Uc:-Planning and organizing work activities

Planning and organizing

Supervises planning processes and organization of on-site building or construction
work projects, including instituting procedures and systems
 Develops sound and safe practices in relation to structural procedures on site
 Coordinates and manages construction and demolition processes
 Monitors building or construction costing systems
 Manages preparation of project expenditure schedules
 Supervises materials' procurement systems
 Manages selection, engagement and performance of building and construction
contractors
 Administers legal obligations of building or construction contracts
 Establishes construction work policies, practices and procedures
 Prepares and implements environmental management and energy conservation
plans, including workplace sustainability policy
 Advises and coordinates design process and obtains planning approval

LO1: Set Objectives

Project Management- refers to the series of methods and tools that are used to
plan and implement the change or the project from its inception to its completion.
Project management allows you to take highly complex task and break them down
into manageable process, but it can also be useful when you have simple change to
make. Whenever there are possibilities of having multiple outcomes or where the
risks of problems arising, project management helps to direct the project’s
momentum and result. To manage a project successfully you can employ a variety
of project management methods tools, all of which assist in a project’s planning,
assessing of options, risk management, and organization resources and actions.
What do you mean by Projects?
A project can be a small as moving your desk from one floor to another or as
complicated as moving your entire company from one location to another. It can
involve five people or five hundred people- it all depends on the type of
organization you have and what it is that you are trying to accomplish. There are,
however, certain characteristics that most project have in common. They are
usually:
 One-time events or pieces of works
 Finite in the length of time they will take
 Required to be completed by a certain deadline
 Operating on the fixed budget
 Requiring coordination of different people, resources, processes, etc.
 Comprised of multiple phases or stage
 Involving some level of risk or consequences should the project fail
Some common projects that benefit from the product management tools and
methods include:
 Launching a new product or process
 Construction Jobs
 Design and implementation of new software
 Changing out existing equipment at a manufacturing plant
 Reorganizing a department, division or organization

Basic Project Management System and Tools

Project management is such a common need that there are professional
certifications and degrees for you to learn how to do well. However, you don’t
have to have formal qualification to be a good project manager. Through these are
the main two systems that use their own procedure for organizing the work that has
to be done.
Some are specific to a certain type of industry or a certain type of process. Yet
most of them have some common basic elements.
 Project Definition
 Planning
 Working
 Monitoring
 Completing
 A project Definition which describes the scope of the project as well
as objectives, key evaluation criteria, deliverables, and any identified
risks or constraints.
 A planning phase that evolves from the project definition and breaks
the project down into stages or phases establishes a timeframe, a
project team, the budget and financial reporting process, as well as
contingency plan. A number of project management tools such as
Gantt charts and Critical Path Analysis charts are useful.
 A working phase where role and responsibilities are assigned,
communication is the key, and delegation can be very important to
your success.
 A monitoring phase where you remain in communication with the
project team and respond to and prevent any unforeseen issues.
 A closing phase where you complete all the phases of the project and
then evaluate the success of the project. You may also supporting
employees through training or other assistance if it is needed.
Project Definition
The first and vital step of project management is to accurately define the project and what it will
entail. Why are you undertaking this project in the first place? if you can’t clearly define the
reason for starting the project as well as your desired goals and objectives, you will waste a great
deal of time and resources unnecessarily. Before committing yourself, your team members, your
time, and your resources to a project, you need to create the project document.
The project definitions sometimes called project charter, include multiple sections of
information. It serves more than one purpose for you. First, it clearly shows the need for the
project and the benefit that you will receive in return. It sets the parameters of what can be
expected – and just a important, what is outside of the scope. Second, once it is approved, it also
confirms agreement what will have the stated resources you need to complete the plan. And
finally, it serves a master plan while you are working with your team. As you move through the
phases of the project, the definition document is your road map, helping to keep your track, on
schedule, and on budget.
One format for the project definition document can be remembered the acronym BOSCARDET,
which stands for:
 Background
 Objective
 Scope
 Constraints
 Assumptions
 Reporting
 Dependencies
 Estimates
 Timescales
In this format, there is not a specific section on the budget of the project, but the information can
be included within the Constraints section or the Estimates section. You can adopt this format to
the need of your project leader and project team.
BACKGROUND
In this section, you are setting the stage for the need of the project. What has
happened in the organization or in your field that has prompted the need for you to
take action? Think about the information that the supervisor or management above
need in order to approve the project and give the green light to move forward. This
section might include:
 Description of the current state affairs
 Legal changes requiring compliance
 Explanation of recent events leading to the need for this change
 Description of a newly identified opportunity that requires change in order to
adopt it
 Any other overview information that is necessary to understand the request
to implement the project
OBJECTIVES
In order to define objectives, start by asking yourself the question below regarding
your overall goals;
 What are we trying to achieve?
 By when are we aiming to achieve it?
 What, specifically, are the goals, and why are they important to the project?
 What will success look like?

