Construction Methods & Project Management

INTRODUCTION TO CONSTRUCTION METHODS AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Management directs and facilitates the work of organized people towards a common purpose
• Management functions to get things done through others' efforts

CONSTRUCTION PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

• Owner: Lands and pays for facility construction.
  • Private owners can accept or reject bids based on cost, quality, and reputation
  • Public owners are government agencies that pay for facilities using a strict bidding process with specifications for public use
• Design Professionals: Assist the owner in developing facility plans, ensure structural soundness, integrate systems, utilities, and obtain necessary permits
• Contractor: Builds the project to contract specifications for a contracted price and may subcontract specialty firms
• Subcontractors may further subcontract

CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

• Intricate, time-consuming, and organized process
• Structures or infrastructures are constructed, renovated, or retrofitted

CHARACTERISTICS

• Projects have defined goals and objectives
• Each project is unique, complex, and diverse
• Tasks are interdependent
• There is a specific time frame, with a definite beginning and end
• Projects are planned to satisfy the owner's expectations and requirements
• Projects are non-routine work
• Involve significant risks

PROJECT STAGES

• Definition and Planning: Establish goals, objectives, broad characteristics, and a project plan
• Design: Includes the architectural and engineering design, final working drawings, and material research
• Procurement: Orders, expedites, and delivers construction goods and services
• Construction: Executes construction works per the plan and design

CONSTRUCTION PROJECT CATEGORIES

• Residential Buildings: Includes creating, maintaining, and changing housing for people, goods, or equipment
  • Encompasses single-family homes, apartments, townhomes, condos, nursing homes, and dorms
  • Engineers and architects plan projects; construction companies hire subcontractors
• Commercial Buildings: Examples include schools, sports stadiums, shopping malls, hospitals, theaters, and skyscrapers
  • Retail stores are commissioned by businesses or private owners
  • Local and federal governments fund and oversee infrastructure projects like stadiums, schools, and healthcare facilities
• Infrastructure and Heavy Constructions: Comprises highways, mass transit, tunnels, bridges, pipelines, drainage systems, and sewage treatment plants
  • Includes facilities, systems, and structures developed, owned, and operated by the government for public use
  • Soft Infrastructure - Institutions that maintain a healthy economy
  • Hard Infrastructure - Physical systems crucial to running a modern, industrialized economy
  • Critical Infrastructure - Assets defined by the government as crucial to functioning the economy
  • Types: Transportation, water, power/energy, telecommunications, and political infrastructure
• Educational Infrastructure
• Industrial Projects: Proposals to build, expand, or develop facilities to increase the production of goods/services
  • Includes buildings for power production, manufacturing, mining, and storage of materials like textiles, petroleum, wood, chemicals, plastics, and metals
  • Includes heavy and light industrial buildings, warehouses, telecom/data centers, cold storage, and flex buildings

CHRONOLOGY

• Conceptual Planning: Owner decides on designers, site, project costs, and schedules
  • Involves an iterative process to refine the final project
  • Gathering information is crucial
  • Rehab work often uncovers unknowns
  • Permits and applications are initiated
  • Estimates have a variance of +/- 25%; schedules, +/- a month
• Schematic Design: The actual design process begins, looking at methods and materials, and value engineering
  • Work packages are set up
  • Incorporates long lead time items
  • Preliminary estimates have a variance of +/- 10%
  • Schedule also must be completed
• Design Development: This is the final design phase
  • System choices are based on cost and schedule
• Construction: Includes mobilization, milestones, substantial completion, punch list items, and project close out

PROJECT RISKS

• Bid: A proposal to compete for a project including work details, timeline, and estimated cost
• Risks: The likelihood of events that adversely affect the project's objectives, schedule, budget, or quality
  • Classified as technical, environmental, financial, legal, or operational
• Project Site - Neighbors, regulatory environment, subsurface conditions, economic climate
• Project - Complexity, planned technologies, degree of finishes, materials, mechanical/electrical system
• Process - Project funding, timetable, level of preconstruction info, project unknowns
• Owner Org - Sophistication, org structure, decision making

CONTINGENCY

• Money/time set aside to cover unforeseen events impacting schedule, budget, or quality

DEVELOPING A CONTINGENCY PLAN

• Identify potential risks
• Assess their probability and impact
• Develop response plans
• Assign responsibilities
• Monitor and update the plan

