MANAGEMENT OF

ENGINEERING PROJECTS
MSCEPM601
LECTURE 4
Construction Management
Dr Eng. ZJ Chihambakwe
Classification of construction projects
Generally speaking, you can separate construction project types into three
categories:
(i) Private construction;
• Residential Construction
• Commercial Construction
• Industrial Construction
(ii) State construction;
• projects commissioned by a county, city, municipality, government board,
public school board or any other state-funded entity
(iii) Federal Construction.
For example courthouses, government buildings, flood control projects, etc
Construction processes
• A typical construction project consists of groups of people, normally from
several organizations, that are hired and assigned to a project to build the
facility.
• Due to the relatively short life of a construction project, these people may
view the construction project as accomplishing short-term tasks. However,
the project manager of the construction team must instill in the team that
building long-term relationships is more important in career advancement
than trying to accomplish short-term tasks.
• With all the diversity involved in a construction project, people must be
managed so they work together efficiently to accomplish the goal
• The key to a successful construction project is properly skilled construction
managers. These individuals possess the ability to recognize the degree of
uncertainty at any point in the execution of the project and to manage the
efforts of others to achieve clearly defined objectives that result in
successful completion of the final product.
 Construction processes
• The construction contractor is responsible for the performance of all
work in accordance with the contract documents that have been
prepared by the designer. This includes furnishing all labor, equipment,
material, and know-how necessary to build the project.
• The construction phase is important because most of the project
budget is expended during construction.
• Also, the operation and maintenance of the completed project is highly
dependent on the quality of work that is performed during
construction.
• The contractor must prepare an accurate estimate of the project,
develop a realistic construction schedule, and establish an effective
project control system for cost, schedule, and quality
Construction processes
The Construction Process is composed of six distinct stages, which are:
• Concept.
• Contracts and Bid Documents.
• Bidding.
• Construction.
• Construction Payments.
• Completion.
Construction processes
Stages of construction planning
1. Pretender planning
The contract documentation and tender drawings will provide a useful starting point
but most Estimators will need to visit the proposed site to get a ‘feel’ for the contract
and the environment in which the work will take place.
2. Contract planning
It is the planning after the acceptance of a tender and award after a contract. It
includes following
• Preparation of labor requirement
• Material statement chart
• Master plan for carrying the work
• Detailed drawings
• Dates for making orders for supply of material
• Sequence of operations and their inter relationship to be planned
Construction processes
Contracts
• A contract is an undertaking by a person or a firm to do any work under
certain terms and conditions, which should invariably be in writing. The
work may be for the construction or maintenance and repairs, for the
supply of labor or the transport of materials, etc.
Contract Agreement
Contract agreements are fall into the following categories:
1. Contracts-Contracts are of the following types Item rate Contracts,
Percentage Rate Contracts, Lump sum contracts.
2. Piece work agreements- these are agreements for doing the work at
agreed rates, without reference to the total quantity of work or time, can be
Piece-work or Work Order.
Construction processes
Contractual Arrangements
1. design/bid/build contract
It is a three-party arrangement involving the owner, designer, and contractor.
This method involves three steps: a complete design is prepared, followed by
solicitation of competitive bids from contractors, and the award of a contract
to a construction contractor to build the project
2. design/build contract
is often used to shorten the time required to complete a project or to
provide flexibility for the owner to make changes in the project during
construction. It is a two-party arrangement between the owner and the
design/build firm.
Construction processes
Contractual Arrangements
3. owner/agent arrangement
Some owners perform part of the design with in-house personnel and
contract the balance of design to one or more outside design
consultants. Construction contracts may be assigned to one contractor
or to multiple contractors
4. A construction management (CM) contract
can be assigned to a CM firm to coordinate the project for the owner.
The CM contract is a four-party arrangement involving the owner,
designer, CM firm, and contractor
Construction processes
Selection of design firms and construction contractors
• Selection of the designer and contractor varies depending on many
factors including the type, size, and complexity of the project; the
owner's knowledge in handling engineering and construction
projects, and how soon the owner wants the project completed. The
method of selection depends on the owner's project strategy and the
contract arrangement chosen by the owner.