You need to have a specific set of criteria by which you will measure your success
in meeting your objectives. How will you determine how well the project was
implemented? How will you know if it was not successful? In order to answer
those questions, you need to determine exactly what will it is that the organization
will gain from the project. How will you demonstrate to the management team that
is worth their investment of time and money to complete the project?

For example, let’s imagine that you have a regulatory change that requires that all
customers are now changed in the same way for your product or service. Your
broad project scope brings the organization’s existing strategy into compliance.
Your objective might include:

 Determine new rate schedules applicable to all customers effective

 Develop information campaign to notify all existing customers of the new
rates over three month period immediately preceding the rate change
 Provides support to sales force and customer service team in explaining the
change and effectively retaining customers

KEY SUCCESS CRITERIA

In any project, there are objectives that must be met in order for a project to be
successful. If you don’t meet them the project will be considered a failure even if
you meet certain other objectives. These essentials objective are the Key Success
Criteria (KSC)
Identifying your KSC’s is important because they serve as the focus for your effort
to the project. Since things can change quickly in an organization your project
could be changed while you’re on it budgets could get cut, structures could be
reorganized, or the market on which you operate could shift in an unforeseen way.
If you have your KCS’ s clearly identified you know what still needs to get done
when circumstances change-or at least what agreed upon in the beginning as being
essential to success. If you have to scale back the project, you know that these are
the items you would keep.

DELIVERABLES
In some cases, it may be difficult to distinguish between deliverables and
objective. Sometimes they are tangible items like new products and their item
numbers. Sometimes it may not be tangible item such as having people understand
a new process or procedure. But need to find ways to measure the outcomes of
your project in order to determine success. For example, in the case of the example
of new rate schedule above, deliverables would include:

 Updated rate sheets

 Updated billing system
 Updated website and marketing material
 Advertizing campaign created and rolled out
 Information flyers, bill inserts, posters, and email developed and sent
 Agreement with all resellers regarding updated rate structure
 Training document created for customer service and sales staff
 Training delivered to all staff changes
 Scripts created for customer service and sales representative to answer
question and help retain customers

SCOPE
In some project definition documents the scope is define as part of the objectives.
It simply depends on the project you have on your plate and what works best for
your project definition. There is no right or wrong to do it- just the way that works
best for your existing communication process, your management team, and your
project.
The scope of the project is a description of the range of activities that will
undertake during the project. It is an agreed-upon area of focus that sets a sort of
boundary around your project. If you were to decide to do a project that was
review of your HR system, what exactly does that mean? What kind of review?
What divisions? All of the functions or just some of them? Does that include full
review of benefits or salary scales as well? Will you be looking at reclassifying
positions and reorganizing people- or even possibly eliminating positions?

You define the scope based on your objectives, KSC’s and deliverables. So, going
back to our rate structure example, we define it by determining:
  Who interacts with the current rate structure within our organization? Some
employee has the other functions so we don’t need to train them. But we do
need to train our entire marketing department our customer relation
department, and every employee that has direct interaction with customers.
 Which system needs updating? The order delivery system the billing system,
but are there any others? We may need to do some research on our own
organization in order to find out.
 How long will we continue our advertizing campaign? How many customers
will we try to reach and what effort will we go to? Are we going to go just to
the length required by the new law, or are we going to strive to reach every
single customer?
There are several other questions that could answer in your scope section,
depending on what is needed or expected from your management. Consider
whether or not you need to include some of the answer to these questions:

 Are we solving a problem or just identifying possible solutions for others to

select from? Coming up with the solution could be one project and
implementing it is a second, separate project, or they could be one in the
same.
 If we are not implementing a solution to a problem, are we recommending a
solution to it or is that input not needed?
 What are the standards of performance we will apply to this project? In other
words, is there a code of ethics, generally accepted professional standards, or
other guidelines that we will adopt in running the project? What exiting
company policies guiding our work standards will apply?
 What priority will take in relation to the other work on our plates?
 Are we (you, your colleagues, your supervisors and above) agreed upon
what we are meant to achieve? Without clear agreement and shared
understanding, you are leading yourself towards serious problems.
  Do we need to achieve the goals in one manner over another? For example,
is this to be a research project, a learning exercise or test? How will that
change the way we operate during the project?

