The first days and months of a construction or infrastructure project can often be defining in terms of the commercial success of the delivery stage of the project. Decisions made at the outset influence how teams operate, how the contract and risks are managed, and how well the project can adapt when issues arise. 

When these matters are approached deliberately and early, teams can create the clarity and discipline to help projects stay on track when pressures arise. When this doesn’t occur, issues that could have been addressed quickly tend to surface later as delays, cost increases, or conflict.

The purpose of this article is to outline why the early months of a project matter so much, and what project teams can do to set themselves up for success. The points discussed below draw on practical experience from live projects and disputes, and reflect common patterns seen in complex construction and infrastructure delivery.

Why the early months matter

Across numerous projects and disputes, the same theme recurs: problems that emerge late in delivery usually had their origins in decisions, assumptions, or oversights made at the beginning. Several factors make the first stages particularly critical:

• Contractual obligations take effect immediately. Notice provisions, evidence requirements, and approval processes apply from day one, and missing them early often has permanent consequences.
• Risk allocation becomes real world. Teams quickly discover whether the procurement model and risk decisions made during tendering genuinely support delivery.
• Behaviours form early. How teams communicate, escalate issues, and follow processes is largely set at the start. Once habits are formed (good and bad) they are hard to change.
• Documentation discipline is established upfront. The quality of early records and correspondence often determines a party’s position if disputes arise later.
• Small misunderstandings compound over time. Minor uncertainties about scope, roles, or design can develop into material issues if not clarified promptly.
• Retrospective fixes are costly and unreliable. When disputes escalate late, memories fade, personnel leave, and the written record may be incomplete, all of which weaken a party’s position.

In short, the early months determine how effectively a project will respond to both expected and unexpected challenges. A team that invests in clear, structured early planning is far better placed to navigate the pressures of delivery.

Understanding the project’s risk landscape

Every project carries inherent risks, many of which are foreseeable if they are examined at the outset. Misunderstanding the risk allocation or overlooking a key obligation early will often create problems that surface later in delivery, when the consequences are harder to manage. The early phase is the ideal time for the team to develop a shared understanding of how the contract allocates risk, what obligations require immediate or ongoing attention, and whether there are inconsistencies or pressure points across the suite of project documents. 

This is not simply about reading the contract. It requires a practical assessment of how the contract will interact with the planned programme, known constraints, design, staging requirements, and the realities of the delivery environment (including the other project parties). A team that invests time early to map these dependencies is far less likely to be caught off guard by events that, in hindsight, were predictable.

Early alignment prevents drift and miscommunication

Large construction and infrastructure projects involve many disciplines, particularly where project finance is involved. There can be a mix of commercial, technical, engineering, project management, board, external consultants and stakeholders. Without some attempt to reach alignment early, these different groups can form their own assumptions about the project's priorities, processes, and expectations. This divergence may be subtle at first, but it can become more pronounced as the project progresses, particularly when delivery pressure increases.

The early months offer a valuable opportunity for the team to confirm how it will operate. This includes clarifying roles, agreeing on communication expectations, setting escalation pathways, and ensuring everyone understands the project’s key milestones and constraints. This alignment does not need to be complicated. What matters is that the team shares the same reference points from the beginning. When this occurs, teams can collaborate more effectively, communicate more consistently, and identify issues earlier.

Avoiding the common root causes of disputes

Most disputes arise from small issues that compound with time. Issues such as unclear scope, inconsistent instructions, or uncoordinated interfaces can gradually emerge as significant claims or delays. Many of the disputes that arise during construction can be traced directly back to expectations that were not clarified or processes that were not established early.

Early planning helps surface these matters while they are still easy to resolve. For example, design and constructability assumptions that do not align with the baseline programme, or approval processes that are misunderstood by either party, can be addressed promptly if the team has invested early effort in reviewing the contract and associated documents. Similarly, identifying areas where the contract is unclear (such as how certain risks are to be allocated, priced or managed) allows the team to resolve ambiguity before that ambiguity can be gamed by either party.

Strengthening the project’s commercial footing

The early months also help set the tone for how commercial decisions will be made. Projects benefit when there is early clarity around how variations will be assessed, what evidence is needed to support claims, how programme impacts will be evaluated, and how the team intends to communicate with its counterparty. The absence of this clarity can lead to inconsistent decision making and inadvertent concessions. A project team that approaches commercial matters thoughtfully at the outset is often better positioned when more complex issues arise later. This includes thinking ahead about how the other party is likely to approach claims, notices, or requests for information, and ensuring that the team is prepared to respond in a principled and consistent manner. Having to unwind approaches, responses or conduct later in the project can cause significant issues for commercial teams reporting to project steering groups or boards. 

Building good documentation habits from day one

Documentation is one of the most decisive factors in both avoiding disputes and resolving them. Good documentation supports day to day decision making, provides clarity across teams, and creates a reliable record if issues escalate. Establishing strong documentation practices from the beginning is far easier than trying to impose them months into delivery. 

The baseline programme should be validated early and used as a living document. Meeting minutes should record decisions clearly and be circulated promptly. Instructions, approvals, and significant discussions should be captured in writing rather than left to memory. A risk register, ideally one that is regularly reviewed, helps ensure that emerging issues are identified early rather than discovered only once they have begun to affect delivery.

Teams that do this well usually find that they are better able to explain why decisions were made and respond confidently when claims or disputes arise.

Conclusion

The first 90 days of a project offer a unique opportunity to establish the clarity, alignment, and discipline needed for successful delivery. Early planning helps teams understand the project’s risks, align expectations, anticipate issues, and put in place systems that support effective decision making. 

While each project will approach this differently, the common thread is preparation. Projects that invest early in understanding their risks, establishing communication protocols, maintaining strong documentation, and aligning behaviours are far better placed to navigate the pressures of delivery. Early planning does not remove all uncertainty, but it significantly improves a project’s ability to respond to it.

Drawing on real project experience, Inside Construction Delivery explores the patterns, behaviours, and challenges that shape major construction and infrastructure projects. The series highlights the issues that frequently cause cost escalation and conflict, and offers practical guidance to help teams identify problems early and deliver better outcomes.

Read more from the Inside Construction Delivery series