A Method Statement

A method statement is a document that describes how to do a task safely. You can
think of a method statement like a set of instructions or a plan for the work
A method statement will usually contain a lot of information about a task or activity
such as:
• The project
• The specific activity the method statement is for
• A description of the work
• Start date and duration of the task
• Hours of work
• Who the assessor is
• Who has key responsibilities
A Method Statement

• The hazards associated with the task

• The hazards associated with the site and environment
• References to other documents such as risk assessments that apply to the
task
• The planned work procedure, the sequence of work and control measures
• PPE requirements
• Management arrangements
• Monitoring arrangements
• First aid and welfare arrangements
• Emergency procedures
Construction programmes
• typically refers to the sequence in which a series of tasks must be carried
out so that a project (or part of a project) can be completed
• Although the activities exhibited in the project plan vary widely with the
type of structure, in general, construction work programmes propose a
specific order to carry out with a project
• Construction programmes are working documents which can be
continually updated to account for unforeseen changes to schedule,
additional requirements or delays
• Every construction project must have a construction programme, not just
because it is a contractual requirement, but because it is an essential
planning and management tool (when used correctly) that helps ensure
projects’ success
Construction programmes
Construction Programmes will often identify:
• Dates and durations allocated to tasks.
• A critical path (the sequence of critical tasks upon which the overall duration of
the programme is dependent).
• Tasks which can only be carried out after other tasks have been completed.
• Tasks which can be carried out simultaneously.
• 'Float' within tasks that are not on the critical path (that is, delays that can be
incurred without affecting the critical path). Identifying float can be helpful in
highlighting where it may be possible to transfer resources to tasks that are on
the critical path.
• The need for specific resources such as plant, services or materials and their lead
time.
Resource levelling
• Resource levelling is a project management technique that involves
resolving overallocation or scheduling conflicts to ensure a project can be
completed with the available resources. Resources include the time,
materials, or tools needed to complete a project.
• This technique contributes to not only project management, but also helps
maintain work-life balance for the team with the following benefits
❖To optimize your resources
❖To minimize deficits
❖To prevent task overloading
❖To ensure the quality of a project output
Resource levelling
Resource levelling strategies
1. Critical Path Method (CPM)
The critical path method is a common
resource levelling technique that’s used to
calculate project duration without taking
resource limitations into account.
2. Fast tracking
This schedule compression technique can
only work if the activities can be
overlapped with one another to a certain
extent to complete project on or before
deadline
Resource levelling
Resource levelling strategies
3. Crashing
when fast tracking can’t be applied or it’s
not effective enough, you can implement
the crashing technique. This is where
additional resources are allocated to a
project to shorten the timeline
4. Critical chain method
The critical chain method is an updated
version of the critical path method. Unlike
the critical path method, the critical chain
method takes resource limitations into
account
Resource levelling
Resource levelling tools
• Use Gantt charts: A Gantt chart is a bar chart that visualizes a project
schedule and can be ideal for identifying and planning the critical path.
• Leverage project management software: Some project management
software comes with resource leveling algorithms that can help resolve
overallocation conflicts
• Draw network diagrams: A network diagram is another type of visual
representation of a project’s schedule. It’s shown as a chart with sequences
of boxes and arrows to depict the chronology of tasks.
• Use previous projects as a reference: Keep an archive of past project plans
and schedules so that you can reference them when doing a similar project
to come up with a more accurate project plan
• Make realistic estimations of resource needs: Resource leveling efforts
have a better chance of succeeding if you clearly define the project scope
up front and make realistic estimates of resource needs.
Construction material management
• Material management can be defined as a process that coordinates
planning, assessing the requirement, sourcing, purchasing,
transporting, storing and controlling of materials, minimizing the
wastage and optimizing the profitability by reducing cost of material.
• Construction material management is the process of sourcing
appropriate materials at a reasonable cost and ensuring their
availability at the right place and time to meet project requirements
and deadlines.
Construction material management
Components of material management are:
• Material estimation, budgeting, planning and programming.
• Scheduling , purchasing and procurement
• Receiving and inspection.