CONSTRAINTS
If the scope is one form of boundary on a project, constraints are another. Every
project will have some form of constraints, simply because of the fact that our
resources are finite and our willingness to expose our project to risk is limited as
well. Whereas we might want to spend two years researching our new product
idea, testing it, and getting it to the marketplace, our competitors might get theirs
there faster and we might suffer in the market share as a result. So another way to
look at constraints is to consider the realties around your resources and your level
of willingness to be exposed to risk. You then may have to make a difficult
decision regarding what to sacrifice and what to preserve.

RESOURCES
In this sense, the term “resource” refers to people equipment, and money. As we
know, we have limited supply of all our resources. But it’s important to understand
what these constraints on our resources are because they impact the amount of
work that we are able to do, the amount of time we have available, and the cost of
completing the project.
For many of us, estimating and understanding the use of external resources
(contractors, suppliers, government officials, etc.), is easier than estimating and
understanding the requirement and cost of using our own internal people or
resources for a project.

To demonstrate this, let’s look at the costs involved with the use of people as a
resource. Time is money since everyone is probably paid for what they are doing at
your organization. You may not have the needed expertise inside your organization
to successful complete a highly technical or specialized project. So your costs of
people could include:
  The costs of a ‘fill-in’ employee for each person while they work on the
project
 The cost of lost productivity on the other projects for each person working
on your project.
 The cost of training involved for them to be able to work in the project
 The cost of hiring a technical expert to support the staff
There are also a finite number of hours in the day and a limit to the amount of
work that you can accomplish in that time. The amount of work that you can
achieve is dependent on the number and complexity of the project’s objectives as
well as its performance criteria. For example, If you have one objective and you’ve
been approved to just to get it done to a minimum satisfactory level, chances are
that will be a lot less work than if you were told the objective must be completed to
a superior level of quality or if you have multiple objective that need to be
completed.

There are usually going to be a tradeoff between your resources, the time you have
to use them, and the work output that you can produce. You could also say that the
amount of work that is required is dependent on the number of resources that are
needed and the time that is needed to complete the objectives. This could be a
literal calculation, such as;

Number of resources x Time worked = Work Output

This equation can actually help you think through your resource needs constraints
in several different ways. You know that if you have more people, either the work
output will increase or you can keep the work output the same and decrease the
amount of time required to complete the project. If we decrease the work output,
we can also decrease either the time or the number of people we need, or both.

Since each resource has an associated cost, your cost equation for the project
would look like this:
Cost of resources x Work = Total Cost

So to reduce our costs without reducing the work (and, we assume, work quality),
you would need to reduce the cost of the resources used either by the number of
people, the level of people, or the time that they work.
What is the point of discussion? Its shows that keeping your resources focused on
the work at hand, primarily the key criteria, will reduce the time you need people
to work and will, in turn, reduce the cost of your project. It also shows how
important it is to properly estimate the time it will take to complete your project. If
you don’t take these resource constraints into account when developing your
project definition, you will either end up over deadline, or you risk failing to
complete the project at all.

When it comes to people, for everyone involved, you may have other constraints to
think about that comes from their position in the organization and their existing
role.
 Availability to work in the project
 Agreement on the goals and objectives as well as agreement from their
supervisor
 Reporting relationship and any challenge in multiple directives for their
time.
 Conflicts of interest or internal politics
 Knowledge levels and capabilities

