The Biggest Risk in Construction Isn’t Winning Work. It’s Losing Control After the Contract Is Signed.
By Grant Long | Lesson #1
I’ve been in construction since 1978. I didn’t start in the boardroom – I started with a tool belt on.
Over the years, I’ve been the carpenter, the superintendent, the project manager, the estimator, the business owner, the president, and the CEO. Every one of those jobs taught me something different, but one lesson has remained constant.
I’ve seen companies celebrate landing a $20 million project only to lose money because they stopped managing the details after the contract was signed. I’ve also watched average-looking projects become some of the most profitable jobs we’ve ever completed because the team stayed disciplined from the first day through final closeout.
Winning work is important. Keeping control is everything.
Everything flows out of that.
A Construction Business Is a Three-Legged Stool
I’ve always described a construction company as a three-legged stool: construction operations, business development, and finance.
Every successful contractor has all three, but they don’t always receive equal attention. Many companies become great at winning work. Others become very good at accounting for the work they’ve already done. But if operations isn’t equally strong, neither of those strengths matters for long.
I’ve seen companies with incredible backlogs struggle because operations couldn’t keep pace. Schedules slipped. Change orders sat on someone’s desk. Procurement lagged behind field production. Cost reports were weeks old. Eventually, accounting was reporting history instead of helping management shape the future.
I’ve also seen companies with smaller backlogs consistently outperform larger competitors because every project was managed with discipline. Information stayed current. Problems were addressed immediately. Owners trusted them. Margins stayed healthy.
One weak leg eventually causes the entire stool to wobble.
The Right Person in the Right Seat
Over the years, I’ve become convinced that one of the most important operational decisions a construction company makes is putting the right person in the right seat – particularly in project management.
A great project manager doesn’t simply keep a schedule updated. That person becomes the information hub for the project: schedules, subcontracts, purchase orders, RFIs, submittals, change orders, cost forecasts, client communication and field coordination.
When project managers stay ahead of the information, executives make better decisions, superintendents can execute confidently, accounting has more accurate job-cost information, and owners receive timely communication. When that discipline slips, small issues become expensive ones.
Losing Control Happens Quietly
Construction companies rarely lose control all at once. It happens one missed update at a time: one unsigned change order, one subcontract that wasn’t finalized, one cost report that’s two weeks behind, one procurement delay nobody noticed.
Eventually, leadership thinks the project is making money because the reports say it is. Months later, they discover the profit disappeared long before anyone recognized it.
I’ve unfortunately been asked to help projects that reached exactly that point. Bad people didn’t cause the problems. A lack of disciplined execution caused them.
Change Orders Are an Information Problem
People often say change orders are a paperwork issue. I’ve never believed that. They’re an information issue.
The paperwork simply documents what should already have been identified, communicated, priced, and discussed. The earlier everyone understands a change, the more options exist to manage schedule, labor, procurement, and owner expectations. The longer it waits, the fewer options remain.
Research backs that up. A 2019 ASCE study of 125 design-build building projects examined the relationship between change orders and cost and schedule performance. A separate 2019 study of 615 small highway projects found that projects with positive change orders had significantly worse cost and schedule performance than projects with no or negative change orders.[1][2]
The broader lesson is not that every change order is avoidable. It is that changes have consequences, and the speed and discipline with which they are captured and managed matter.
The Cost of Problems You Don’t Catch Early
The same principle applies to rework. ASCE highlighted 2026 research using actual contractor project data showing that field rework erodes project profitability, with costs increasing further when post-completion corrections are included.[3] Earlier research in the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management also identified rework as a contributor to cost and schedule overruns in civil infrastructure projects.[4]
Those findings match what experienced builders see in practice: projects rarely unravel because of one dramatic event. More often, dozens of small decisions stop being made consistently. By the time the financial reports reveal the problem, it may have been developing for months.
That’s why disciplined daily execution matters more than occasional heroic efforts.
What Great Construction Companies Do Differently
The best contractors I’ve worked with don’t depend on extraordinary people performing miracles every day. They build systems that help good people perform consistently.
Information gets captured when it matters. Project data stays current. Operations and finance work from the same information. Leadership sees problems while they’re still manageable instead of after they’ve become expensive.
That doesn’t eliminate the judgment of an experienced project manager, superintendent, or construction executive. It gives those people a better operating environment in which to exercise that judgment.
Where Technology Earns Its Place
Technology has transformed construction, but I’ve never believed software solves management problems.
Good software reinforces good management. If people aren’t updating information, software won’t fix that. If accountability doesn’t exist, dashboards won’t create it.
But when disciplined people use disciplined processes, connected technology becomes a powerful tool. Project execution, procurement, accounting and leadership can work from a more consistent operating picture instead of reconciling disconnected spreadsheets, emails and systems.
This is where an integrated business platform such as NetSuite can support a growing construction company. The goal isn’t technology for technology’s sake. The goal is to connect operational and financial information so leaders can see what is happening sooner, understand the business impact, and act. At the same time, there is still time to change the outcome.
The technology should never replace the fundamentals. It should make the fundamentals easier to execute at scale.
The Lesson
If there’s one lesson I wish every construction owner understood, it’s this: growth doesn’t create great construction companies. Discipline does.
Revenue is exciting. Backlog is impressive. Winning work feels like success. But none of those guarantees profitability.
The companies that endure decade after decade are the ones that never lose control after the contract is signed. They know where their projects stand. They make decisions from current information. They put the right people in the right seats. And they never stop executing the fundamentals.
That’s how reputations are built. That’s how profits are protected. And after nearly five decades in construction, I’ve found that’s the lesson that matters most.
Sources
[1] Shrestha, P. P., & Fathi, M. (2019). “Impacts of Change Orders on Cost and Schedule Performance and the Correlation with Project Size of DB Building Projects.” Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction, 11(3). DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)LA.1943-4170.0000311.
[2] Shrestha, P. P., & Maharjan, R. (2019). “Effect of Change Orders on Cost and Schedule for Small Low-Bid Highway Contracts.” Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction, 11(4). DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)LA.1943-4170.0000323.
[3] American Society of Civil Engineers. (2026). “How much does field rework in construction actually cost?” Civil Engineering Source, January 22, 2026.
[4] Love, P. E. D., Edwards, D. J., Watson, H., & Davis, P. (2010). “Rework in Civil Infrastructure Projects: Determination of Cost Predictors.” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 136(3). DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000136.