How to Create Construction SOPs 

If your projects feel like everyone on the team is building a different structure, standardization is the underappreciated tool you’ve been leaving in the box.

You look to your right, and there’s someone mixing concrete in a bucket. You look to your right, and someone else is doing the mix in a wheelbarrow.

You want everyone using the mixer.

When you point this out, they give you different reasons why they aren’t. One couldn’t get it to work. The other didn’t know how.

Deep sigh.

What do you do?

You could give a demonstration of how to operate the mixer – for the UMPTEENTH time – but you’ve got a list of calls to return and the day is dwindling.

Or…

You could tell them to pull up your company’s procedure on how to run the mixer and go get on with your day.

The choice is yours, of course, but if the second option sounds appealing… read on.

What is a construction SOP?

A construction standard operating procedure (SOP) provides step-by-step instructions on how to complete a specific task within the company. SOPs can be created for staff working in the office or crew members on construction sites.

Why are standard operating procedures useful for construction companies?

SOPs can have a wide range of benefits for your construction business. We’ve listed a bunch of them below.

🟢Consistent quality – High-quality craftmanship becomes commonplace and scaling becomes a breeze. 

🟢Easier inspections – Jobs sail through checks because everybody wears their personal protective equipment and is aware of the regulatory requirements.

🟢Defined emergency protocols – Decrease the risk of accidents and ensure that if an incident does occur, nobody panics because they know what to do.

🟢Better job estimating – Your estimating process is efficient and a much smoother experience for your team, and your customers.

🟢Streamlined bidding – Get bids out the door without draining your team’s energy.

🟢Improved tech adoption – The tech solutions you implement actually get used, cause everyone knows how.

🟢Faster onboarding – New hires get trained more quickly and learn what they need to know without demanding tons of time from your team.

🟢Effective job scheduling – SOPs for project managers can help reduce resource crunches and stacked completion dates.

🟢Syncronized sales efforts - Your sales team executes like a finely-honed unit. 

🟢More time – No longer bogged down in day-to-day operations, you can now focus on strategic initiatives. 

🟢Wider talent pool – If it’s tough to find experienced labor, you can hire greener talent, secure in knowing they’re supported by solid guidelines.

🟢Fewer mistakes – You quit hearing the phrase, “Oops… I didn’t know that…”

🟢Lower turnover – Staff stick around because they feel like a contributing member of the team.

Enough reasons to convince you of the merits of having defined standards?

We could keep going, but no doubt you’re eager to get writing. And who can blame you? This is exciting stuff…

Where should we start?

The good news is that, whether you realize it or not, you’ve almost certainly got some construction SOPs in place already. They’re just not formalized.

Here’s where they’re hiding:

🔎Your own head – Transfer your expertise into an SOP. All those things that only you know how to do or want done a certain way? Yeah… time to share…

🔎Checklists – If you currently use checklists for ANYTHING on your projects or in your office, those are basically SOPs.

🔎Questions – Next time someone knocks on your door asking how to do something, get them to take notes as you explain it. Then afterwards, pat them on the back and congratulate them for just drafting an SOP.

Once you’ve got SOPs on the brain, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer number that seem to be needed and feel like you don’t know which ones to write first.

To that, we recommend starting with the stuff that annoys you the most. Which operational issues cause you the biggest headaches?

Here are some of the topics that tend to get prioritized:

• Instructions for what to do when field staff arrive on site. 
• How to run work meets.
• How to close a sales call. 
• How to put together a winning estimate.
• How to respond to frequently asked questions in phone calls.
• Guidelines for industry standards, including safety protocols and risk assessments.
• How to create an SOP. (An SOP about SOPs? Why not?)

If you’d like a few more ideas, take a look at this webinar replay about the most impactful SOPs for contractors.

What are the key components of construction SOPs?

Generally speaking, there’s no hard and fast rule for creating SOPs, but we’ve found they tend to work best if they include the following things.

▶️Date – This is an obvious, but often forgotten, detail. Put a version date on it so people know they’ve got the latest info. SOPs lose their value if they’re outdated.

▶️Owner – This should be the team member who “owns” the process and is responsible for keeping the SOP up to date. 

▶️Purpose – Provide a clear reason for the SOP. Extra points if you can cover it in the title. 

▶️Who What When – This is the meat of the SOP. Who does what, at each step of the process.

▶️Images – Where possible, throw in a screenshot or picture to show what it looks like when something is done correctly (or incorrectly).

▶️Balance - You don’t want to oversimplify your SOPs in case anything gets overlooked, but you don’t want to drown in detail either. Aim for comprehensible.

▶️Proof – Include a “proof-of-completion” step, like an uploaded photo or completed checklist, which makes team members more accountable to each other.

Breakthrough Academy has created a whole library of SOP templates to help you get started with creating your own. You can gain access to them here.

How do I get my team to actually use the SOPs once they’re created?

Great question. This hits at the heart of the eternal struggle around SOPs. Maybe you’ve attempted to implement them in the past only to have the pages be used as drawing paper by your team’s kids. 

Here are some tips for helping your team embrace SOPs:

🔥Engage your team – Don’t make this a DIY project. Get input from your team, especially on processes you’re less involved with.

🔥Sell the upsides – People are more prone to adopt a system that tangibly improves their lives. To get staff onboard, show how SOPs will make their jobs easier.

🔥Make them findable – SOPs are more likely to be used when your team doesn’t have to hunt for them. Make them available at the place where they’ll be needed, whether that’s physical or virtual.

🔥Build them into your culture – Hire people that align with your company’s values, who appreciate having high standards and the efficiencies SOPs can deliver.

Construction SOP Do’s & Don’ts

Here are some final pointers for you to bear in mind as you begin implementing the use of SOPs into your construction business.

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• Keep an SOP Wish List of the ones you expect you’ll need and add to it as you come across other ideas.

• Before making an SOP “official,” get someone else on the team who’s not as familiar with the process to test it. 

• Trust your team. Once they get into SOPs, they’ll create a system of continuous improvement on their own. 

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• Don’t overcomplicate it. You don’t need 10-pages if a one-pager will do. Straightforward is best.

• Don’t worry about making an SOP perfect before releasing it. They can evolve. And they should.

• Avoid only updating your SOPs once a year. It should be an ongoing endeavor.

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The SOP secret construction contractors constantly overlook

In the daily frenzy of running their companies, most construction contractors don’t have time to think about their end-game. But it’s worth glancing up at the horizon once in a while to consider your future plans.

If you think you might like to sell your company someday, having well-defined and functioning SOPs will make you more attractive to buyers. 

They’ll take confidence in knowing that even if you’re no longer the one calling the plays, the game can keep going.

And for your part, from whichever beach you’re laying on, you can take comfort in knowing the business you’ve built has a secure legacy in the hands of a team that knows what to do.

Ready to streamline your operations and systemize success?

Learn more.