Construction Management and Entrepreneurship (17CV61)

MODULE – 1
A) MANAGEMENT
Management has been defined by different thinkers in a number ways:
i. “Management is knowing exactly what you want men to do and then seeing that
they do it the best and in the cheapest ways” - F. W. Taylor
ii. “Management is to forecast and to plan, to organize, to command, to coordinate and
to control” - Henry Fayol
In other words, management refers to those people who manage an organization.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MANAGEMENT
1) Management is a universal process
It is a universal process which is applied in all types of institutions/ organizations – social,
religious, political, military, commercial, etc.,
2) Management is goal oriented
Management always aims at achieving specific goals.
3) Management is a social process
Because it involves people who are influenced by social traditions, customs and
regulations.
4) Management is a coordinating force
It coordinates the efforts of the employees in an organization through orderly arrangement
of activities so as to avoid duplication and overlapping.
5) Management is intangible
Management cannot be touched and felt. Its presence can only be felt by the results of its
efforts such as orderliness, efficiency, profits, employee satisfaction, etc.,
6) Management is dynamic
It is an on-going process. It is a journey, not a destination.
7) Management is multi-disciplinary
Management has received rich contribution from various disciplines like psychology,
sociology, anthropology, etc., The insight obtained from these disciplines help mangers in
understanding the human mind much better.
8) Management is a creative activity
Management provides creative ideas and new imagination apart from giving progressive
vision to group efforts.
9) Management is decision-making
It continuously takes decisions which decide the fate of the organization.
10) Management is a profession
Management is better managed by a professional than any common man.

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FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT
Functions of management involve planning, scheduling, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling,
coordinating, communicating and decision-making.
1) Planning
→It involves formulation of a number of work plans for achieving specified objectives and
finally selecting a plan which is best suited from the point of available resources.
→ It essentially covers the aspects of
(a) What to do?
(b) How to do?
2) Scheduling
→ It is fitting of final work plan to a timed scale.
→ It shows the duration and order of various construction activities.
→ It deals with the aspect of “When to do?”
3) Organizing
→Organizing is concerned with division of total construction work into manageable
department or sections and systematically arranging various operations by delegating
specific task to individuals.
4) Staffing
→ Recruiting the right people, arranging staff training courses and carrying out proper staff
assessment are the parts of staffing function.
5) Directing
→ The directing function is concerned with training sub-ordinates to carry out assigned
task, supervising their work and guiding their efforts.
6) Controlling
→ This function of management relates to monitoring the progress achieved in comparison
with the planned programme and identify the areas of deficiency so that remedial
measures may be taken to remove this deficiency.
7) Coordinating & Communicating
→This function of management relates to harmonizing the action and approach of various
groups of employees to achieve a common objective.
8) Decision-making
→ It is a process or means of selecting one alternative out of two or more available
alternatives.
→ It covers all the functions of management.

IMPORTANCE AND PURPOSE OF PLANNING

For the success of any organization, planning plays a major role. The importance of planning
process is as below:
1) Planning provides direction

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→It defines the job behavior of the various people for varied activities and paves the way
towards achieving the organizational goals.
2) Planning minimizes risk and uncertainty
→ Organizations today have to function and survive in an environment that is changing too
fast. In such situations, planning based on hard facts and data help managers to minimize
risk and uncertainties.
3) Planning ensures co-ordination
→ When all the members working in an organization are aware of the goals, planning is
done to find routes to achieve them and there is better co-ordination.
4) Planning leads to economy
→ Planning helps to accomplish optimal utilization of human resources and physical. This
leads to cost reduction, higher efficiency and higher productivity.
5) Planning facilitates decision-making
→ In an organization, managers at all levels are continuously involved in decision-making.
Planning provides guidelines and thus facilitates decision-making.
6) Planning reduces overlapping and wastage of efforts
→ Proper planning helps to easily identify inefficiencies of individuals and groups and
hence easier to eliminate wastage.
7) Planning encourages innovation and creativity
→ In order to overcome weaknesses and threats to their business, managers are compelled
to be creative and innovative all the time. It forces the managers to find out new and
improved ways of doing what they did all their lives.
8) Planning facilitates control
→ Control is the key to success in any organization. There is nothing to control without
planning and without proper control, planning is a waste.
9) Planning improves morale
→ Success leads to more profit and profit leads to a happy management and therefore, a
contented workforce. This fact that the workforces are also involved in the planning
process boosts their morale.

