MODULE-2
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Resource Management:
A resource is an entity. It contributes to the accomplishment of project activities such
as manpower, material, money, equipment, time.
Resource management is the efficient use of resource in order to achieve a goal.
Consists of planning, estimation and obtaining various types of resource during pre-
construction stage and control their utilization during examination stage.
For the project execution, the physical resources required are: manpower of different
categories, construction materials, equipment and other site specific infrastructure
facilities in terms of water, power, roads, communication and other required facilities.
Basic concepts in Construction Resource Management:
There are 5 M’s of management called as:
Money: financial resource
Man: Human resources
Material: natural resources
Method: production methods
Machine: tools and equipment
Managing all these 5’s will be total Construction Resource Management.
Money - Without money, no venture or enterprise can motivate workers, get quality and
sufficient materials, get the right machines and maintain them or even ensure that time is
properly managed. Where there is not enough money, no good workers, materials, or machines
can be employed or purchased.
Man - Man, the first of the five M's is the most important. The right personnel for the right
position is a sure bet for organizational effectiveness and efficiency. Man in management is
referred as a human resource. Even in the automated world no organization can flourish without
human resource. Human resources determine the workings of the other four basic business
resources. People make sure materials, machines, money and methods are utilized in a
productive manner to achieve goals or aims and objectives of organizations and enterprises.
With the right man in the right job, a large portion of effective business management will have
been achieved.
Material - Material is a basic ingredient in management be it a service industry or a product
industry. Most of the industries locate them self-nearby to the availability of material. Without
materials, human resource is made redundant. A group of cement factory workers waiting for
supply of limestone may have nothing much to do for as long as the supply does not arrive.
Even if it arrives, but in poor quality, the production is certainly doomed for a loss. Quality
compromised is business pauperized. Poor quality of materials potentially ruins
entrepreneurship.
Method - The procedures and techniques utilized during construction. Construction operations
are generally classified according to specialized fields. These include preparation of the project
site, earth-moving, foundation treatment, steel erection, concrete placement, asphalt paving,
and electrical and mechanical installations. Procedures for each of these fields are generally
the same, even when applied to different projects, such as buildings, dams, or airports.
However, the relative importance of each field is not the same in all cases.
Machine - Machine are the basic tools to produce goods or to generate services. Selection of
an appropriate machine not only enhances efficiency but also saves times and increases
revenue. Machines have made man fulfill almost effortlessly various dreams of creating things
that make an existence more worthwhile.
Class of Labor
As with many terms describing social class, working class is defined and used in many different
ways. The most general defined as that the working class includes all those who have nothing
to sell but their labor-power and skills.
This is classified into TWO types:
Casual labour:
Employed as and when required for the execution of work, payment is made on the
basis of the number of days the labour works. There is no provision of leave, expect the
weekly holidays. Also known as daily labour.
Regular Labour:
Generally includes supervisory personal that are required for more or less continuous
period during construction.
They are paid monthly wages and entitled to leave and other benefits.
Employee may be temporary or permanent.
Wages and Statutory Requirement:
Payment of Wages
Remuneration given to workers for work performed by them is known as wages.
Nominal Wages: Paid to the workers in the form of money, but it does not include the
value of any other benefit that may be provided.
Real Wages: Labour is entitled to different benefits, such as leave, medical care, house
rent allowance, bonus etc. If the value of such benefits is added to the nominal wage, it
is known as real wage.
Wages are paid to the labour based on two methods:
Time rate system: Depending upon time devoted to the work.
Piece rate system: Depending upon the quantity of work performed.
Statutory Requirement:
Minimum Wages Act, 1948
The Minimum Wages Act 1948 is an Act of Parliament concerning Indian labour law that fixed
the minimum wages that must be paid to skilled and unskilled labors.
Wages of a worker in any scheduled employment shall be paid on working day by,
o The 7th day after the last day of the wage period if the establishment has less
than 1000 employees.
o The 10th day after the last day of the wage period if the establishment has more
than 1000 employees.
The wages of an employee should be paid without any deduction expect those items
given below.
o Absence from duty.
o Loss of goods directly attributed to the neglect of employee.
o Accommodation provided by employer.
o Amenities & services provided by the employer.
o Income tax.
o Subscription to the provident fund
o Payment to LIC.
Workmen Compensation Act, 1923
Act was passed to protect victims of accident and their families from hardships. The
compensation is not payable for injuries due to,
Disobedience or negligence
Non observance of safety measures
Consumption of liquor
Diseases which are not contracted as a result of occupation.
Where as in case of death of a worker, compensation is paid under all circumstances.
Accidents are due to,
Human causes such as poor eye sight, negligence, effect of intoxicants.
Mechanical causes such as inadequate safety devices, live electrical equipments,
unreliable scaffoldings etc.
Environmental causes such as poor lighting, heat, noise etc.
The result of an accident may be.
Temporary disablement, which may be total or partial.
Permanent total/partial disablement.
Death
Contract Labour Act, 1970
This legislation regulates the employment of contract labour’s in establishments and by
contractors. The legislation is also applicable to contractors who employ workmen as contract
labours, or who employed on any day of the preceding 12 months. Authorities under the Act;
Registering of the Company – The Registering Officer of the area is the person to
whom application shall be made for the grant of certificate of registration, for the
purpose of engaging contract labours.
Licensing of contractor–A contractor shall obtain license for the purpose of engaging
contractors.
