It's often tempting to hop straight into a new project as soon as you get the go-ahead for it.

But as every experienced contractor knows, there is no substitute for careful planning.

A sound project plan can save you a lot of grief further down the track, and help you complete the project on time and on budget.

Forward planning lets you predict problems that might occur and take steps to avoid them before they happen.

It also enables you to coordinate the different aspects of the job, especially the separate trades and the various stages that need to be completed in a particular sequence.

Set out below are the main steps involved in developing a project plan.

1. Define the objectives

Obviously, the overall objective of the project will be to satisfy the client's needs. But exactly what are those needs, and are they in keeping with the budget allowed, the timeline proposed, the workers on hand and the materials available?

These objectives will become the deliverables for the project - in other words, the things that you must 'deliver' to meet the client's requirements.

2. Develop a project schedule

The project schedule lists all of the tasks that need to be carried out to achieve the deliverables. It should include the people involved, the number of hours (or days) required for each section of the job, and the sequence that the tasks need to be done in.

There are various software packages available for developing project schedules. They contain electronic templates with different fields for entering tasks, durations and resources. Once you have entered the data you can generate a timeline and then modify the time allocations to get the most efficient schedule.

If it turns out that your deliverables can't be achieved under the existing arrangements, you may have to renegotiate the details with your client. The main aspects you might need to vary are:

• the deadline for final completion
• the total cost of the project
• the scope of the project.

3. Develop supporting plans

Depending on the size and scale of the project, you may need to develop various supporting plans to control particular parts of the job. These would include:

• Human resources plan, listing the details of the tradespeople and other workers involved, and describing their roles, responsibilities, contractual arrangements, and so on.
• Communication plan, showing who needs to be kept informed, and the process workers must follow to report on their progress and any delays that have occurred.
• Risk management plan, identifying things that could go wrong and ways of reducing the risks.