TYPES OF PLANS
Plans in an organization can be broadly classified as:

PLANS

STANDING PLANS SINGLE USE PLANS

Objective Policies Strategies Procedures Methods Rules Programmes Schedules Projects Budgets

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Standing plans are plans which are out to use again and again, for repetitive matters. Standing
plans continue to be applied until they are modified or abandoned. Examples of standing plans
would be – planning for machine break-down, planning for demand fluctuation, planning for
employee absence, etc.,

Single-use plans are non-recurring in nature and are used for cases which are unique and non-
repetitive in nature. Such plans are used to deal with problems that probably will not be repeated
in the same form in future. Examples – organizing conference, making budgets, etc.,

1) Objectives – They are nothing but goals towards which all the business activities are
directed.
2) Policies – They are guidelines set up by the company for decision-making. Examples –
Policy for recruiting or promotion, policy on selling goods only for cash and not credit.
3) Strategies –They specify the route taken to achieve company objectives and policies. In
other words, a plan of action.
4) Procedures – They are ‘action guidelines’ which specifies how particular activities are to be
carried out. A good procedure has to be – Purposeful and functional, in written form,
simple and clear, not rigid and exposed to periodic review.
5) Methods – They are basically sub-units of procedure.
6) Rules – They are standard guidelines which specify what is good and what is bad for an
organization. They are established to direct or restrict action in order to govern the
behaviour of individual.
7) Programmes – It is a precise plan which lays down the operations to be carried out to
accomplish a given work.
8) Schedules – They are like time-tables which clearly specify when, what and where each
element of work is carried out.
9) Projects – A project is nothing but a small programme. Several projects together make up a
programme.
10) Budgets –It is a written plan of future activities of the company in monetary terms. It
defines the anticipated cost of attaining an objective.

References
K R Phaneesh, “Management and Entrepreneurship”, Sudha Publications, Bangalore.

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MODULE – 1
B) CONSTRUCTION PROJECT FORMULATION
INTRODUCTION TO CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
Construction industry plays a basic role in the development of a country. It occupies a
fundamental position in the national economy. The construction projects are time consuming and
complex in nature.
Construction management is a systematic method which involves planning, organizing,
coordinating and controlling the various activities in any construction industry. It tries to secure
maximum returns by the use of available resources in optimum time and optimum cost.

Objectives of Construction Management

1) Completing the work within estimated budget and specified time.
2) Evolving a reputation for high quality workmanship.
3) Providing safe and satisfactory working conditions for all the workers.
4) Taking sound decisions at the lowest practical management level through delegation of
authority.
5) Motivating people to give their best within their capacities.
6) Creating an organization that works as a team.

Necessity of Construction Management

1) To arrange the completion of the work in the minimum possible time.
2) To check the wastage of material and labour.
3) To affect the economy in the cost of construction by adopting new techniques of
construction and supervision.
4) To improve the quality and speed of work by using modern equipment in construction.
5) Using modern techniques of management to have proper coordination between different
agencies and categories of people engaged on the work.

PROJECT ORGANIZATION
Traditional organizational structures are unsuitable for undertaking big projects of a construction
industry, under the present-day circumstances. Hence, there is a need for project organizational
structure.
Definition
A project organization is one, in which a project structure is created as a separate unit or division
within a permanent functional structure; drawing specialists and workers from various functional
departments who work under the overall leadership, control and coordination of a project
manager to complete projects of a technical and costly nature.

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It requires utmost precision and accuracy, huge cost and project completion within a limited
prescribed time.

