Ask an Architect: Will Long Lead Times for Building Materials Affect My Building Project?

Answer: Our construction partners are facing the longest construction material lead times since 1987, with supply-chain challenges creating shortages. As designers, it is our responsibility to work with manufacturers during design to ensure the products will be available when they are needed for construction. We will also communicate with our clients as soon as we know about a delay, presenting a more readily available option. With the right designer/builder team, we can work through the design together to identify specific products that will need to be ordered as soon as possible to ensure the schedule can be met. We are seeing this being a huge benefit of our current projects utilizing a Design Build delivery. Our trade partners are in touch with us on a daily basis, updating us on specific product availability and offering creative solutions to these long lead times, hopefully limiting major impact to project budget and schedule.