Setting up a construction material logistics plan

By using resources efficiently, good logistics planning will reduce waste, carbon emissions and costs on your construction projects. It makes good commercial and environmental sense to use a material logistics plan (MLP).

Construction material logistics plan legislation and policy

There is no legal obligation on construction businesses to use an MLP. However, using an MLP can help you to comply with other legal requirements.

Keeping the amount of materials you waste to a minimum will reduce the amount of effort you have to spend complying with waste controls such as the duty of care and hazardous waste regulations.

Construction material logistics plan financial benefits

If you order materials that you do not use on the project - for example if they are lost, wasted or are surplus to requirements - your project costs will be higher than they need to be. For example, you may be paying for unnecessary materials, storage, disposal and labour. This is often accepted in construction projects as a cost that is built into the project price and paid for by the client. An MLP will help you to reduce these costs and improve profits.

You can also increase your success in bids by demonstrating how you can effectively manage your logistics to reduce your own prices to potential clients.

Construction material logistics plan labour efficiency

If you use an MLP to improve the efficiency of your logistics operations, you can also reduce how much labour you need. For example, excess materials will need to be stored and handled by workers who could be better employed elsewhere on site. By having only the correct materials required for a task on hand, at the right time and in the right quantities, the performance of your craftsmen will improve.

Construction material logistics plan environmental benefits

Homeowners and businesses increasingly want to reduce their impact on the environment. By improving the environmental performance of your projects, you can also help your clients and contractors demonstrate their own commitment to reducing their impact on the environment.

Using an MLP in your construction project can help you to reduce:

• the amount of waste that you send to landfill or for treatment
• the amount of raw materials you require and therefore how much you will need to manage, reuse and recycle
• your carbon emissions - particularly those associated with extracting, processing, manufacturing and transporting material

Using an MLP also enables you to set a benchmark for similar projects - see how to identify materials for your construction project.