Construction Management
STAGES IN A PROJECT
CONCEPT PLANNING DESIGNING EXECUTION OPERATION
Smooth execution means managing
• Cost
• Time
• Quality
• Unplanned field change
• Disputes
Characteristics of Construction Project
• Defined goal or objective
• Specific tasks not routinely performed
• Defined beginning and end
• Defined deliverables
• Resources being consumed
Uniqueness of construction projects
•Large capital expenditures (capital costs) for resources (materials, manpower, equipment).
•Temporary in nature with defined end time
•Non-repetitive in nature.
•Changes are invariable and are to be managed
•Several activities of multidisciplinary nature
•Multidisciplinary resources and skills.
•Managerial emphasis to complete
–Within stipulated time
–Within the authorized costs
–Adherence to the agreed quality standards
–Adherence to health & safety standards
•Have social, economical and environmental impacts
•Projects carried out in open conditions subject to weather conditions, prone for accidents requiring safety
arrangements.
•Projects are subjected to risks and uncertainties.
STAKEHOLDERS
• Stakeholder is a person, group of persons or organisations who are
actively involved in the project or those who have an interest in the
success of a project and its environment.
• owner/client,
• the project manager
• consultants
• construction agencies
• users
What is Construction Management
Management process is a process of setting goals ,planning and/or
controlling the organising and leading the execution of any type of
activity.
“Construction management (CM) entails the planning, scheduling,
evaluation, and controlling of construction tasks or activities to
accomplish specific objectives by effectively allocating and utilizing
appropriate labor, material, and time resources in a manner that
minimizes costs and maximizes customer/owner satisfaction.”
• the factors that need to be managed and controlled on a construction project in
order to produce a successful outcome
Cost- The fundamental goal is to maintain costs within or below budget parameters.
Time- The goal is to complete each of the work items within the time frame assigned.
Quality- All the aspects of the building not addressed by the other five values, such as aesthetic
impact, user perceptions, appropriateness of building materials etc.
Safety- Care must always be taken to ensure that the building process and the building itself
do not create unacceptable hazards to workers or users.
Cost influence curve
Importance of Construction management
• It helps in achieving group goals
• Optimum utilization of resources
• Reduces cost
• Establishes sound organization
Importance of Construction management
• Construction management practices invariably lead to “maximum
production at least cost”. A good construction management, results in
completion of a construction project with in the stipulated budget.
• Construction management provides importance for optimum utilization of
resources. In other words, it results in completion of a construction project
with judicious use of available resources.
• Construction management provides necessary leadership, motivates
employees to complete the difficult tasks well in time and extracts potential
talents of its employees.
• Construction management is beneficial to society as the effective and
efficient management of construction projects will avoid, escalation of
costs, time overrun, wastage of resources of environment
Project life cycle
Project life cycle
1. Project Initiation
• Initiation is the first phase of the project lifecycle. This is where the project’s value and feasibility are
measured. Project managers typically use two evaluation tools to decide whether or not to pursue a project:
• Business Case Document – This document justifies the need for the project, and it includes an estimate of
potential benefits.
• Feasibility Study – This is an evaluation of the project’s goals, timeline and costs to determine if the project
should be executed. It balances the requirements of the project with available resources to see if pursuing
the project makes sense.
• Teams abandon proposed projects that are labelled unfeasible. However, projects that pass these two tests
can be assigned to a project team or designated project office.
2. Project Planning
• Once the project is labelled feasible, it needs a solid plan to guide the team, as well as keep them on time
and on budget. A well-written project plan gives guidance for obtaining resources, acquiring financing and
procuring required materials. The project plan gives the team direction for producing quality outputs,
handling risk, creating acceptance, communicating benefits to stakeholders and managing suppliers.
• The project plan also prepares teams for the obstacles they might encounter over the course of the project,
and helps them understand the cost, scope and timeframe of the project.
Project life cycle
3. Project Execution
• This is the phase that is most commonly associated with project management. Execution is all about building deliverables
that satisfy the customer. Team leaders make this happen by allocating resources and keeping team members focused on
their assigned tasks.
• Execution relies heavily on the planning phase. The work and efforts of the team during the execution phase are derived
from the project plan.
• As teams execute their project plan, they must constantly monitor their own progress.
• To guarantee delivery of what was promised, teams must monitor tasks to prevent scope creep, calculate key performance
indicators and track variations from allotted cost and time. This constant vigilance helps keep the project moving ahead
smoothly.
4. Project Closure
• Teams close a project when they deliver the finished project to the customer, communicating completion to stakeholders
and releasing resources to other projects. This vital step in the project lifecycle allows the team to evaluate and document
the project and move on the next one, using previous project mistakes and successes to build stronger processes and
more successful teams.
• Although construction project is complex, breaking it down into these four distinct cycles can help the project team
manage even the most complex projects and use time and resources wisely.
The Project Life cycle
Project Planning
• It is the basic function of management. It deals with chalking out a future
course of action and deciding in advance the most appropriate course of
actions for achievement of predetermined goals.
• Planning is necessary to ensure proper utilization of human and non
human resources.
• This provides the baseline for project control
Project Planning
Typical project Cost and staffing level across the project life cycle
Project Influence Diagram
Scheduling
Scheduling is the determination of the timing and sequence of operations in the
project and their assembly to give the overall completion time.
Scheduling includes the following:
1. Determination of the amount of work to be done.
2. The order in which the work is to be performed at each stage
3. The time when each part of the work will start.
4. Allocation of the quantity and rate of output of departments.
5. The date of starting of each unit of work at each stage along the route to be
followed.