For equipment resources, you could also face additional constraints such as:
 Cost
 Technical ability to operate it
 Repair and maintenance
 Availability
And, for money, there are certain to be constraints as well since it is definitely s
finite resource for most projects. You may have to consider things such as:
 Budget cycles
 Budget request processes
 Contingency plans/funds
 Foreseen and unforeseen costs
This is another reason why your plan definition document is so important; it
explain clearly what you believe your resource needs are. If it is approved, then
you have the commitment that the requested resources will be provided. It also
offers management the opportunity to deny the resources you’ve requested and ask
that you scale back the project. By knowing what your constraints are, you can
describe the trade-offs it would require in time or quality of outcome to do so.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
The performance criteria affect the resources that you need. The higher the criteria
that you expected to meet, the higher the cost will be to complete the project.
When you are developing your project definition, you might want to consider
proposing different levels of performance outcome and their associated potential
costs.
Remember, though that there are indirect costs of reducing performance criteria. If
you are rolling out a new product and you decide that you will limit end-to-end
testing in order to reduce the costs of the project, you may very well end up with
higher costs after the launch because of a system failure or mass customer
complaints. So, educating the reader about the possible indirect costs of adjusting
your performance criteria is an important responsibility as a project leader.

TIME
Time affects the costs of the project, and time constraints may also impact the
availability of necessary resources. Estimating time is a difficult process for some
people, but we will look at some tools that you can use to do so.
There is one point to make about time that we haven’t made yet. It is that the
quality of the resource, or people, that you have for your project may affect your
time needs as well. If you have two well-qualified people on your team, they may
be able to do the same work as four unqualified people. So consider being willing
to pay a higher price for support if it will save time in the long run. On the other
hand, if you aren’t concerned about the amount of time it takes to get the project
done, you could hire cheaper, unqualified help. Of course this poses a risk to the
quality outcome as well.

RISK
One final constraint is your willingness to expose the probability of achieving the
project’s outcomes to risk. A risk is defined as anything that would have a negative
impact on your project, particularly its other primary constraints. For example, a
risk could be any delay that would make you miss deadlines. A risk could be that
you are expecting a certain amount of revenue from the project in order to continue
operations, and something could impact your ability to earn the revenue. Or,
someone else in the organization could decide they need your technical support
person more than you do and attempt to pull them from your project.
No project is entirely without risk. However, you can greatly minimize your
exposure to risk if you address identifiable risk factors as part of your project
definition. You can then prioritize which risks you want to dedicate your attention
to based on the likeliness that they will happen and the impact on your project it
they should happen. To decide which work towards and ameliorating, we can use
what is called Risk Impact/Probability Chart. In order to interpret the chart, you
need to know the following definitions:
 Probability – The likelihood of a specific damaging event (risk) actually
happening expressed as a percentage. You can have probability range of
greater than zero and less than 100 percent probability. It cannot be zero
because then you would be taking about something that isn’t actually risk.
And it cannot be 100 percent because that would no longer be a risk- it
would be a guaranteed certain event.
  Impact-The magnitude of the effect if the risk does occur. Every risk has a
negative impact but some will have a greater impact than others. An impact
can be defined in terms of loss of revenue, increased cost, increased time,
decreased quality, or some critical aspect of the parameters of your project.
To use the Risk Impact, determine the following information:
 Make a comprehensive list of possible risks. Consider anything and
everything that might have a negative impact on your key constraints and
therefore, the future success of your project.
 For each risk you identify, determine the likelihood that will occur. Assign a
rating that describe the probability, such as scale of 1 to 10 or 1 to 100,
where the lowest number corresponds to the least likely events and the
highest numbers are most likely to occur.
 Now do the same for an estimate of the level impact the event would have if
it occurs. Again make the lower numbers associated with lower impact and
highest number associated with catastrophic impact.
 Plot the event on the Risk Impact/Probability Chart
 Determine a response to each of the events, from the choosing to ignore it to
developing full-scale contingency plan.

ASSUMPTIONS
As you write your project definition document or plan, you will also need to
indentify your assumptions. These are the ideas and concept that have taken the
granted when you have been developing the plan. You can include these
information in its own section, or it may be something that you address in the
Background or Objectives section.
To determine some of your assumptions, you might need to ask yourself questions
such as:
 What have I assume will change?
 What have I assume will stay the same?
 What suppliers, vendors, constraints, or other outside support have I
assumed will be available and affordable?
  What time have I assumed would be available from the staff that I need?
 What exceptions to existing process, rules, or procedures have I assumed
would be made for this projection or the process of implementing it?

This is actually another form of risk assessment because if your assumption were
not correct there could be some negative impact on your project that need to be
able to adjust your plan defend against.

REPORTING
This is the section where you describe how you will remain in communication with
the management staff that the plan is being written (at least in part) for. You might
have status meetings, weekly emails, monthly written status reports-whatever
works best for your exiting channels of communication. This is not necessarily
how you will communicate with your project team which we will discuss more in a
later chapter.