Chart of Project Organization

The following chart depicts a typical organizational structure:

Director

Quantity Project Design

Surveyor Manager Engineer

Planning Project
Engineer Engineer

Site Site
Engineer 1 Engineer 2

Project Organization Chart

Note: Activity for students

Merits and Limitations of Project Organization

a) Merits
1) Concentrated attention on project work – The project manager has no work other than
attending to project management. He has full powers to coordinate and control the project
activities.
2) Advantages of team specialization – As specialists from various functional areas are drawn
while forming a project team and this makes it phenomenal.
3) Timely completion of project.
b) Limitations
1) Increased problems of coordination – Because of the diverse viewpoints of team specialists.
2) Unclearly defined relationship – Usually, in a project organization, the relationships
between the project manager and functional specialists are not very clearly defined. This
situation may lead to tension between them, resulting in poor human relations, in the
project organization. Ultimately, the project work efficiency may be considerably reduced.
3) Feeling of insecurity – Usually, after the completion of a particular project work, there is a
feeling of uncertainty in the minds of the project personnel as to where they can seek
shelter.
4) Duplication of efforts – In a project organization, when multiple projects are undertaken,
there are possibilities of the same type of activities being duplicated.

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MANAGEMENT STYLES
Management Styles are characteristic ways of making decisions and relating to subordinates.
1) AUTOCRATIC
 In this style, the manger makes decisions unilaterally and without regard for even
the most talented and experienced subordinates. As a result, it reflects the opinions
and personality of the manager.
 Therefore, this style is used, temporarily, in times of crisis where there is no time for
discussions.
2) CONSULTATIVE
 This style is advantageous when the management seeks the loyalty of the
subordinates for better efficiency of work and on time completion of project.
3) PERSUASIVE
 It involves the manager sharing some characteristics with that of an autocratic
manager.
 They maintain control over the entire decision-making process.
 The most prominent difference here is that they will spend more time working with
their subordinates in order to try to convince them of the benefits of the decisions
that have been made.
 Disadvantage is that, there may not be enough support from the employees for
management.
4) DEMOCRATIC
 The manager allows the employees to take part in decision-making; therefore
everything is agreed upon by the majority.
 The communication is two-way i.e., in between the employees and the leaders and
vice versa.
 It is very useful when complex decisions are to be taken.
5) CHAOTIC
 Here, the management gives the employees total control over decision-making
process.
6) LAISSEZ-FAIRE
 Here, the management takes a back seat role in the company providing guidance
when needed.
 Employees are allowed to let their own ideas and creativity flourish in their specific
areas.
 The manager is looked upon as more of a mentor than a leader.
7) MANAGEMENT BY WALKING AROUND (MBWA)
 It is a technique used by managers who are proactive listeners.
 They use this style to gather as much information as possible so that a challenging
situation doesn’t turn into a bigger problem.

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MODULE – 1
C) CONSTRUCTION PLANNING AND SCHEDULING
INTRODUCTION
Planning is the starting point of all management functions. Planning leads to organizing and
staffing followed by directing, controlling and coordinating. A graphic schedule known as a
programme forms the basis for effective planning. The main aim of project planning is to execute
the project with minimum cost and time making the best use of available resources.
The objectives to be achieved in project planning can be done in three stages:
1) Planning Stage
 In this stage, the given project is divided into number of tasks. These tasks are called
as activities.
 The beginning and ending of activities are called events.
 The times required for completion of these activities are then estimated.
 Planning means thinking ahead of an operation to be performed.
 It involves
a) Defining objectives of the project.
b) Listing of tasks that must be performed.
c) Preparing estimates of cost and duration of various tasks.
d) Determining gross requirements for material.
2) Scheduling Stage
 Scheduling is a mechanical process for setting various planned activities by fixing
the start and finish dates.
 It comprises of
a) Determination of amount of work to be performed.
b) The time when each activity will start.
c) The order in which the work is to be performed.
3) Controlling Stage
 This stage involves supervision and monitoring the project as per schedule.
 It consists of reviewing the difference between the schedule and the actual
performance of the project.

TYPES OF PROJECT PLANS

Schedule, cost, quality and safety can be identified as specific items on which the success of any
construction project is evaluated. Although there is complex interrelationship between these, it is
possible to discuss them independently – a statement such as a project being completed with very
high quality but with different levels of cost and time overruns can at least be technically
understood. Thus, at times it makes sense to have different plans for each of these criteria.