• Inventory control, storage and warehousing
• Material handling and transport
• Waste management
Construction material management
Objectives of materials management
• Efficient materials planning
• Buying or Purchasing
• Procuring and receiving
• Storing and inventory control
• Supply and distribution of materials
• Quality assurance
• Good supplier and customer relationship
• Improved departmental efficiency
To fulfil all these objectives, it is necessary to establish harmony and good co-
ordination between all the employees of material management department
and this department should have good co-ordination with the other
departments of the organization to serve all production centres
 Facility Management
• Facility Management is an organizational function which integrates people, place
and process within the built environment with the purpose of improving the quality
of life of people and the productivity of the core business
• It ensures the functionality, comfort, safety, sustainability and efficiency of the
built environment - the buildings we live and work in and their surrounding
infrastructure
Facility management involves:
• Building operations like cleaning, security, maintenance and grounds management
• Return-to-work processes and policies
• Emergency and disaster mitigation and response
• Sustainability planning
• Project management and budgeting
• Real estate management and space planning
• Business continuity planning
 Facility Management
Facility management contributes to an organization’s strategy and bottom line
in a variety of ways;
• Contributes to operational efficiencies
• Plans and delivers infrastructure needs to support productivity
• Manages risks including those to facilities, employees, suppliers and business
reputation
• Mitigates and reduce environmental impact
• Promote sustainable tactics for long-term cost management
• Leverage technological solutions
• Mitigate and overcome effects of natural disasters
• Guarantee compliance
• Leverage security
Enterprise Environmental Factors
• Enterprise Environment Factors (EEFs) include all policies, practices,
procedures, and legislation that exist both inside and outside of the
organization that will impact the way you manage a project
• When managing a business organization, being influenced by
enterprise environmental factors (EEFs) is inseparable. EEFs are
responsible for giving you a controlled organization environment to
complete your project
• Being aware of the potential EEF that may affect your project
beforehand is crucial for project planning. Doing this allows you to
anticipate any problems that may arise while processing the project
• EEFs provide the guidelines for managing your project. The EEFs in
your project planning is subject to changes depending on your project
progress.
Enterprise Environmental Factors
• Enterprise environmental factors may come as external or internal to the
organizations involved
1. External Factors
• Marketplace Condition
• Political Factor
• Social and Cultural Influences
• Stakeholder Expectations
• Risk Appetite
• Contractual Restrictions
• Industry Standards
• Academic Research
• Commercial Databases
• Financial Factor
• Environmental Elements
Enterprise Environmental Factors
2. Internal Factors
• Organizational Culture and Administration
• Expectations from stakeholders
• Geographical Factor like factory location
• Existing Facilities and Resources
• Market Research
• Architecture and Infrastructure
• Available Technology Software
• Resource Policies and Availability
• Financial Standing
• Employees’ Expertise
• Security Policies
Health and Safety
• Inadequate or the lack of occupational health and safety not only negatively
affects the traditional construction project parameters of cost, quality and
schedule, but the sustainability of the environment.
• Occupational fatalities, injuries and disease constitute defects as they are
not project requirements. They also contribute to the cost of construction
and development as workers’ compensation insurance is included as a
labour overhead and the cost of accidents is integrated into the cost
structure of contractors.
• This risk is manifested in increased cost of construction, damage to the
environment, non-conformance to quality standards and schedule overruns.
• Another aspect is that of contractor and client image which is negatively
affected by accidents.
Health and Safety
Know the health and safety regulations, roles and responsibilities such as
• Health and safety at work act
• Reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences act
• Manual handling operations regulations
• Control of substances hazardous to health
• Working at height regulations
• Control of asbestos regulations
• Provision and use of work equipment
• Personal protective equipment
• Construction (design and management) regulations
• Confined spaces regulations
Health and Safety
Tools and techniques
• According to Kerzner (1984) oral communication which is preferred by most
people in the construction industry is a major source of communication
breakdown.
• Oosthuizen (1994) maintains this problem can be circumvented by formalising the
process of communication and recommends the use of checklists and the
implementation of a Quality Management System (QMS).
• Hood (1994) contends that problems related to health and safety, productivity and
quality can frequently be traced to substandard, inconsistenly applied or non-
existent operating procedures and practices. Standard operating practices and
procedures are the core component of quality management and health and safety
management systems as they guarantee uniformity of operation throughout an
organisation. They effectively ensure that each time a task is performed it is done
consistently, correctly and safely.
Ultimately the implementation of a QMS on a project will ensure that construction
conforms to specified requirements in all respects as it identifies the procedures,
checklists, resources, activities and responsibilities.