DEPENDENCIES
Dependencies are critical points in your project plan. They are the things that must
happen in order for further actions to happen. If two things are dependent upon
each other, there is a potential risk involved. So identify this points as another way
to manage risk as well. But dependencies also require that you plan your time work
task around them. Simply put, you have to do something in a certain logical order,
some example might include:
 You won’t move forward with Phase II unless Phase I is successful.
 You won’t get to start the project unless the organization was that big
contract.
 You can’t send invitations until you have decided the date and location of
the event, which you can’t do until you’ve decided how many people invite.
 You can’t apply for funding for the grant you need until the federal
government releases the Request for Proposal (RFP).
ESTIMATES
You might or might not have an estimate section- It depends on what kind of
project are planning. If you have them in this section, you would describe your
methodology for any estimates that you have made. Think of this as supporting
documentation for the resource request you have discussed earlier in the project
definition document.

TIMESCALES
This is the final resource that you need to account for when you are planning the
project. You will need to make estimates regarding the amount of time that
different phase of the project will take depending on the number of people that will
have available to work with you.
When you calculate the time necessary for each phase, remember that you need to
take into account holidays’, vacation days, sick days, training days, and any other
restraints on the time of the people you will have working on the project. You will
need to plan your timeframe forward from proposed project imitation due to end up
with a completion date. Of course, if you have a deadline that you have to meet,
then your timeframe section will reinforce that fact that you need a certain number
of resources in order to complete the project within the allotted time.

LO2 Plan and Schedule Work Activities

PLANNING
Planning is an art, and the art of planning exist only among human beings. This
power to be able to plan distinguishes man from the other members of animal
kingdom.
The environmental development through planning is the natural field for
Architects as they are a better position because of their training and experiences.
However, for a good planning, intelligence and experience are necessary. And for
plan to be successful, it must be prepared by those were trained and qualified.
 The pre-planning stage, establishes and determine the direction and success
of any construction project. Unfortunately, it seems that some engineers and
contractors have not given the pre-planning special emphasis despite their one
direction of going there.
Past experience have proven that there is no short cuts to sound
construction pre-planning. There is no new procedure to replace the following
four basic rules for any job.
1. The construction superintendent should be included in the consultation at the
very start of the planning stage. Do not just present him later the finished
plan and say: “here is the plan for you to implement.
2. Make a job breakdown into components. This will simplify the program.
3. Prepare a construction plan that will be consulted constantly. Do not just file
it in a drawer only to accumulate dust.
4. The advantage of new tools, which have demonstrated in saving time,
money or confusion. For, instance a computer can be used to layout on one
sheet a detailed schedule according to number of days, crafts, man-hours,
costs, procurement and completion of a process.
For Whom and What is We Planning
1. We are planning for the owners of the company when we plan to achieve a
profit by operating at the minimum capacity, utilizing the available
resources.
2. We are planning for the employees when we plan to create or maintain jobs.
Planning functions has Four Different Dimensions, Namely:
1. Planning is a philosophy
2. Planning is integration
3. Planning is a process
4. Planning is a collection of procedures
Planning is a philosophy- Looking ahead is a way of thinking, a concern about
the future effects of today’s action. Planning involves a state of the mind that
recognizes the need for orderliness and the value of direction.
Individual planners may sway between optimism and pessimism, but they
dare not stray too far from reality.
Planning is integration – Both long and short range plans provides a unified
structure to give purpose to the organizational units involved. Broader plans
consider the client, the supplier and other peripheral contact of the company.

Planning is a process- Goals and objectives are the most obvious consequence of
the planning process. A loose objective of survival or of making profit is poor
guidelines for steering an enterprise. A winning plan includes;
1. The strategy that defines how much has to be done to achieve the objectives.
2. The sequence of events that satisfies those strategies;
3. The assignment that lead to the accomplishment of the events.
Planning is the collection of procedures- All companies makes plans ahead to
some extent and apply their own methods of doing so. In small company, one
person may do it all, but larger companies have standard procedures for
formulating and carrying plans.

