Learn to delegate your construction project

Posted By: Fundi Mjanja on 15th of November 2012

“So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.” King Solomon is often famed as the wisest man who ever walked on the earth. Apart from writing proverbs, maintaining more wives than King Mswati, and having wealth that could make the rich oil princes of the Middle East blush; the verse above has a couple of observations that can be applied to the building and construction industry in Kenya. Solomon chose to look for quality building materials before embarking on his project. Of course it can be argued that he was a rich spoilt king and therefore could afford to buy quality materials. If you are like me and consider yourself street smart like we all do; you might confuse “quality” with “expensive”. But allow me to school you. In the construction industry, cheap is actually expensive. You will require more of cheap paint per square meter than quality paint. Therefore, using quality paint will save you more in terms of labor and transport. Quality paint will also last longer before peeling off and that means fewer costs on later repairs and renovations. We now even have exterior paint that is guaranteed by the manufacturer to last up to 15 years. No wonder Solomon was wealthy; he understood that anything cheap; from education to building materials was expensive in the long run. King Solomon knew the importance of team work in a project. Construction projects are complex human activities and cooperation and camaraderie is of vital importance. He was smart enough to realize that he had to involve lowly fundi’s, casual workers and seemingly shifty material suppliers, in order to construct an opulent temple. The Kenyan construction client must have a paradigm shift from looking down upon blue collar workers who earn their wages from construction sites. They are a vital cogs in our economy and they are the unsung heroes of many a skyscraper. Amongst the lowly K.Y.M. colloquially referred to as “kanda ya moko” or “mtu wa mkono”, are some of the most good natured, honest and hardworking Kenyans alive. They are happy and grateful for every day that they are engaged on site because it means a meal for them and their dependents  The construction site is an environmental devoid of tribalism and political affiliation and the primary concern of the workers is the accomplishment of the day’s tasks and of course, earning the daily bread. The client must ensure that his workers and material suppliers are treated with respect. The client should also strive ensure that everyone who works on site is paid on time. The fact is, without the casual workers and fundis at the site your dream home will never be completed. Without material suppliers it will be impossible for the client to traverse Njiru and Kiserian for foundation stones, Juja for machine cut stones, Emali for sand, Athi River for ballast and Ruiru for steel and clay tiles whilst maintaining a white collar day job! Last and most importantly, Solomon knew the importance of delegating construction duties to someone else. It can be argued that Solomon had to delegate so as to make time for his large family of 700 wives, but in today’s world also, there is so much to do and so little time. From office work to evening classes, we are all in mad rush to complete the daily activities and still stay sane. Thus, delegating is just as important today as it was in the ancient days. For the carpentry work he used the Sidonians. I ‘am pretty sure that for masonry he used another skilled group, same for stone dressing, metal work, iron mongery and the like. He was wise enough to realize that it was fool hardy to attempt to do everything on his own. This is why he engaged a contractor whom he chooses to pay instead of dealing with the hundreds of workmen who would be involved at the site. This is a smart move and here is why. By having a contractor you will have less financial transactions as you will most likely pay lump sum amounts as per the contract. This means that instead of paying 500/= to 20 people for 5 working days each; 30,000/= to the sand supplier and 13,080 to the hardware for cement, nails etc; you pay one contractor an agreed amount at a specified time and for measured work. This saves you money by avoiding multiple financial transactions and of course time. It allowed Solomon to pursue his other talents like writing proverbs and also prepare the script for timeless soap known as “The Song of Songs”. Some constructions clients are so afraid of delegating projects to more competent persons in the mistaken belief that they is saving money by doing things on their own. They prefer to split payments into small bits and pieces doling out the cash agonizingly and at times only at the threat of personal harm. This is very sad indeed and needs to change. They also unwittingly put themselves in harm’s way because if say a client pays all his workers and suppliers on Saturday as is the norm in many sites, word will go round and the client may be way laid by robbers on his way to site. It is wiser to pay a contractor in one payment by cheque or bank transfer and thus minimize the risk of handling cash. A contractor will normally have ways of paying his suppliers and workers that will not be as obvious as the client, strolling to the bank on Saturday morning, withdrawing a large amount of money and bringing the cash to site on Saturday afternoon in the company of his kids. Solomon in his wisdom saw the need of using quality materials and delegating his building construction project to competent professionals and skilled artisans. Wouldn't it be wise for us borrow a leaf? For more information on construction, professionals and handymen, please visit our full sight at www.fundimjanja.com. Till next time, keep well and keep safe. Fundi Mjanja.