TL;DR
Lead time is the interval between ordering a product or committing to work and its delivery or start, the quiet variable that sequences a construction schedule: custom windows may take 6 to 12 weeks, cabinetry longer, while commodity lumber ships in days. General contractors build procurement logs around long-lead items so the slab does not sit waiting on a special-order door package.
What it means
Lead time is the interval between ordering a product or committing to work and its delivery or start, the quiet variable that sequences a construction schedule: custom windows may take 6 to 12 weeks, cabinetry longer, while commodity lumber ships in days. General contractors build procurement logs around long-lead items so the slab does not sit waiting on a special-order door package. In bids, quoted dates assume materials arrive on time, so contracts increasingly tie schedules to supplier confirmation rather than promises.
Where it sits in the glossary
Lead time is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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