THE PROJECT MANAGER

The central figure of the project is the project manager. He bears the ultimate
responsibility for the success or failure of the project. His role in the construction is
one of an organizer’s a person who is capable of working through others to
accomplish the objectives of the project.
The job of the project manager can be both difficult and rewarding.
However, the reward of the job of project manager comes from:
1. The benefits of being associated with successful project.
2. The personal satisfaction of seeing it through to its conclusion
3. The challenge of the job, and working with other people.
Project construction management differs much from management of more
traditional activities. It is a unique one-time operation with one major objective-to
accomplish specified tasks in limited time framework. The main feature in project
construction is the Project Manager who oversees a variety of operations that
involves repetitive activities, and other various works.
 Project manager must often functions in an environment that is best. He has
to coordinate and motivate people who sometimes owe their allegiance to other
managers in their functional areas.
There are people who work on a project that possesses specialized
knowledge and skills that the project manager does not have. Nevertheless, the
project manager is expected to guide and evaluate their respective works. He may
not have the authority he needs to accomplish all the objectives of the project, but
instead, he relies on persuasion and cooperation of others to realize the project
goals.
Generally, construction project have some elements in common. The
problems of planning and coordinating project activities can be quietly formidable
for large project, which typically have hundreds or even thousands of activities that
must be carefully planned and monitored if the project is to proceed according to
the following schedule at a reasonable cost.
1. Project goals must be established and prioritize are set.
2. Different works must be identified and time estimate must be determined.
3. Resource requirement must be projected, and budget must be prepared.
4. Once underway, progress must be monitored to assure achievement of the
goal.
The project manager’s mission is to plan, coordinate, control and accomplish. His
achievement can probably be traced to his success in managing people. Similarly,
people at every tier of corporate hierarchy, exercise essentially the same
management principles to lead other people towards the accomplishment of the
organizational objectives.
Managerial competence is a function of a manager’s character, knowledge
and experience. These three ingredients interact to mold a particular style of
management. These three ingredients interact to mold a particular style of
management. Styles may be altered or fashioned by education gained from formal
training and work seasoning. An advantage of studying management techniques is
the opportunity it allows to explore and develop managerial skills without suffering
the consequences of trial and error learning.
THE WORKSHEET
The initial move to get the project underway is for the Project Manager to convene
a preliminary discussion on the documents, and to gather more information as may
be available at the early stage. There should be additional and pre-planning
information available such as, the client’s required operational date.

What the Project Manager needs to now be:

1. The logical construction sequence that must be followed.
2. The quantity and the delivery date’s of various materials to be used.
3. How much and what kind of manpower will be needed
4. When to start and complete the job on time.
The first step in construction pre-planning is to prepare a graph and plotting the
anticipated date of delivery of all major equipment at the site. The optimum time
for each construction activities could be analyze. Severe craft peaks and
uneconomical use of equipment will appear on the projected graph, which could
then be adjusted to prevent future conflicts in the field.
By working backward from the expected completion date, the experienced
project manager can predict the latest possible starting date for any of the activities
that make up the whole construction project. The worksheet represents a plan of
action presented graphically by a critical sequence of functions of subsidiary
activities contained within a compact period of time.

PROJECT ENGINEER’S REVIEW

The project Engineer’s must:
1. Review the time table thoroughly
2. Raise question on its overall logic and workability
3. Offer constructive criticism on detailed work functions and interrelated
activities.
Invariably, this review will result in a minor revision of the schedule. After
gathering most of the detailed information and made part of the timetable, the
entire program is broken down into several components parts.
After the projects have been delineated on the timetable as a separate job
with minor qualifications, it can be considered as a project itself. As a project
becomes an active construction program in the field, its progress, man-hour
utilization, field labor expenditures, quality and quantity of suspension, and
material status are all monitored and recorded at the field and home office.
The manpower assignment for each activity on the timetable is then
translated into a graphical presentation, showing the anticipated manpower
expenditures and the target progress of the work in percentages.
1. By graphical reporting, manpower and percentage accomplishment is easier
to evaluate showing the general direction and condition of the job.
2. Data are received by way of one page weekly progress report and a weekly
field payroll report.
3. A field man-hour report is submitted every month.
By close control and evaluation of field cost and man-hour expenditures it can
easily detect the following:
1. Possible budget man-hour overruns
2. Craft peaks
3. Weakness in supervision coverage
4. Inadequacy of tools and equipment
The manpower and “percentage complete” graph will indicate the possibility of
sustaining a successful rescue operation by keeping a constant watch and taking
possible action as soon as the program begins to loose ground. The graph indicates
the necessity of having pre-planned schedule to provide a basis for monitoring,
assisting, controlling and adjusting a program when it deviates from the prescribed
path.
A daily look at the graph, alerts the Project Manager and his home office to
possible need for a radical action such as;
1. Manpower reallocation for elaborate re-scheduling or
2. For a speedy economic analysis of the whole project to determine the
whether extra manpower or two shift operation may be necessary.

