_________________________________________________________________________________________________ Main interview
Getting ahead
Tackling lead time has never been this easy , as Danielle Champ hears from building conversion expert , Tallal Bhutta
Lead time has quickly become one of the biggest challenges facing the construction industry . Fortunately , one specialist in the sector is working twice as hard to get ahead of the curve for his clients . Specializing in conversion and the renovation of existing buildings , Tallal Bhutta is an expert in getting the job done quickly .
He features as this edition ’ s main interview for cracking the code and finding a way to minimize project lead time . With over 20 years of field experience , and three engineering degrees – one in civils from New York University , and two master ’ s degrees in structural engineering and construction management from Stevens Institute of Technology – Tallal is a product of experience and education . Now , he is the Founder and CEO of BDB Construction Enterprise . “ We try to work as partners instead of typical vendors . We try to be proactive , creative , and innovative every step of the way , which is what makes us different ,” Tallal begins .
In our conversation , he stipulates that over 70 percent of projects are behind schedule , and it is this very statistic that he is on a mission to improve . “ Construction is full of uncertainties that come from unforeseen conditions . You must be able to predict them somehow , and that prediction should happen during the design phase . From my perspective , as a construction professional , if the project is not finished on time , it has failed . I ’ m passionate about breaking that cycle . It requires creativity and training , which also makes the work very rewarding .”
Early contractor involvement
According to Tallal , lead times grow because contractors are not involved in the design phase . They get involved later in the project , which , in his opinion , is too late . “ If you ’ re going to finish something on time , contractors must be involved sooner . But nobody pays attention to this problem . There ’ s a project methodology called early contractor involvement , where
construction-today . com 9