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1) TIME PLAN – Time is the essence of all construction projects, and contracts often have
clauses outlining awards (bonus payments) or penalties (as liquidated damages) for
completing a work ahead or later than a scheduled date. The commonly used techniques
for time planning activities are Critical Path Method (CPM), Programme Evaluation and
Review Technique (PERT) and Time Scale Network (TSN). The choice of the method to be
used depends on the intended objective, the nature of the project, the target audience, etc.,
2) MANPOWER PLAN – This plan focuses on estimating the size of workforce, division in
functional teams and scheduling the deployment of manpower. It may be noted that
manpower planning also involves establishing labour productivity standards, providing
suitable environment and financial incentives for optimum productivity, and grouping the
manpower in suitable functional teams in order to get the optimum utilization.
3) MATERIAL PLAN – The material plan involves identification of required materials,
estimation of required quantities, defining specification and forecasting material
requirement, inventory control, procurement plans and monitoring the usage of materials.
4) CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT PLAN – Machines are used in construction for mass
excavation, trenching, compacting, grading, hoisting, concreting, drilling, material handling,
etc. This improves productivity and quality, besides reducing cost. It should also be kept in
mind that heavy equipments are very costly and should be optimally utilizedand their
characteristics also to be considered when drawing up an equipment plan.
5) FINANCE PLAN – Large projects require huge investments and long time for completion
and it is obvious that all the money is not required at any point in time. Contractors fund
their projects from their working capital, a part of which is raised by the contractors using
their own sources, whereas the rest comes from the client end in the form of mobilization
advance, running bills, etc. Thus, a careful analysis needs to be carried out to determine
how the requirement of funds varies with time.

WORK – BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

The functional elements of a project and their interrelationship are determined by a technique
known as work – breakdown structure. Such a technique establishes the hierarchical order in a
system by breaking the project into recognizable systems, sub-systems and discrete activities.

In general, a system is broken down into sub-systems and each sub-system into major
components, and so on. The breakdown is continued till the system is reduced to components or
activities representing manageable units for planning. The objective is to identify discrete
activities or tasks that can be planned, estimated, scheduled, executed and controlled for
completion.

Work – breakdown structure for a typical building is shown in the figure below:

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BUILDING

SITE CLEARANCE SANITARY AND

FOUNDATION SUPER ELECTRICAL FINISHES COMPOUND
AND WATER SUPPLY
AND D.P.C STRUCTURE SERVICES WALL
EXCAVTION SERVICES

LEAN CONCRETE
SITE CLEARANCE IN FOUNDATION PLASTERING

MASONRY IN
EXCAVATION FOUNDATION FLOORING

ANTI-TERMITE
D.P.C PAINTING AND
TREATMENT DISTEMPERING

Work – Breakdown Structure of a Building

GANTT CHART / BAR CHART

 Bar chart is defined as graphical representation of activities and duration of activities
consisting of two-coordinate axes. These charts were developed by Henry L. Gantt and
hence it is also referred to as Gantt chart.
 Bar chart is a time scale model of a project. Here each activity is represented by a bar
whose length is equal to the duration of the activity.
 Each activity is plotted along the vertical axis and the time is plotted along the horizontal
axis.
 Bar chart technique of scheduling the project is suitable for projects with smaller number
of activities.
Advantages
1) The chart is simple to prepare and interpret.
2) Each item of activity is shown separately.
3) Modifications to the chart as on required basis can be carried out easily.
4) It can be further improved by colour coding of various activities.

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Disadvantages
1) The sequence of activities is not clearly defined.
2) The various activities are independent.
3) Non-control on progress of the work.
4) The chart is suitable only for simple and small jobs.
5) Time uncertainties.
6) Bar charts do not indicate which activities are critical and need careful supervision.
7) Bar chart is only a static representation of the planned programme and it does not indicate
the dynamic happenings on the construction site of a complete project.

PREPARATION OF NETWORK DIAGRAM

NETWORK
 A network is a flow diagram consisting of activities and events connected logically and
sequentially.
 In the network diagram, an activity is represented by arrows while events are represented
by circles.
 Networks are of two types:
1) PERT Network
2) CPM Network

PROGRAMME EVALUATION AND REVIEW TECHNIQUE (PERT)

PERT system is preferred for those projects which are of non-repetitive nature. It uses a network
diagram consisting of events. It is event oriented. The expected time forms the basis of PERT
Networks. Three time estimates are used to determine the expected or average time of each
activity. Construction projects are mostly of a repetitive nature and data concerning various
activities is generally available. PERT, therefore, is not commonly used in construction projects.

