In the 1990’s my company was the most prolific post frame building construction company in the Inland Pacific Northwest. At times we had as many as 35 crews erecting buildings in six states. We were fairly selective in the building crews we hired and felt we had developed a reputation for very good quality at a very fair price. As such, we would get busy, sometimes very busy.

I always enjoyed the fall of each year, when we could tell when the first snowfall hit the rural communities of Northeast Washington, Northern Idaho and Northwest Montana – because the phones would ring off the hook on those days. Usually the conversation went something like this….”Hello, this is Mr. xxxxx from Metaline Falls. Remember the building I talked to you about in April? Well I am ready for you to come build it next week.”

This is why I tell Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designers, during training, a good percentage of the clients you are speaking with have no concept of time.

The client above, he probably really wanted to have his building up before the snows, but when we got his call in October, about the best we could do is to ask if April or May of the following year would be better, as our crews would be booked out for six to eight months.

Recently we had a client invest in a new post frame building kit package. A large and fairly complex building. Now our Building Designer was aware of the time constraints and has been encouraging the client to move forward for some time now. The client did eventually place his order and approve his paperwork so we could begin his building plans. A few days later, the client contacted our office, to ask why his plans had not been completed the previous Tuesday, having forgotten he had not even approved his paperwork until the next day!

Making things even more interesting (and slowing down the process further), several days after the contact, the client requested and approved a Change Order which affected the structural portion of the building!

My encouragement always to clients – if you are planning on using your new post frame building within the next six months, seriously get started on it now. You will find time flies and we would just as soon not see you standing out in the snow next winter!