How Wise Construction Reduced a Construction Schedule by More Than 25%

In late May of 2023 Wise Construction began the renovation of a 20,000-square-foot hospital wing that provides Newton-Wellesley Hospital outside of Boston with a 24-bed medical/surgical unit. The planned schedule accommodated substantial completion of the work by April 5, 2024, so the hospital could prepare the space to be available for patients on May 20. This schedule was established with the understanding that permit documents would be available by the end of June to allow for an August 14 issuance of a building permit. Before the permit was to be issued Wise was able to begin enabling work that included demolition and the cut-over of some utilities.

Unanticipated issues not related to actual construction resulted in a delay of the issuance of the building permit until October 12, placing the project nine weeks behind schedule. With the community need for these patient rooms the hospital requested that Wise find a way to achieve substantial completion by the original April 5 date.

Four core actions taken contributed to Wise meeting this challenge.

• Employing a strategic pull planning approach for systems rough-in phase planning that focused on creating clearly illustrated workflows, allowing for plan modifications to meet target inspection dates.
• Using this strategic approach for collaboratively planning interior finishes workflow that allocated small zones to trade operations, allowing later trades to begin and complete work sooner than is the case with conventionally planned projects.
• Daily management of weekly plan commitments from trades that aligned with the pace established in the systems rough-in, interior finishes, and commissioning phase planning sessions.
• Twice weekly onsite reviews with project designers that promoted rapid problem solving to prevent delays that can impact fast-moving projects being built in an existing space.

Implementing Lean Construction Practices

Prior to learning about the permit related delay Wise committed to implementing lean construction practices on the project, including use of the Last Planner System® to coordinate the activities of trades working in the space. Initial implementation planning began in late June, with the initial planning of systems rough-in work performed on July 11. This planning used a pull planning approach consistent with Last Planner System phase planning practices. Representatives from the hospital, Colliers Project Leaders, the project owner’s representative, Keel Project Management, the owner’s project advisor, Perkins&Will, the project architect, and BR+A Consulting Engineers, the project MEP engineer, participated with trade contractors in the planning session.