TIME ESTIMATES
The three time estimates used in PERT are:
1) Optimistic Time Estimate (to) – It is the shortest possible time for completing an activity
if everything proceeds as planned without any problem i.e., the activity is performed under
ideal conditions.

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2) Most Likely Time Estimate (tm) – It is the time for completing activity under normal
conditions.
3) Pessimistic Time Estimate (tp) – It is the maximum time required to complete an activity
under abnormal or extremely adverse conditions in which everything goes wrong.
The expected time estimate for each activity is computed as follows:
to + 4tm +tp
te=
6
where, te = expected time of the activity

to = optimistic time estimate

tm = most likely time estimate
tp= pessimistic time estimate

 The variance (σ2) of the estimated time over the mean is given
by,
σ2 = ( −6 ) ²

Problem
1) Estimate the expected time of each of the following activities from the three time
estimates:
Solution

Estimated time in days te = to + 4tm + tp

Activity
Optimistic (to) Most likely (tm) Pessimistic (tp) 6
1–2 3 6 15 7
1–5 2 4 6 4
2–3 1 2 3 3
2–4 4 6 8 9
3–5 1 2 3 3
4–5 4 6 8 9

CRITICAL PATH METHOD (CPM)

 In CPM network, the whole project consists of a number of clearly recognizable job called
activities.

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 The junctions between activities are termed as events.

 The CPM networks are often referred to as activity oriented in which the activity is
represented by an arrow and the sequence in which the activities are performed is shown
by the sequence of arrows.
 CPM networks are generally used for repetitive type of projects like construction projects.

COMPARISON BETWEEN CPM AND PERT

CPM PERT
1) Time estimate for completion of activity has 1) Time estimate for completion of activity are
high degree of accuracy. not so accurate and definite.
2) Cost is not directly proportional to time. 2) It is assumed that cost varies directly with
time.
3) Cost is controlling factor. 3) Time is controlling factor.
4) Used in those projects where time can be 4) Used in those projects where there is an
estimated fairly well. extreme degree of uncertainties.
5) Activity oriented. 5) Event oriented.
6) One time estimate. 6) Three time estimates.

NETWORK DIAGRAM
 Network diagram is a linear draft mode of an organizational system comprising of the
activities and events arranged in logical and sequential order.
 Each activity in a network diagram is represented by two numbers i.e., i and j.
 The number ‘i’ represents starting of the activity called tail event and the number ‘j’
represents ending of the activity called head event.
 In the network diagram of each activity is represented in the form of arrows and each event
is represented in the form of nodes.

Network diagram

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RULES FOR DEVELOPING NETWORKS

Rule 1:
No activity can commence until all preceding activities have been completed as explained below:
Ex : (i) ‘Plastering of wall’ can commence only after ‘Building of wall’ is completed.

Building of wall
4 1
(ii) ‘Concrete Foundation (D)’ can commence only after ‘Cement Procurement (A)’, ‘Aggregate
Procurement (B)’ and ‘Installation of Concrete Mixer (C)’.

Rule 2:
A ‘dummy activity’ is introduced in the network either to show dependency or to avoid duplication
numbering of activities. A ‘dummy activity’ is an artificial activity and is shown by a dotted line. It
consumes no time or resources.
Ex: ‘Beam Erection (C)’ can be taken up only when both ‘Concrete Pier (A)’ and ‘Precast Beams (B)’
are completed. Dummy activity 2 – 3 Shows this dependency and also avoids duplicate numbering
of activities ‘Concrete Pier’ and ‘Precast Beams’.

Rule 3:
The logical placement of an activity in the network is governed by the following
three considerations:
a) Which activities must be completed before this activity can commence? (Precedence)
b) Which activities can be carried out along with this activity? (Concurrence)
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c) Which activities cannot commence until this activity is completed? (Subsequence)

Ex: Consider the following activities pertaining to the construction of a mass concrete foundation:
Excavate (B) 3 days
Prepare shuttering (A) 2 days
Fix shuttering (C) 1 day
Concrete foundation (D) 1 day

Rule 4:
No activity should lead back to a previous event i.e., there must not be any ‘looping’.
Ex:

‘Concrete curing’ cannot commence until ‘Placing of concrete’ is completed and ‘Concrete testing’
cannot begin until ‘Concrete curing’ is completed. However, ‘Placing of concrete’ cannot start until
‘Concrete testing’ is completed.
Rule 5:
In any network, there must be only one start and one finish (with any number of activities in
between) i.e., no activity should be left dangling.

