Let’s be honest: It is more than tempting to cut corners in today’s unbelievably hectic environment. In fact, it almost feels like a necessity to deliver homes on time. But the truth is, sacrificing construction quality could be more detrimental to products, business, and reputation than ever before. Now is not the time to cut corners on safety and quality assurance efforts – despite the immense pressure to do so.
As one of the most fragmented industries, homebuilding exhibits the lowest productivity growth compared to other industries, and is compounded by affordability challenges and a deepening labor crisis.
Amidst this difficult industry landscape sits the very complex structure of a production homebuilder’s operations. So many facets of a builder’s organization – including suppliers and trades – must collaborate and communicate effectively. Throughout the process, there is a cycle of countless interactions – all fraught with the risk of miscommunication and human error.
And when mistakes occur in a production builder’s environment, they will naturally be repeated until they are addressed… over and over, multiplying exponentially throughout communities, divisions, regions, and possibly across the builder’s entire footprint. Mistakes during construction – even if they are caught and corrected – can increase build cycle time which increases the cost of carry. Additionally, too many mistakes that are visible to the customer will negatively impact overall satisfaction; not to mention the cost of litigation if things go that far.
Research has shown that the hidden costs of poor quality can equal or exceed the tangible costs that a builder often accounts for. Bottom line – despite the pressure to cut corners, you will likely never save enough in doing so to fully offset the price you’ll have to pay as a result down the road.
Simply put, it pays to invest in quality and to do it right the first time.