CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY (TCW2207)

Introduction to Construction Site Management

 Organizations found in the Construction
Industry
Organizations that monitor the construction industry in Zimbabwe are:
• The government, through the Factories Inspectorate - which monitors
compliance by contractors of health safety requirements. Contractors
(together with clients) must also comply with relevant local authority
regulations. Other government departments may get involved when
necessary, depending on nature of project; e.g. the project must comply
with the environmental impact assessment (EIA) policy or laws.
• The Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers (ZIE), which lays down codes of
practice by contractors and professional engineers.
• The Zimbabwe Association of Consulting Engineers (ZACE), which lays
down codes of practice by consulting engineers
• The Construction Industry Federation of Zimbabwe (CIFOZ), which lays
down codes of practice in the construction industry
• The Institute of Architects of Zimbabwe and Architects Council (IAZZC),
which lays down codes of practice of architects in Zimbabwe
• The Zimbabwe Institute of Quantity Surveyors
• The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union
 What is a project

• A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to

create a unique product or services (PMBOK).

• Temporary means that every project has a definite

beginning and definite end.
• Unique means that a product or services is different
in some distinguishing way from all other products or
services
 What is a project

• Name any projects that you know

• Name any construction projects that you know
Introduction to project life cycle
 Engineering drawings

Classification of Civil engineering drawings

• Sketch (preliminary drawings)- Proposals
 Preliminary designs at brief/report stage
 Detailed at this stage a waste of time as project scheme
might change

• Tender drawings
 Assist the tenderers come up with price for construction
of the works
 Not meant for construction
 Engineering drawings

Classification of Civil engineering drawings

• Contract drawings
 Detailed drawings for construction
 If there are no changes on tender drawings are not
altered during tendering, the contract drawings will
be same as tender drawings
 Engineering drawings

Classification of Civil engineering drawings

• Working drawings
 During construction stage
 Fill gaps in constructional details not reflected on
tender drawings
 Also cover variations
 Engineering drawings

Classification of Civil engineering drawings

• Completion drawings
 Refered to as “Record” or “As built” drawings
 Hardly a construction project is carried out exactly as
per the working drawing
 They show the exact work as constructed
 For archiving
 Engineering drawings

Presentation of drawings
• Plans
 Site plan
 Floor plan
• Elevations
• Sections
• Details
• Schedules
 Engineering drawings

Interpretation of drawings
• Scales
• Symbols
• Projections
• Line work
 BUILDING REGULATIONS

A. Building Regulations
• A Statutory Instrument
• Specify the minimum specifications (performance
standards) for design and construction of buildings
• In Zimbabwe, the Model Building By-laws is the chief
of these regulations
 BUILDING REGULATIONS

Building Regulations
B. Building Control
• Although Engineers are engaged to supervise works,
the control of works is vested in the Local Authority
Building Inspectors
 CONSTRUCTION REGULATIONS

Construction Regulations
• Are Statutory Instruments made under the Factories
Works Act , Health & Safety Act & Environmental
Management Act
• They set out the minimum legal requirements for
construction works
• Relate primarily to the health, safety, welfare of the
workforce and environmental protection
• Requirements contained in these documents must be
adhered to during planning as well as actual construction
 Contract documents

Contracts for civil engineering works are usually

based on contract documents comprising the
following :-
• Conditions of contract
• Drawings
• Specifications
• Bills of quantities
 Contract documents

• Conditions of contract
 Sets out the duties, rights, privileges and obligations
of the parties concerned
 Contract documents

• Drawings
 Set out the situation and constructional and other
details of the works and may include details of the
construction programmes
 Contract documents

• Specification
 They supplements the drawings in giving a detailed
engineering and technical description of the works
and nature and quality of materials, workmanship
and where necessary, methods to be used in
construction
 Contract documents

• Bill of Quantities
 A document containing a list of items giving the
estimated quantities and descriptions of all the work
to be performed and materials to be provided under
the contract
 The quantities and descriptions are derived from
drawings and specifications
 Payment Certificates

• Payment Certificates are generated on site from measurement of

works executed by the Contractor.
• The Payment Certificate will also include payment for approved
materials on site, establishment costs and any other approved
variation costs in respect to the works themselves or price escalations
on labor, materials, plant or equipment.
• The rates used for payment are those contained in the Bill of
Quantities as tendered for by the Contractor.
• Payment Certificates are usually raised on a monthly basis with the
Final Payment Certificate being issued at the end of the Works.
• Usually a retention of up to 10% of the Contract Sum is retained by
the Client which is released after the Maintenance Period of the Works
is attained.
 Construction team

• Any construction project consist of a number of key

players or professionals who perform different roles
to achieve the project goals.
• The construction management team consist of land
surveyors, town planners, quantity surveyors,
contractors, architects, engineers, artisans and
generals hand workers.
 Duties and responsibilities of construction team

• During a construction project, a number of people are involved

each playing a part to make the project a success, these are then
combined together to come up with a project team.

