner or builder can easily view the Schedule to keep track of the overall project or workflow, while a crew member might utilize the Schedule to manage daily tasks and keep their work on track.

Meanwhile, subs and clients can use the Schedule to see where their input is needed, how things are progressing when they aren’t on-site and keep an eye on any time-consuming delays.

Types of construction scheduling

Not all construction companies or construction projects have the same workflow. There are several methods to arrange your project schedule. Buildertrend allows users to view and manage their schedules with multiple views.

Examples include:

Month, week or day

This approach gives you the option to see your schedule from a bird’s eye view, or to zoom in on the day’s big tasks.

List view

Using the list view takes your upcoming tasks out of the calendar and puts it in a simple list with the most recent deadlines displayed first.

Gantt charts

Gantt charts give builders the ability to link and rearrange schedule items hassle-free. When moving one item, the others follow and adjust accordingly.

Agenda

The agenda view gives managers the ability to filter projects and see what items are assigned to a specific user. This is a great scheduling tool to use when you want to know how much someone has on their plate.

Baseline view

When a Buildertrend user completes a schedule, they can set a baseline, which acts as a sort of screenshot to compare tasks to. It shows where the time went and why a job or task is behind.

Workday expectations

This scheduling approach shows whether a construction team is working that day or not. It gives you insights into holidays, weather delays or required extra work on weekends and is especially helpful to use when keeping clients in the loop.

Phases list

Use this view to check out which items you’ve tagged that relate to a specific phase of the construction process.

How to create a powerful construction project schedule with Buildertrend

The easiest way to standardize your construction scheduling approach is by using construction scheduling software. Buildertrend’s Schedule tool helps construction companies around the globe keep their projects on track, maintain their timelines and take on more jobs. Let’s be real: who doesn’t need a hand with that?

Here are a few ways to leverage Buildertrend and make construction scheduling a breeze.

1. Use construction scheduling templates to save time and repetition

We’re big fans of templates, and we think you should be, too. Why? Well, next to data entry, templates are one of the biggest time savers for our users. You can create a template within almost every feature within Buildertrend.

From pre-sale to job end – whether it’s a schedule, job settings, bid packages or client selections – you can template it. Using templates is a huge time saver when creating a schedule for a new job. Instead of having to start from scratch, you can use a pre-saved template as the foundation and make changes as needed to fit each specific job.

And, have you ever really liked the way you set up a job schedule, but forgot to save it as a template before closing it? No worries! You can create templates from closed jobs, too. By creating templates, you’ll save yourself from having to manually fill in information every time you start something new.

2. Share building schedule items with your trade partners

Would you say you spend a large portion of your day on the phone giving and getting updates from your team and subs? We thought you might. We can help.

By using Buildertrend’s Schedule feature to share upcoming tasks for each job with your team and trade partners, you can easily minimize the amount of time you spend on the phone. This will not only save you time but will make for a more seamless scheduling process that keeps everyone on the same page.

3. Use tags for easy tracking and searchability

Tags are great tools for many reasons and can be used in multiple ways throughout Buildertrend. For example, you can use tags to track certain stages of each job or make it easy to search different phases like demolition, foundation or framing.

Let’s say you need to make a change to the phase of a job or shift the completion timeline. You can simply search the tag for the phase you’re wanting to change, and it’ll pop up in seconds. No more unnecessary time spent on searching for tasks or adjusting scheduled phases.

4. Assign To-Do’s to schedule items

We talk about To-Do’s a lot. That’s because it’s one of our most used features, helping Buildertrend users stay organized and on track.

By adding To-Do’s to your schedule, you can easily track what’s getting done and by who. That’s right – you can assign to-do items to your team members or subs, making it easy for you to track the project progress and know who’s responsible for each task. Adding To-Do’s will streamline your job processes and ensure accountability, alleviating the need to constantly check in.

5. Try multiple views to enhance your experience

It helps to see the entire project from all angles. Lucky for you, our Schedule feature can be seen through multiple views – nine to be exact. Each view has a purpose, depending on the task at hand, giving you the choice to decide which type of construction scheduling is right at that very moment.

Here’s an example: Say you’re on the month view, but you need to rearrange a couple of schedule items. We would suggest switching over to the Gantt view. The Gantt view allows you to link and rearrange schedule items with ease. This means when you move one item, the others follow suit and adjust accordingly, keeping everything in order. Cool, right? We think so, too.

Ready to become a construction scheduling pro?

If the above caught your eye and you want to learn more about the endless capabilities of Buildertrend’s Schedule feature, give us a holler! Reach out anytime to your Buildertrend account team with any questions. Or if you’re new here and ready to take your business to the next level, schedule a demo with us today.

Construction scheduling FAQs

Check out some frequently asked questions about construction scheduling.