TOPIC 1 - CONTRACTS AND SPECIFICATIONS

• Civil engineering projects require planning, execution, and regulation
• Three key components are construction management, contracts, and specifications
  • Each ensures project success, efficiency, and compliance

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

• The process that consists of planning, coordinating, and supervising a construction project from start to finish
• Resource management, schedules, costs, risks
• Ensures efficiency, cost control, and risk minimization
• Quality control, regulatory compliance, coordination between stakeholders

CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT

• Legally binding agreement between client and contractor
• Outlines the project scope, costs, timeline, and obligations
• Defines stakeholder rights and responsibilities
• Helps avoid disputes and provides a legal framework for resolution

RELATION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING

• Civil engineers assist in contract preparation and review
  • Ensure technical specifications and material quality align with engineering standards
  • Also administer contracts by verifying work progress and approving payments

SPECIFICATIONS

• Detailed descriptions of materials, workmanship, and technical standards
• Guides quality control, helps contractors understand requirements accurately
• Reduces disputes and ensures compliance
• Civil engineers prepare and enforce specifications
• Construction management, contracts, and specifications work together for project success

TYPES OF CONTRACTS

• Lump-Sum Contract: A fixed total price for a specific job, with finalized plans/designs
• Schedule Contract/Item Rate Contract: Payment based on item rates for each specific task completed
• Labor Contract: Employment for a set number of hours per week for a salary
• Target Price Contract: Reimbursement for actual costs within an agreed target cost
• Piece Work Agreement: Payment for each individual work unit completed
• Material Supply Contract: The rate of supply for required materials, inclusive of all local taxes, carriage, and delivery charges to supply the place of construction within the time fixed in the tender.
• Cost-Reimbursement Contract: Payment for costs incurred plus a set amount with types: fixed fee, percentage, fluctuating fee, and percentage rate

CONTRACT DOCUMENTS

• Key for any construction project
• Two key technical components: construction drawings and written specifications
• Parts:
  • Agreement: The formal contract with the agreed-upon total price
  • General Conditions: Define rights, responsibilities, and relationships. Include payment terms, dispute resolution, and insurance
  • Special Conditions: Modifications to general conditions for the specific project including site-specific requirements
  • Construction Drawings: Visual representations detailing layout, dimensions, and materials
  • Specifications: Detailed written instructions about materials, workmanship, and standards
  • Scope of Work: Defines tasks and deliverables expected from the contractor
  • Schedule: Specifies the construction timeline, including deadlines
• There is also bill of quantity which details all materials, labor, and other costs required for project. It aids in estimating costs and preparing bids

CONDITIONS OF A CONTRACT

• Legally binding framework which governs project execution
• Establishes the rights, obligations, and responsibilities of all parties
• Conditions of the contract.
  • Rates: The agreed-upon unit price.
  • Security Money: Collateral for performance.
  • Time for Completion: The stipulated duration for work.
  • Process to be Maintained: Adherence to the project schedule.
  • Penalty for Bad Work: Consequence for substandard work.
  • Mode of Payment: Specifies payment terms.
  • Extensions of Time Limit: Allows for requesting additional time.
  • Termination of Contract: Legal conditions for ending the project early.
  • Compensation: Monetary reimbursement for damages.

TYPES OF SPECIFICATIONS

• General Specifications: Brief descriptions of various work aspects, acting as cost estimation guidelines
• Detailed Specifications: More complex, including specific materials and methods
• Prescriptive Specifications: Agency prescribes materials/methods the contractor must use
• Proprietary Specifications: Used when a single product type is required for installation

PURPOSE OF GIVING SPECIFICATIONS

• Used to express the constructional work
• They fulfill the remaining requirements
• The cost of work depends on specifications
• To describe quality and quantity of matierals
• To specify the method of doing the work
• Calculate the reates
• Specify equipment, tools and plants

SPECIFICATIONS RULES TO REMEMBER

• Specifications must be self-explanatory.
• All conditions must be practically possible.
• Workmanship should provide detailed and concise steps.

TOPIC 2 - CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ORGANIZATION

• Management drives every organization
• Effective management is not a fixed formula
• Growing companies evolve their organizational structures

ORGANIZATION

• It is a group working together effectively
• It is the framework through which management directs
• Structure is the formal arrangement to implement strategy

PRINCIPLES OF GOOD ORGANIZATION