The project team consist of the following:

1. The Client
2. Project sponsor
3. Project manager / consultant
4. Architect
5. Quantity surveyor
6. Service engineer ( mechanical , electrical and civil engineers)
7. Structural engineer
8. Contractors (main and sub-contractors)
 Duties and responsibilities of construction team

The Client
• Responsible for making the decision to invest in the Project
• Responsible for the approval of the project and thereafter providing a sustained
commitment to the project.
• To clearly define the scope of the project.
• Ensures that a brief is developed that clearly reflects the projects objectives.
• He/she Resolve issues pertaining project.
• Approve major changes to the project.
• Appoints the Project Sponsor for example many people want to sponsor a project
targeting profit returns, therefore he/she has to choose from the pool of sponsors
available.
 Duties and responsibilities of construction team

The Project Manager

• Has overall responsibilities of a project.
• His main objective is to successfully complete and handover a project to the client,
which satisfies the client’s requirements. This must be achieved in time, at
minimum cost to the client, and according to specifications so that the structure
can be able to give service for which it was built. A project manager can either be
an organization or an individual. If it is an individual, this could either be a
quantity surveyor, architect or engineer.
• The Project Manager is impartial and will oversee the contract to ensure that the
client’s project is built as he expects it to be built. At the time the engineer
controls the financial payments from the client to the contractor .The contractor
has the responsibility to construct the works in accordance with the contract
documents .The quality of the works is overseen by the Resident Engineer,
sometimes assisted by a clerk of works. The contractor may employ sub-
contractors to carry out some of the work. These sub-contractors deal only with
the contractor because it is the contractor who is responsible for the construction
of the works and is therefore responsible for the works of the sub-contractors. The
Bill of Quantities is based on an approximate measure at design stage, and re-
measured at the end of the contract to give the final contract sum
 Duties and responsibilities of construction team

The Architect
• The architect help the client to formulate his requirements in an
understandable form, bearing in mind any statutory conditions that
may apply. He or she helps the client to come up with the desired
structure putting into consideration the beauty of the structure. It
will be advantageous to the client at this stage if he could be shown
work of a similar nature so that he could obtain a visual impression of
shape, type of materials, size etc. if this is not possible, pictorial sketches
and/or model can be used, but it is often difficult for the client to visualize
the true structure from these very artistic representations.
• A professional person who prepares architectural designs, which will be
handed over to the engineer for structural design. His work gives shape to
buildings; the architect is only involved in building projects and not in civil
works projects like roads and dams.
 Duties and responsibilities of construction team

The Land Surveyor

• A professional person responsible for measurement of distances on
the ground and different alignments and relative positions on the
ground. He prepares maps and site plans. Land surveying enables
setting out for the construction of buildings, and proper alignment
in road and dam projects.

Surveyor is the custodian of land information. The size, topography,

location, features on and beneath the land upon which any
development is built, is determined first by surveyors. Without this
information, no proper, adequate, effective and accurate planning,
design and execution of building projects can be carried out. He makes
use of the theodolite and the staff to measure different ground levels
of the ground and he does the setting out.
 Duties and responsibilities of construction team

The Site Agent

Characteristics of a good site agent
• a) good motivation of the workforce
• b) ability to communicate
• c) conversant with construction process and
contracts
• d) foresight and vision
• e) integrity
 Duties and responsibilities of construction team

Site management team comprise:

• The resident engineer representing the client.
• The site engineer/agent representing the contractor.
• The quantity surveyor - the client and the contractor can each
employ a quantity surveyor.

NB: The Quantity surveyors carry out interim monthly measures

upon which interim monthly payments are made; they also carry
out the final measure at the end of the contract upon which the
final contract sum is based.
 Duties and responsibilities of construction team

Workforce at a construction site include:

• Supervisors (e.g Engineers)
• Foremen
• Operatives - technicians e.g. land surveyors, Bricklayers,
Plumbers, Carpenters, Painters, Concrete mixer operators and
placing -manually or with machine, General hand,
Earthmoving machine operators, Drivers, etc.
• Site clerical staff
• Site security staff
 Major problems in Construction Industry.