Different Planning Techniques
• Bar Charts or Gantt Chart
• CPM techniques
• PERT techniques
• Simulations‐ Monte Carlo
Advantages of Planning &Scheduling
1. Alternative methods of construction and the effects of likely constraints can be examined at the
planning stage and the most economical methods identified.
2. The time of starting each activity is known and therefore prior and adequate arrangements for
the provision of resources, such as men, material, machines and money at each stage of
construction can be made.
3. Resource utilisation can be optimised and the available resources directed towards various
activities to the best advantage.
4. The actual progress of each activity can be monitored with reference action in speeding up the
work taken up, before it causes a hindrance in other related activities.
5. The effect of any changes that takes place due to variations in productivity errors, whether
geological conditions or modifications made in the original plans can be properly evaluated and
the program suitably amended.
6. The inter-relationship of various activities and the relative importance of each at any stage of
construction are known and this help in fixing priorities properly.
7. The ultimate advantage to be gained by scheduling is that the construction work can be executed
in an efficient manner without wastage of any of the inputs, resulting in maximum possible
economy.
Executing
The process of completing the work defined in the project management plan
to satisfy the project specifications.
Monitoring and controlling
It is to track review and regulate the progress and performance of the project.
The areas in which changes to the plan are required and intimate the
corresponding changes and identified in this process.
Closing
Processes performed to finalize all activities across all process groups to
formally close the project or phase.
The basic requirements to prepare a constructi
on plan
• Activities
• Durations
•Relationships
•Construction Methodology
•Resources
Project Planning
• Project Planning Step1–Define the WBS
• Project Planning Step 2 –Obtain Durations and
resources for each activity
• Project Planning Step 3 –Obtain the relationships between activities
WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a hierarchical breakdown of the scope or requirement of the project into a
series of manageable work packages or areas that can be estimated, planned and assigned to the appropriate
person or department for completion.
• The first two levels of the WBS (the root node and Level 2) define a set of planned outcomes that
collectively and exclusively represent 100% of the project scope.
• At each subsequent level, the children of a parent node collectively and exclusively represent 100% of the
scope of their parent node.
In order to prepare a good WBS, you need to have
a good knowledge of construction practices
A WBS should be comprehensive.
There should be no gaps in the job-logic
WBS
Engineering Preconstruction Materials Project
Mobilization
Activities Activities Procurement Equipment Closeout
Permits Labor Inspection
Shop Drawings Sampling
Bonds Resources, Housekeeping
Construction of Testing
Insurance Formwork Documentation
Elements Site Investigation Order time
What kinds of data should you collect along
with an activity ?
Quantitative data Qualitative data
Duration Description
Cost Task Number
Resource requirements Cost codes
ACTIVITY RESOURCE & DURATION ESTIMATING
• Activity resource estimating schedule activity resources involves determining
what resources and what quantities of each resource will be used, and when
each resource will be available to perform project activities.
• The Activity Duration Estimating process requires that the amount of work effort
required to complete the schedule activity. The assumed amount of resources
to be applied to complete the schedule activity is estimated and the number of
work periods needed to complete the schedule activity is determined.
ACTIVITY SEQUENCING
• Activity sequencing involves identifying and documenting the
logical relationships among schedule activities.
• Schedule activities can be logically sequenced with proper
precedence relationships, as well as leads and lags to support later
development of a realistic and achievable project schedule.
Advantages of Scheduling
1. Alternative methods of construction and the effects of likely constraints can be examined at the planning
stage and the most economical methods identified.
2. The time of starting each activity is known and therefore prior and adequate arrangements for the provision
of resources, such as men, material, machines and money at each stage of construction can be made.
3. Resource utilisation can be optimised and the available resources directed towards various activities to the
best advantage.
4. The actual progress of each activity can be monitored with reference action in speeding up the work taken
up, before it causes a hindrance in other related activities.
5. The effect of any changes that takes place due to variations in productivity errors, whether geological
conditions or modifications made in the original plans can be properly evaluated and the program suitably
amended.
6. The inter-relationship of various activities and the relative importance of each at any stage of construction
are known and this help in fixing priorities properly.
7. The ultimate advantage to be gained by scheduling is that the construction work can be executed in an
efficient manner without wastage of any of the inputs, resulting in maximum possible economy.
Construction scheduling Techniques-1 Gantt Charts or Bar charts
A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart developed as a production control tool in 1917 by Henry L.
Gantt, an American engineer and social scientist. Used in project management, a Gantt chart
provides a graphical illustration of a schedule that helps to plan, coordinate, and track specific
tasks in a project
• Invented by Henry L. Gantt
Gantt Chart
Time
Job /Activities
Steps involved in the preparation of Gantt chart
• Divide the project into many activities
• List out the activities
• Find the inter relationship among these activities
• Arrange the activities in a systematic way
• Calculate the quantity of work and time required
Advantages
• Very easy to understand – especially for unskilled workers and laymen
• Can be used as a good summary tool ‐especially at review meetings
• Can be easily changed
• Good for repetitive projects
• Ideal for projects that simple, sequential, with low quality personnel
Limitations
• They can be used only for small projects
• It does not show the interdependencies between the various activities in the project.
• The progress of the work in the project cannot be monitored scientifically.
• Delays in the work cannot be detected.
• It does not indicate the critical activities of the project.
• The financial aspect of the project is not addressed n the Gannt chart.
• Bar chart cannot be used as a controlling device by the Project manager to take any timely action.