Key performance indicators (KPIs) are essential for any construction project and should always be taken into account when planning and steering construction projects. These metrics should be tracked not only for the completion of a project but also for the safety of everyone involved.
Tracking construction KPIs is not just to keep a record of how steadily a project is chugging along. Tight KPI tracking can be melded into project planning to create a smooth and safe construction process. Once a project manager has a grasp on the most important construction KPIs, projects can be more easily adjusted and completed. So let’s look at a few of the most crucial construction KPIs.
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Safety KPIs
First and foremost are safety KPIs. Managing safety KPIs should be the top priority for any construction project manager. Injuries are costly in every conceivable metric, and they’re the first red flag when it comes to poorly managed projects. An easy method for avoiding poor safety metrics is to proactively fold in ample time to implement safety checks that ensure workers are protected and taken care of.
Incident rate
The number one KPI to track is incident rate. Project managers use incident rates to track how often a safety claim has been made. These incident rates also give project managers a view of whether work has been completed safely and whether the timeline should be adjusted to allow contractors to slow down and work more carefully.
Number of safety meetings
OSHA has rigid requirements when it comes to the frequency and content of safety meetings on a work site. This means project managers are responsible for maintaining an appropriate cadence and tracking whether these meetings have occurred.
Keeping track with project management tools like Doodle will allow project and site managers to share calendars and schedule meetings without much need for additional collaboration. Relying on software like these can free up planning time for project managers by streamlining meeting planning across multiple offices. This also gives management the opportunity to ensure they’re OSHA compliant without reallocating too many resources.
Number of supplier accidents
Some safety incidents may be out of a project manager’s control. In the event that a safety incident arises out of a particular supplier, it is good practice to note this and reduce that supplier’s access to work sites or implement an accident-reduction plan. Should supplier accidents begin to outpace a team’s maximum acceptable incident rate, schedule an overseer to manage on-site drop-offs.
Quality KPIs
Once a plan for managing safety has been established, focus on project quality KPIs. Most likely, project quality will naturally arise out of successful safety standards and time management.
Number of defects
Defects can be found in building supplies or in finished work. You can set a maximum acceptable rate of defects per quarter and track these to ensure a construction project is not suffering from low-quality production. By keeping track of defects found during inspections, project managers can head off quality-related safety issues and save time by pinpointing problem areas that may slow down construction later down the line and making process adjustments.
Construction defect repair time
This metric can be used to determine better time estimates for future projects. Project managers can track defect repair time and adjust project plans and processes to make sure there’s space for repairs if they’re needed.
Client and stakeholder satisfaction
Effectively managing a project portfolio can keep project managers abreast of client and stakeholder satisfaction. Project portfolio management tools give project managers a simple solution for managing dozens of past and present projects and relevant information about those stakeholders. By keeping all of this data in one place, project managers are able to monitor satisfaction without shuffling through notebooks full of feedback.
Timeliness KPIs
It is well understood that construction management is a time-intensive project. Tracking timeliness KPIs will show you how a project is pacing. Tracking timeliness KPIs will also assist the budgeting process, ensuring a budget buffer is maintained and projects stay within the established time and financial boundaries.
Project dependency progress
Construction projects, by their very nature, involve building on top of previous tasks. This means that often a construction project is beholden to the rates at which contractors are able to complete crucial tasks.
If you use a project management software, you can set it up to display the available resources, the time a task has been in progress, and who is responsible for the deliverable. And with that metric for time in progress, you can compare projected time to actual performance.
Time spent on project phases
The early planning phase of a construction project will set the initial timeline for any given task, but once factors like contractor quality and weather conditions have impacted a project timeline, those initial estimates have to be adjusted.
Keeping track of how long project phases have taken in relation to how long they were projected to take will give you a concrete and actionable timeline as construction moves along. Because construction projects tend to take so much time, track progress using work days as a metric. This will give you an idea of how long each phase has taken to complete, and it makes it simpler to project the upcoming weeks and months.
Manage construction KPIs your way
From kitchen renovation to office building erection, every construction project is built and broken on the back of performance monitoring. Luckily managing a construction project can be as simple as keeping a detailed record of progress. Keeping track of a few simple numbers such as incident rate and the frequency of safety meetings will take much of the mental burden off of you and encode good, safe work into the construction project as a matter of course.
Finding a project management solution that works in tandem with project managers and construction contractors will iron out some of the most complex tracking issues and give you more bandwidth to take on new projects. If you don’t already have project management software or are considering changing your current software, take a look at some of our favorites for construction project management.
1 Wrike
Wrike is an award-winning project management software that is trusted by 20,000+ companies worldwide. Create a streamlined digital workplace using custom request forms, Kanban boards, Gantt charts, budget management, time tracking, real-time updates, and performance reports all in one place that can be shared company-wide. Integrate Wrike with 400+ applications to automate your everyday processes. Customize workflows and reduce the need for emails, meetings, status updates, and more.
2 Smartsheet
Smartsheet is the work execution platform that many of the world's largest construction companies rely on to stay productive, communicate among far-flung teams, and document every step of every project.
3 GanttPRO
GanttPRO focuses on professional planning and project management with the help of an online Gantt chart. It assists in visualizing work activities, tracking tasks, setting deadlines, and communicating with team members. The platform is useful for teams across various organizations and spheres including IT, construction, healthcare, education, marketing, manufacturing, etc.
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