The construction process includes putting together the right building blocks and the needed skills. Material acquisition is one of the essential components for construction projects. This is achieved with the right details from building takeoff services. However, acquiring the needed materials can be in more than one way. Two of these important ways are, i.e., timely acquisition of the needed material right before the concerned usage & acquiring material beforehand and putting it within the on-site storage. For any construction project, you need to make the right choice between the two.
Timely Acquisition for Construction Materials
The first option is simply acquiring construction materials right before the related activity. This includes the following aspects:
- Assess every activity’s need for construction materials beforehand and with accuracy
- You need to make sure that the materials are acquired and delivered to the site before the intended activity
- Make arrangements for suitable material preparations after it is delivered to the construction site
- You need to make sure that no time is wasted on the intended activity due to the unavailability of materials at the construction site
On-Site Storage for Acquired Materials
The other option is to store all the required materials for the overall project and store it onsite. This includes the following aspects:
- Assess the overall need of the needed for construction material for the project. This can be achieved through some estimators or by having quantity takeoff services against the construction plans
- Acquire the materials in one or more attempts and have them transported to the construction site
- Store the acquired materials effectively at the on-site storage facility. Also, make sure that the storage has the right capacity
Which Should You Pick: Timely Acquisition or On-Site Storage?
Picking the best possible condition requires navigating different aspects. These help you make the right decision and achieve the best possible results for construction projects. let‘s compare and analyze them:
| Timely Acquisition | On-Site Storage |
| Budget Planning | |
| If you are acquiring materials right before the activity, it allows you to plan your spending. You can manage activities as per the availability of the budget for the required materials. | On the other hand, when you are acquiring materials in bulk. You can no longer put off different activities and are bound to utilize the acquired materials. Otherwise, you will face losses. |
| Overall Spending | |
| If you delay material acquisition, it helps budget management. However, it leads to increased spending. This happens mainly due to inflation. The prices of materials rise over the course of time, i.e., you acquire them later at higher prices. | It helps you acquire at lower prices as you use them later during the construction process. With this, even if the project gets halted and delayed, the cheaply acquired materials are still useful to achieve fruitful results. |
| Chance of Damage | |
| Timely acquisition saves your material from damage. This happens as materials are mainly damaged during storage along transportation. Thus, if you skip storage, the chance of damage decreases drastically. | This choice carries a substantial risk of damage. However, this damage is subject to the condition of the on-site storage. The more organized it is, the less the risk. Moreover, time plays an important role in this. |
| Changes in Design | |
| This choice is favorable to changes in the designs of construction projects. It facilitates the required changes as you won’t have already acquired materials and can easily switch to the new demand. | On the other hand, if you acquire all the materials and design changes, then you will have a lot of trouble on hand. Your first choice would be to return the material, or you will suffer greatly with the budget. |
| Maintenance Cost | |
| Timely acquisition includes using the material right after acquisition. It saves you from maintenance. This acts as the need for maintenance comes from damage resulting from storage. | Storage can do wonders for stored items, for the better and the worse. These sometimes add some external cost to the materials before they are actually used for the intended purposes. |
This applies to all sorts of construction materials for all sorts of construction projects. These are acquired with accurate details with construction takeoff services Texas.
Conclusion
Construction materials are an essential building block of construction projects. For this, they are acquired and used. However, this also includes other management, such as storage, maintenance, and others. Among these management you need to decide between timely acquisition & on-site storage.
