To Walk the Site or Not Walk the Site?

That may be the question but the simple answer is, always walk the site.

It may seem self-evident but far too often on site, in the comfort of one's own air-conditioned space, near the tea and coffee, information is gathered purely using word of mouth.

Whilst there is nothing wrong with that, ultimately it helps to actually see for one's self what the situation is "on the ground".

NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) - don't think of a blue Ferrari, if you are not sure what NLP is, that simple instruction may give you some insight - says :"the map is not the territory" and this adage applies to the drawings and specifications not necessarily being what it is that is being built on site.

Only by walking the site, hearing the noises, encountering the smells, seeing the dangers (even on the "safest" of sites), going up/down the scaffold/access towers, dodging the "traffic" (men or machines) and, certainly during summer, experiencing the heat and humidity in which the project is constructed, can one start to understand the circumstances that may present at a later date.

When one is asked "how is such-and-such progressing?" or "what approximate percentage is the so-and-so at, at the moment?" unless the person asking actually knows the answer (possibly as a test or to reinforce their understanding), the response given, in the absence of having been on site to actually see for one's self, could merely be a regurgitated "%" passed down from a colleague who heard it from another colleague who overheard it from yet another colleague etc.

Whilst walking the site is no guarantee of knowing exactly what the status is of anything, it does give one a sense of where the project is at and what or where there are problems being encountered (the noise of concrete being jack-hammered or drilled is usually a good clue).

Regular trips, not always at the same time but in the same route, will help build a better mental picture of the project which helps when looking at matters through drawings and other Contract documentation.