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LOGIC FOR NETWORK DEVELOPMENT

The following questions must be asked for logical development of a network:
1) Which activities must immediately precede this activity?
2) Which activities should immediately follow this activity?
3) Which activities can take place concurrently with this activity?
Based on these questions and the rules for network development, each activity is connected in one
or several of the ways as below:

Network Elements Interpretation

Activity C cannot start before activity B is

completed (OR) Activity C follows Activity B
(OR) Activity B precedes Activity C

Activities D and E cannot start before Activity

C is completed. However, once Activity C is
completed both activities D and E can start
simultaneously.

Activity C cannot start before both the

activities A and B are completed.

Activity C follows B and E follows D.

However, both activity chains are
independent of each other.

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NETWORK TECHNIQUES
Terminology
a) Activity – Performance of a specific task, operation, job or function which consumes time and
resources and has a definite beginning and end is called an activity. For example, excavate
foundation, lay brickwork, backfill trench, fix shuttering, concrete wall, etc., are all activities.
b) Event –An instantaneous point in time marking the beginning or end of one or more activities
is called an event. An event consumes no time or resources. For example, excavation completed,
brickwork laid, shuttering fixed etc., are all events.
c) Network – A network is the diagrammatic representation of a work plan showing the activities,
step-by-step, leading to the established goal. It depicts the inter-dependence between the various
activities i.e., which activities can be done together and which activities must precede or succeed
others.
d) Dummy activity – It is an imaginary activity of zero duration (consuming no resources)
represented by dotted line ( ------- ). It indicates that an activity following the dummy cannot be
started until the activity preceding it is completed.
e) Duration (D)– It is the estimated time required (in days, weeks or months) to perform an
activity.
f) Earliest Start Time (EST) – This is the earliest time that an activity can be started.
g) Earliest Finish Time (EFT) – It is the earliest time that an activity can be finished.
EFT = EST + D
h) Latest Start Time (LST) - It is the latest time that an activity can be started without
delaying the completion of project.
i) Latest Finish Time (LFT) – It is the latest time that an activity can be finished without
delaying the completion of the project.
LST = LFT – D
j) Total Float (TF) / Slack – It is the amount of time that an activity can be delayed without
delaying the completion of the project.
TF = LFT – EFT
TF = LST – EST
k) Free Float (FF) – This is the amount of time that the finish of an activity can be
delayed without delaying the earliest starting time of a following activity.
FF = EST – EFT
(Following activity) (This activity)
l) Critical Path - It is the series of inter-connected activities through the network for which each
activity has zero float time. Critical path determines the minimum time required to complete a
project and also represent the longest path in a network.
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Network Representation
The following two systems of network representation, namely, Activity-on-Arrow (A-O-A) system
and Activity-on-Node (A-O-N) system are used for development and analysis of networks in CPM.
a) Activity-on-Arrow (A-O-A) System
In this system, an activity is graphically represented by an arrow drawn from left to right. The
description of the activity is written above the arrow and the time taken to complete the activity is
written below it as shown in the figure below. The length of the arrow has no relationship to the
duration of the activity that it represents.
Fix Shuttering
4 (days)
Representation of Activity

An event is graphically represented by a number enclosed in a circle. The beginning of an activity

is marked by a ‘tail event’ or preceding event and the end by a ‘head event’ or succeeding event as
shown below:
Pour concrete
2 (days)
Tail Event Head Event
Representation of Event

An example of the graphical representation of a network on the A-O-A system is shown below:

Network on A-O-A System

b) Activity-on-Node (A-O-N) System

In this system, activities are represented on the nodes, and arrows are used to show the
dependency relationships between the activity nodes. The time required to complete an activity is
also indicated in the node.
The A-O-N System is widely used in network techniques and is very popular in construction
projects.
The A-O-A network shown in the figure above is depicted on the A-O-N System as shown below:

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Network on A-O-N System

Problems
1) The following are the activities and the logic for a project. Develop the network for the
project.
Activities – A, B, E, Q, K, X, J, Z, G, F, C
Logic
1) A and B can be carried out at the same time. They represent the beginning of the job.
2) K follows E.
3) X depends on Q and K.
4) Neither F nor G can be started before R is completed, but they can be
concurrently performed.
5) E and Q follows A.
6) Q must be carried out before J.
7) C depends on the completion of F and G.
8) E and Q can be executed at the same time.
9) Z can only be started when C, X and J are finished.
10) Z is the last activity.

