Fast-Tracking
A scheduling strategy of starting construction on early phases of a project before the design for later phases is fully finished, overlapping design and construction instead of waiting for one to completely finish before the other begins.
Why it matters
Waiting for 100% complete design before starting any construction is the safest approach, but also the slowest. Fast-tracking can save real time on a schedule-driven project, but it trades that speed for real risk, building against a design that isn't finished yet.
On a real project
A developer under pressure to open a building by a fixed date has the contractor start foundation and structural steel work while the architect is still finalizing interior finish selections for upper floors, construction and design running in parallel instead of sequentially.
Who this matters most to
A Project Manager weighs whether fast-tracking a project is worth the added coordination risk, usually at the owner's request to hit an aggressive deadline. A Preconstruction Manager has to structure the buyout packages differently on a fast-tracked job, since trades get bought out and started in phases rather than all at once against a complete design.
Where this goes wrong
A team fast-tracks foundation work before the structural engineer finalizes the final steel design. The completed foundation doesn't match a late structural revision that adds additional column loads, forcing an expensive and disruptive foundation modification after the concrete has already cured.