• Project Management
• Undefined Goals
• Changing Scope
• No Accountability
• Lack of Risk Management
• Poor Communication
• Unrealistic Expectations etc.
 Site Productivity
Factors affecting site productivity: external and internal
• Unforeseen events (weather, ground conditions, on-site accidents,
acts of God, natural disasters.
• Inflation/fluctuations in material prices.
• Energy crisis/costs
• Changes in government policies
• Rapid technological advances
• Late payments
• Reworks
• Undervalued work/poor estimations
• Disputes/ conflicts
• Inadequate supply or high cost of needed resources: money, labour,
etc.
 Site Productivity
Factors affecting site productivity: workforce related
1) Level of commitment;
2) Level of empowerment;
3) Level of skill and experience
4) Level of familiarity with current job and conditions:
5) Level of involvement of direct labor or subcontract;
6) Workforce Absenteeism;
7) Level of staff turnover/churn rate;
8) Health of the workforce;
 Site Productivity
Factors affecting site productivity: project management
issues
1) Adequacy of planning and risk management process;
2) Coordination; supervision; performance monitoring & control;
3) Project organizational culture;
4) Relationship management;
5) Competencies of the project team;
6) Project management style;
7) Frequency of design changes;
8) Client's over influence on the construction process;
 Site Productivity
Factors affecting site productivity: technology/process
1) Suitability or adequacy of: Plant & equipment;
2) Method of construction;
3) Technology employed;
4) Lack of awareness of or training on new technologies;
5) Resistance to accept new technologies;
6) Inadequate IT infrastructure and application in construction
industry;
 Site Productivity
Factors affecting site productivity: project
characteristics
1) Site conditions: access, subsoil; topography;
2) Project complexity;
3) Buildability issues;
4) Site location and environment;
5) Type of procurement adopted;
 Site Productivity
Suggest ways of improving productivity at a
construction site.
 Introduction to methods of planning and
scheduling

• Any project involves planning, scheduling and

controlling a number of interrelated activities with use of
limited resources namely men, machines, materials,
money and time.
• A project may be extremely large and complex such as
construction of a housing development, highway, a
shopping complex, etc.
• It is necessary that managers must have a dynamic
planning and scheduling system to produce the best
possible results and also to react immediately to the
changing conditions and make necessary changes in the
plan and schedule.
 Introduction to methods of planning and
scheduling

• After the project is properly planned, it is scheduled.

• Scheduling is a process of setting in order the various planned
activities by fixing the starting and finishing dates to each part
of the work in such a manner that the whole work should be
done in an orderly and systematic way.
• As every attempt is made to stick to the planned schedule,
some variation is bound to take place on account of some
factors which cannot be foreseen (project risks) at the time of
making schedule, so this necessitates rescheduling of the
project during the progress of the work.
• Planning department will have to frame a time schedule for a
project which will assign definite timings for individual
constructional operations leading to finished product.
 Introduction to methods of planning and
scheduling

Advantages of project planning and scheduling.

• It will give clear idea about the type and quantity of the resources required
at different stages of the project and the duration of supply of the resources.
• It will also show the quantities and duration of various operations for which
plant or equipment (if needed) can be arranged well in time, so as to avoid
unnecessary expenditure for keeping the plant idle for dates on which it may
not be required.
• It will help in arranging labour, both skilled and unskilled, as regards
quantity and period for which it may be needed.
• The money required at different stages will also be known from the
different data.
• The total time to complete the project is known.
• From the actual progress charts, it can be known whether the work is
lagging behind or not if the progress is slow, speeding up of the activities can
be arranges.
 Work Break Down Structures

• Commonly used tool for project planning

• WBS allows a decomposition of a project into
smaller independent and manageable work
packages, tasks and activities
• Facilitates cost and time estimation, resource
allocation and monitoring and control.
• A WBS is hierarchical in nature as it begins with the
final end product, followed by the major deliverables
which are then sub-divided into work packages.
 Gantt or Bar charts

• Gantt or bar charts are graphical representations of

activities and their duration.
• The project manager’s first task is to select the right
technique for the job. A complex project may be
planned using network analyses but for a singular
one such as a road that can be easily represented by
a singular or few activities, may require a bar chart
for overall control while some small parts may
benefit from network analysis at detailed level
Gantt or Bar charts
 Critical Path Method (Network diagrams)

