From the Management Message Archive

Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Who Cracked The Tub...?
Its time to get control of your jobsites

Written on: April 19, 2006

Message:

The message this week takes the form of a Q and A. The question came in several weeks ago after one of our live conferences from an SMA Advisory Board client, the response is from SMA Partner Joe Stoddard who used to deal with these production issues hands-on. The client name(s) have been changed to protect the innocent (and mostly because I didn’t have time to get the client’s permission to print his and his company’s name).

Joe,
Great Conference, I learned a great deal. I think it helped me connect all the pieces of a purchasing system so I can pull them together and make them work. Now it's just a matter of making the time to do it all.

Have any of you smart guys figured out a way to eliminate the need for fiberglass tub & shower repairs? I spend $100 - $125 on each house for this. I've tried covering the units to keep them clean but nothing has ever worked. I even talked to my superintendent “Super” and told him he needs to keep up with the damage control on his daily walks but it hasn't helped either. Any ideas?

- Super Client from Ohio

Answer:
This is one of my biggest pet peeves on a jobsite. It’s unacceptable to need tub repairs on every job, and not just because of the $125 you’re spending. It's a deeper symptom of your construction managers not having control over your sites, your trades not treating someone's new home with the respect it deserves...and you not monitoring quality and conditions (and making those part of “Super's” compensation as well)

First - tub protection has to be part of your:
- Scopes of work
- "Hot spot" on your published schedules
- Notes on appropriate POs and whenever else you have a chance to convey it.

Second: Once it's understood by all that you will no longer tolerate unprotected and damaged products (period - all products -not just tubs)....whoever does the damage, pays for the repairs and all associated costs. Make it the policy and stick to it.

Third: Daily walk. Daily walk. Daily Walk. With photos. If the tub was OK yesterday, but not OK today... it's pretty easy to figure out who was on the job and who did the damage.

Fourth: This is one of the standards by which Super can be bonus compensated

Fifth: But not last..... YOU need to be doing unannounced Q and C (that’s Quality and Conditions) visits to your sites, and the results of those visits also to play into Super's compensation. Make the tub condition part of the grading.

Final Thoughts:
This is NOT a "which protection product do I use" issue, although it's important that the installer use something - in my experience the cardboard cut-out from the box and a little plastic will work just fine.. assuming all the other stuff above is dialed in. The main thing is to make it clear that the tub...

1) Is to be protected the minute after it is installed, and that protection is to stay in place until final stages of the job. If someone (plumber) needs to undo the protection, he/she must replace it before leaving the job.

2) The tub is NOT a garbage can

3) The tub is NOT a step-stool

4) Whoever does the damage, pays for the repair. Backcharge once or twice and the problem will go away.

FWIW (geek talk for “for what it’s worth”-Bob) – back in the day, I made it my policy that if whoever did the damage came forward and fessed up exactly what happened - no backcharge. If I found it myself, they got nailed. What I was trying to do is figure out what the guy was doing when the damage occurred so I could tighten up the 'tub policy'.

What I found out...9 times out of 10, it was a drywall trade stepping up on the rim with stilts... or an electrician dropping a hammer in the tub, and in all cases the filth was trades not cleaning up after themselves.

PS - I like a protection system that keeps feet out of the tub and stops stuff from falling in to it ... one big piece of cardboard that forms a "tent" - coming across the top and down over the skirt, making it impossible for anyone to step in or on the tub, and providing a lid to catch anything falling from above. It's a bitch to work around, but it protects the tub better than any other way I've found. But again this is less about the protection you use and more about policy/procedure.

..../ JLS

Great job Joe! I’m sure many of our clients will appreciate your insights.

Have a great week everyone! BRW

For additional information on this management tip or any other homebuilder management concerns call us at 407/447-5209 (Florida office) or 909/335-9100 (California Office).