2) A project consists of 8 activities M, N, O, P, Q, R, S and T. Draw a network using the logic as

under:
a) Activities M, N, and Q can start concurrently and represent start of the project.
b) Activities O and P are concurrent and depend on completion of both M and N.
c) Activities R and S are concurrent and depend on the completion of O.
d) Activity T depends upon the completion of P, Q and R.

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 Construction Management and Entrepreneurship (15CV61)

e) The project is complete when S and T are completed.

3) Develop a network on the A-O-A System for a job with the following activities and logical
sequence:
a) A is the first operation.
b) B and C are performed simultaneously and are the immediate successor to A.
c) D, E and F follow B.
d) G follows E.
e) H follows D, but it cannot start until E is over.
f) I and J succeed G.
g) F and J precede K.
h) H and I precede L.
i) M succeeds L and K.
j) The last operation N succeeds M and C.

4) Draw the network and calculate the expected time. Also establish the critical path.

Duration (days)
Activity
to tm tp
1– 2 2 5 14
1– 3 3 12 21
2– 4 5 14 17
3– 4 2 5 8
4– 5 1 4 7
3– 5 6 15 30

5) The following table shows the activities and their time estimates.
Duration (days)
Activity
to tm tp
10 – 20 4 8 12
20 – 30 1 4 7
20 – 40 8 12 16
30 – 50 3 5 7
40 – 50 0 0 0
40 – 60 3 6 9
50 – 70 3 6 9
50 – 80 4 6 8

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 Construction Management and Entrepreneurship (15CV61)

70 – 90 4 8 12
80 – 90 2 5 8
60 – 100 4 6 8
90 – 100 4 10 16

a) Draw the network and find the expected length of duration.

b) What is the probability of completing the project in 48 days?
c) What is the variance?

6)
Duration (days)
Activity
to tm tp
1–2 4 7 12
1–3 3 6 15
2–4 2 5 8
3–4 2 6 9

a) Find the duration of the project.

b) What is the probability of completion of project in 12 days?
c) What is the variance?

7) Determine the critical path for the following project and calculate the earliest project
completion time. Assume that the project starts at zero time.

Activity Duration (weeks) Predecessors

A 10 -
B 11 -
C 9 A
D 12 A
E 6 B
F 6 B
G 7 E
H 8 C,G
I 10 C,G
J 6 F,H
K 14 D,I,J

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 Construction Management and Entrepreneurship (15CV61)

8) With the following table, prepare the A-O-N network and find the critical path.
(a)
Activity Duration (days) Predecessors
A 6 -
B 8 -
C 4 A
D 10 A,B
E 5 B
F 6 C
G 8 B,D
H 12 E
I 4 F,G,H

b)
Activity Duration (days) Predecessors
A 6 -
B 8 A
C 4 A
D 8 B
E 6 B
F 4 D
G 5 C,E
H 7 C
I 7 D,G
J 6 H
K 5 F,I,J

9) A project consists of 14 activities. Table shows the duration for each activity and their
interrelationships. Draw the network. Establish the critical path and tabulate EST, EFT, LST,
LFT, TF and FF.
Activity Duration (days) Predecessors
A 4 -
B 8 A
C 6 A

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 Construction Management and Entrepreneurship (15CV61)

D 8 C
E 4 C
F 12 E
G 8 E
H 2 A
J 8 H
K 6 F
L 4 G,K
M 4 D,J,L
N 4 B
O 4 M,N

10) A project consists of 11 activities. The table shows the duration for each activity and
their interrelationships. Draw the network and establish the critical path. Tabulate EST,
EFT, LST, LFT, TF, and FF.
Activity Duration (days) Predecessors
A 6 -
B 4 -
C 10 A
D 5 A,B
E 8 B
F 4 C
G 3 D,E
H 8 E
I 7 F
J 5 C,G
K 6 H