• A project planning tool which is a schematic way of

displaying the logical relationships and
interdependencies among all project activities.
• It also identifies critical and non-critical activities of the
project.
• A critical path on a network denotes those activities
which are critical to the completion of the project.
• Under no circumstances should these activities be
delayed otherwise the project incurs an extension of
time which is undesirable for the client and the
contractor.
 Critical Path Method (Network diagrams)

• The Critical Path Method (CPM) is the most used

scheduling technique
• It calculates/determines the minimum completion
time for a project along with possible start & finish
times for the project
• The Critical path itself presents the set or sequence
of predecessor/successor activities which will take
the longest time to complete
 Critical Path Method (Network diagrams)

• The duration of the critical path is the sum of the

activities’ durations along the critical path
• Thus, the Critical path can be defined as the longest
possible path through the “network” of project
activities
• Any delays along the critical path would imply that
additional time would be required to complete the
project
 Resource planning

Resource is a physical variable such as –

• Men
• Material
• Machines
• Space
• Money
• Time
 Resource planning

Objectives of resource planning

• At the time of preparing the network of any project,
usually it is assumed that all resources needed for its
execution are available in plenty and no
consideration of resource constraints is taken into
account.
• However, resource constraints are encountered
during project execution. In such situations the
duration of the project may increase escalating the cost
of the project.
 Resource planning

• The planning of resources should be done in such a

manner that no increase or decrease in resource demand
may occur.
• As the engagement of skilled labour all a sudden is
difficult, similarly the lay off of the labour suddenly is more
difficult than their employment. Thus for a good resource
plan, it is essential that the project may be completed
during the stipulated period.
• To achieve this objective some times it becomes essential
to make changes in the earliest start time of some critical
activities or the execution of some activities may be
postponed for the time being.
 Resource planning

While taking the decision for postponing the execution

of any activity or effecting changes in the earliest time
of critical activities following points should be kept in
mind.
• Such activities should be started first, whose
completion duration is minimum.
• The activity having maximum time of completion
should be postponed.
• The activity having maximum float time should be
chosen for postponement first.
 Resource planning

Methods of resource planning

Depending upon the situation, the resource allocation
can be done by the following two methods.
1. Resource smoothing
2. Resource levelling
 Resource Smoothing

• Resource smoothing is done when there is restriction on

the duration of project completion time.
• The resource smoothing is applied in such a way that the
total project duration remains the same. i.e. there is no
change in the total duration of the project.
• First the periods of minimum demand, resources are
determined and the activities are shifted according to the
availability of float and requirement of resources.
• Thus the intelligent use of floats can smoothen the
demand to the maximum possible extent. This type of
resource allocation is known as resource smoothing
 Resource Smoothing
Steps in resource smoothing
1) The list of resources required for the execution of different activities is prepared
and the important activities are identified.
2) The resource profiles are prepared by resource aggregation and cumulative
resource requirements for each unit are plotted in the form of histogram.
3) The time periods of peak and low demand are identified and the peaks are
lowered and the troughs are filled up.
4) If there is no restraint on the availability of resources, the demand of resources
should be made as uniform as possible. This can be done by changing the time of
start and finish of non-critical activities in the first instance.

• These activities have some float. Hence the available float can be used for doing
adjustment in the start or finish of the concerned activities. Thus the peak demand
may be lowered by staggering the resource requirements with out delaying the
project duration.
 Resource levelling
• In a project, there are many activities which need varying
resources.
• The demand on specific resource should not increase beyond
the prescribed limit.
• If the demand of a resource increases more than its availability,
then the only alternative is to delay the activity having maximum
float. This process is called resource levelling.
• If there are more than one activities requiring the same
amount of resources, in that case activity having minimum
duration is chosen for resource reallocation.
• Resource levelling if adopted in case, there is restriction on the
availability of resources
 Resource levelling

Steps in resource levelling

1. The peak requirement of the resources is lowered by
staggering the resource input on non-critical activities.
If needed sub-critical and critical activities may also be
rescheduled to bring down demand than specified
limits. Thus the completion of project work may be
delayed due to resource constraints.
 Resource levelling

Steps in resource levelling

2. Either some of the concurrent activities may be
placed in series or the duration of critical activities may
be increased to reduce the peak demands below the
specified limits. This will increase the duration of the
project.
3. Rearrange the activities having larger magnitude of
positive float as resources can be diverted conveniently
from the activities having large amount of float.
 Resource levelling

Following procedures may be adopted –

• First the high peak of resource demand should be
lowered utilizing the free floats of the activities.
• Non-critical activities may be rescheduled to the
required extent utilizing the floats, starting with the
activity having larger float. If necessary critical activities
may also be tackled.
 THE END

ASANTE SANA!