On a road upgrade project, crews were repaving streets and improving access for the businesses along the route. During one of many conversations about the work, a business owner was told that a short stretch of private roadway leading to their parking lot would be repaved at no cost to them.
There was no formal agreement. It was a conversation, offered as a gesture of goodwill. Months later, when the crew reached that stretch of road, the business owner was told the project owner would not cover the cost and that the contractor would take on the work. The contractor had never agreed to the arrangement. The cost landed back with the business owner, who felt misled, and a small paving job became a long and costly dispute.
A project representative tells a business owner that their private access road will be paved at no cost.
Months later the owner says it will not pay, and the work is passed to a contractor who never agreed to it.
The business owner is asked to cover the cost and feels misled. Time and goodwill go into resolving it.
Where It Went Wrong
Each party had a different understanding of the same conversation. The business owner took it as a commitment. The person who made the offer may have seen it as an intention that still needed approval. The contractor had no record of it at all.
None of these positions was unreasonable on its own. The problem was that the promise lived only in memory. With no written confirmation, no one could check what had been said, who had agreed to it or who was responsible for delivering it.
A commitment that exists only in one person's memory is hard for a project to keep.
Why Small Commitments Matter
Construction projects involve many conversations with neighbours, business owners and property managers. Field staff, project managers and contractors all talk to the public, and people change roles over the life of a project. A small promise made early can surface long after the person who made it has moved on.
For the business owner, the paving itself may matter less than what the reversal says about the project. Once someone feels a promise was broken, they have less reason to trust the next update from the project. Our post on the Canada Line shows how expectations set early in a project can shape relationships with businesses for years.
We help project teams track commitments and keep working relationships with the people who live and work beside construction.
Explore Stakeholder RelationsHow to Keep Track of What Was Promised
Keep a shared commitments log. Record every promise made to a stakeholder, who made it, the date and who is responsible for delivering it. A spreadsheet works if the whole team uses it.
Confirm commitments in writing. A short follow-up email after a conversation gives both sides the same record. If the commitment needs approval, say so in the email.
Be clear about who can promise what. Field staff need to know which requests they can agree to on the spot and which ones need to go back to the project owner first.
Review commitments at every handover. When a contractor joins, a phase changes or a staff member moves on, walk through the open commitments with the people taking over.
Tell people early when something changes. If a commitment cannot be kept, the person it was made to should hear it directly and before the work is due, with an explanation and any alternative the project can offer.
- Where do we record what we have promised to residents and businesses?
- Does everyone who talks to the public know what they can and cannot agree to?
- Do we confirm commitments in writing after conversations?
- Are open commitments reviewed when a contractor or staff member changes?
- Who tells a stakeholder when a commitment cannot be kept?
Planning construction near businesses and homes?
We support project owners and contractors in Alberta with stakeholder relations from pre-construction through to project close.