Inspectors - Inspectors shall be appointed for a particular area. He has the power to
enter at all reasonable hours any place where contract labour takes place, for the
purpose of verifying registers, records or notices, to examine persons, to collect
information, to seize or take copies of registers, records of wages, or notices, and to
exercise such other powers as is prescribed.
Considering Welfare and Health of Contract Labour: Following facilities are to be provided.
When work is likely to continue for more than 3 months, where labour is required to
halt at night. The contractor should provide rest rooms. Separate rooms for women.
For works likely to continue for more than six months and employing more than 100,
a canteen must be provided.
Restrooms must be maintained in clean and sanitary condition.
Labour Production Rate or Productivity:
Productivity in construction is broadly defined as output per labour hour.
Since labour constitutes a larger part of construction cost and the quantity of labour
hours is performing a task in construction is more easily influenced to the management
than material . This productivity, measure is often referred to as a labour productivity.
Labour productivity is a measure of the overall effectiveness of an operating system
in utilizing labour, equipment and capital to convert labour efforts into useful output
and is not a measure of capabilities of labour alone.
Construction output may be expressed as functional units or constant rate. Ex. Cubic
yard/hr or rate/hr.
Factors affecting Labour Productivity
The first determinant of labour productivity is human capital. Human capital is the
accumulated knowledge (from education and experience), skills, and expertise that the
average worker in an economy possesses. Typically the higher the average level of
education in an economy, the higher the accumulated human capital and the higher the
labour productivity.
The second factor that determines labour productivity is technological change.
Technological change is a combination of invention—advances in knowledge—and
innovation, which is putting that advance to use in a new product or service. Example1:
use of machines instead of tools and labour for transporting concrete from once place
to another. Example 2: Use of RMC (Ready Mix Concrete)
The third factor that determines labour productivity is economies of scale. Recall that
economies of scale are the cost advantages that industries obtain due to size. Use of
modern technology.
The labour characteristic include,
Age, skill and experience of work force
Leadership and motivation of workforce
The project work conditions include other factors:
Local climate
Local cultural characteristic, particularly in foreign operation
Contractual agreement
Equipment utilization
Labour availability
Job size and complexity
Job accessibility.
The non-productive activities include,
Strikes
Rework for correcting unsatisfactory work
Time off for union activities
Absentee time, including late start and early quits
Temporary work stoppage due to weather or material shortage
Other major factors are:
Tool Management
Equipment Management
Access Planning
Management Skills
Safety
Quality Control
Scheduling
Employee Training/ Skills
Employee Age
Temperature/ Humidity
Employee Motivation
Degree of Bilateral Communication
Construction Equipment:
A wide variety of relatively heavy machines which perform specific construction (or
demolition) functions under power. It is normal to classify construction machines in
accordance with their functions such as hoisting, excavating, hauling, grading, paving,
drilling, pile driving, etc. There have been few changes for many years in the basic types
of machines available for specific jobs, and few in the basic configurations of those that
have long been available. Design importance for new machines is on modifications that
increase speed, efficiency, and accuracy; that improve operator comfort and safety; and that
protect the public through sound attenuation and emission control. The selection of a
machine for a specific job is mainly a question of economics and depends primarily on the
ability of the machine to complete the job efficiently, and secondarily on its availability.
Classification of Construction Equipment
Construction equipment’s have been classified in various ways. The classification could be
on the basis of the function an equipment performs-for example, material loading function,
material- transporting function, etc. In the functional classification, equipments are grouped
into
Earthmoving equipment
Earth compacting equipment
Hauling equipment
Hoisting equipment
Conveying equipment
Pile driving equipment
Aggregate (CA and FA) production equipment
Vibrating equipment
And others various equipment related to concrete works.
It could be on the basis of the operation in which the equipment is used.
Excavator
Excavators are heavy equipment consisting of a boom, bucket and cab on a rotating
platform (known as the "house"). The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or
wheels. All movement and functions of the excavator are accomplished through the use of
hydraulic fluid, be it with rams or motors.
Dozer
A bulldozer is a crawler or caterpillar tracked tractor equipped with a substantial metal plate
known as a blade used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, etc., during construction
work Hydraulic cylinders enabled more precise manipulation of the blade and automated
controls. Wide tracks help distribute the bulldozer's weight over a large area (decreasing
pressure), thus preventing it from sinking in sandy or muddy ground.
Compactor
A compactor is a machine or mechanism used to reduce the size of waste material or soil
through compaction. A trash compactor is often used by homes and businesses to reduce
the volume of trash. This usually takes the form of hydraulically-powered sliding plates
which sweep out the collection hopper and compress the material into what has already
been loaded.
Graders
This usually takes the form of hydraulically-powered sliding plates which sweep out the
collection hopper and compress the material into what has already been loaded. The blade
can be extended from either side of the grader. Both ends of the blade can also be raised or
lowered depending on the application. Graders may be used for shallow ditching and fields.
Most models, however, are used for roadwork. Motor graders are used to smooth out the
surfaces on which roads are being laid, as well as to make the surface flat.
Dumpers
Dumper is a small diesel-powered vehicle used to carry loads and materials to the
construction sites. It has a towing eye on its back end, to tow such things as an air
compressor to run pneumatic drills. Using steel dumpers, heavy duty containers are handled
easily. The starting handle is used to start the dumper manually. Tipping, loading, refueling
and traveling are some of the factors which should be considered while starting the
dumpers.