We’ve been working for about a year on the pre-construction services for a $50M student housing project. We were ready to start in a few weeks. Yesterday, I got the news that our construction team is out, the owners are bringing in national builders. Oops.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9haxOZvlAFs

The gut punch feeling of receiving that surprising news hasn’t gone away. We have lots of trade contractors counting on this work, now scrambling for something else to do.

We all know that in this crazy construction business, that a job isn’t a job till signed and started…and not always then. Owners can change directions, permits get delayed, things happen.

When we lose a project we were counting on, though, we actually go through the grief process.

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

In fact, we don’t just pass cleanly through that process, we bounce back and forth between the emotions for awhile. I need to keep this insight in mind as I work through the end of project issues.

Age and experience help, though, because I know that time wounds all heels. In the long run, things seem to work out.