The document discusses the importance of creating a construction schedule and material schedule before beginning work on a construction project. A well-planned schedule helps ensure a project is completed on time and on budget by outlining the sequence and timing of work, delivery and use of materials. It allows proper planning of resources like labor, equipment and buying of materials. A schedule improves quality control, safety and reduces surprises that can delay a project. Overall, preparing a detailed schedule of materials is an important part of project planning.

1. SCHEDULE OF MATERIALS
The Importance of Construction
Scheduling
Proper planning and scheduling are
needed to ensure that a construction
project is completed on time and within
budget. A well planned construction
schedule not only helps in outlining the
pace of work but also how the work will
get done.

2. The schedule helps in defining the
methods and sequence in which the
materials are going to be put in
place. Preparing a construction
schedule is not an easy job as the
scheduler needs to think of many
elements to design the right
schedule.

3. The scheduler needs to take into
account overall scope of work as well
as connections between different
components to create a construction
schedule that works for everyone. A
well-designed construction scheduling
helps in maximizing efficiency and
productivity. Here is a list of some of
the major benefits of making a
construction schedule before the work
begins.

4. One of the biggest advantages of
preparing a construction schedule
before beginning the construction work
is that you get fewer surprises down the
road as everything is outlined in great
detail in the schedule. Creating a
schedule allows you to have complete
control over all of your projects and it
will enable you to plan your business
operations down to the lowest level.

5. Another advantage of scheduling is
that it allows you to maximize quality
control measures as you can properly
sequence the work and make sure the
right quality and quantity of material
are used at each step. It also helps you
with the planning of various resources
including equipment and labor, among
other things.

6. A big construction project requires a lot
of building materials, which means you
can use a schedule to buy the right
materials at the right time allowing you
to complete the project on time. You
need to submit a variety of samples,
data sheets and other types of
drawings in time to complete the project
and a schedule allows you to do the
same with ease and efficiency.

7. Proper construction scheduling also allows
you to give time to various parties
including your clients, designers, vendors
as well as subcontractors so they can
better plan their activities. Safety is a big
concern in any construction project and
planning all the activities with the help of a
schedule allows you to improve safety
performance and ensure proper protection
for all the

8. workers at the construction site. Proper
scheduling also allows you to save
money as you will know the activities
that need to be done during cold
weather allowing you to put pricing
protection measures in place. A proper
scheduling system also helps you
achieve high efficiency and complete
the project in a reasonable time frame.

9. MATERIAL SCHEDULES
• To help in finishing a construction job
within the time limit of the contract,
the contractor sets up a schedule of
materials. This schedule is based on
the contractor’s idea of the best way
to men, money, machinery and
materials.

10. The contractor lists each part of the
work along with an estimate of time.
He/she then sets up the schedule.
The schedule is changed from time
to time because of events on the job
or because of change in order from
the owner, architect or the engineer.

11. Why You Need a Material
Schedule for Construction
While some clients are well aware and
may be in possession of materials
schedule as issued to them by a
professional, deliberately, they put
aside the materials schedule and go
ahead to do or use that which suits
them.

12. This can lead to a number of structural
defects including building collapse. While
making careful use of the material
schedule is of utmost importance in every
building construction, a sound supervision
of the construction project to ensure
adequate and quality usage of the
specified materials is a key to attaining the
desired result.

13. To achieve a good quality building
construction project, capable of standing
the test of time, some experts in
construction industry have this to say;
“Sometimes the use of direct labour in
conjunction with supervisory and quality
control inputs from one or two
professionals is seen as a more budget-
friendly approach to the delivery of a
project, especially small-scale projects.

14. “Other times, the project owner may
choose to be engaged directly in
purchasing and organizing the supply of
construction materials to their site, also in
a bid to save cost. Whatever the case may
be, whether it’s your personal project or as
a group, it is important to know what and
what you should expect on completion of
the project. You don’t plant grapes and
expect to reap blueberries.

15. “A building development project is essentially a
product of the use of materials and
workmanship. You don’t order for tiles and
expect to see epoxy flooring; neither would you
see a classic brick wall when you actually paid
for blocks.
“The usefulness of a material schedule is not in
contention. You may never know it until you
lose money buying the wrong or a substandard
material at the same price as the original or
even more”.

16. Specifically, “Material schedule is that piece of
document that shows you the types, sizes,
quantities, quality specifications and sometimes
current price of all the materials you would
need for a project from start to finish. It is not
the same as a Bill of Quantities (B.O.Q) or Priced
Bill of Quantities which gives brief details of all
the items of work in a construction project and
cost included respectively, it doesn’t give you
the work item or work processes, it only deals
with the materials aspect.

17. The material schedule is presented in
such a way that the user can easily
identify with what materials to be used
in the construction of his/her project
and it often reveals approximate
quantity estimates of all the materials
needed with minimal allowance for
wastage.

18. “Usually the material schedule is a
construction document prepared after all
the relevant designs/drawings have been
completed and a thorough market survey
has been done to check availability/current
prices of the required materials, so that at
no point is any material omitted due to
incomplete architectural and engineering
details. It is often done in conjunction with
the owner’s specifications.

19. “When engaging a contractor, it is
important to ask for a material schedule so
that you can follow up on the quality of
materials used for your work. If the
materials used are not those you have
agreed on as duly reflected on the material
schedule in the absence of a pro-work
variation, you can call for a replacement.
“But if there are no documents to show
material specifications, then you can
expect anything.

20. Sometimes regrets may follow; this is
particularly the case when a supplier is
engaged without a material schedule
to back up your claims on the
specifications of the materials ordered
for.

21. “Take for instance, you need a simple
timber (wood) to construct your roof
structure, if you don’t specify the product
type, size and condition (e.g. Mahogany
Hardwood, 50 x 75mm full lengths, new
and smooth) but just say supply me ‘wood
for roofing’. Who takes the blame when a
truckload of used fragile softwood is
brought to your site and workers begin
installing them? Although the material
schedule comes at a cost, it is worth it”.

22. Schedule of materials sample
Outlines for schedules of materials are
supplied by architects. In brief, a
schedule of materials includes: A
description of materials to be used.
This includes sizes, quantity, quality,
brand names , style and specification
numbers.

23. Item description quality quantity unit Unit price Total
12mm reinforcement rods
16mm reinforcement rods
Mild steel
High yield steel
20
30
Pc
Pc
18,000/=
22,000/=
360,000/=
660,000/=
Total 1,020,000/=