A periodic visit to the construction site is necessary for the various members of the
central construction department staff to audit the program so that;
 1. A first hand review of the progress is made and the general status of the
work is compared with the timetable and discussed with the key field
supervisory staff.
2. Home office assistance is offered to the field superintendent in pushing
particular phases of the project that may be held up in such areas such as
drafting of procurement.
3. Suggestions are made and discussed with the field organizations as to how
its progress improved.
Discussion and review of construction problems at the site assures a clearer
understanding of the work status for the following actions:
1. Alternate solutions may be reviewed
2. Exchanging ideas for a better solution
3. To implement results as agreed in the meeting
The site review gives everyone an opportunity for general discussions of ideas and
techniques on concurrent construction work. The best pre-planning approach
requires a constant attention to a construction project. Above all pre-planning
should be flexible enough to give it a chance to adjust quickly and radically at any
time when it is necessary.

Preliminaries and Site Management

After the contract is awarded, the contractor has to:
1. Determine the key personnel to supervise the work
2. Make provisions for the equipment to be used
3. Determine the location and methods of erecting temporary structures such
as;
a. Job offices
b. Storage sheds
c. Workshops
d. Roadway, etc.
e. Bank House for workers and facilities.
The layout of these structures should be planned carefully, in anticipation of its
removal during excavation of the permanent works more particularly, the storage
and its contents, which might cause disorganizations and delays.
The job should be adequate, but not excessively staffed, to ensure efficient
execution of the work. Large construction works needs competent foreman. The
contractor must be selective in sending men of proven ability and qualification to
start the work even if they are replaced later by selected personnel engaged locally.
The construction site should be maintained in strict tidiness and in an orderly
routine because it has a psychological effect on the staff and workers, which
promote conscientious service. Remember that the owner would like to see the
actual work getting under the way in its fullest operation and orderliness.
In carrying out the construction work, idle time and unnecessary cost should
be avoided. Time saving devices such as telephone, loudspeakers, signal posts,
traffic control, sign board location and other economy measures should be installed
immediately upon commencement of the work. Before the work gets started, it
should be first established from which the buildings may be demarcated on the
ground.
The excavator with his equipment should started should started cleaning,
stripping and digging operations. Materials deliveries should also start as soon as
possible and a labor force started the excavation for the foundation work, etc. If
these operations get underway without undue delay, the job will have a healthy
aspect, high morale and satisfaction of all concerned from the owner to the
contractor and down to the lowly laborers.
The contractor should procure sufficient copies of the plan and specification
to distribute among his supervisory staff. This will thoroughly acquaint them with
the details of the job. Likewise, the subcontractors and consultant should be
furnished with the plans and specifications so that, there is no excuse for mistake
and delay on this account.
Preliminaries in Organizing a Construction Job
Project undergoes a series of stages which includes:
1. Planning
2. Execution of major activities
3. Project Phase out.
Project Construction life cycle requires various requirements such as;
1. The site must be found and boundaries relocated
2. Plan must be approved by the owner
3. Building permits must be secured
4. Plan must be drawn
5. Succession of personnel follows
Succession of personnel is the rotation of personnel who will be doing different
kinds of job according to their specialties.
For instance:
1. Those doing the site relocation and preparation, and laying of foundation.
2. Erecting the foundation and column, floor and roof framework.
3. Constructing walls and partition.
4. Plumbing and water supply connections including drainage system.
5. Mechanical Equipment
6. Electrical and communication writing system
7. Installation of kitchen, bathroom fixtures and appliances.
8. Interior finishing works
9. Doors and windows
10.Painting and varnishing, and other finishing works.
The main objectives in the preliminaries of organizing a construction job are;
1. To secure the necessary licenses and building permits
2. Prepare a time and progress chart
3. Have an access to the site or a temporary roadway
4. Construction of boarding fences, and temporary shed.
5. Construction of temporary field offices for the staff.
6. Arrangement of canteen facilities
 7. Cleaning and leveling the site.
8. Demolition of existing structures
9. Disposal of materials obtain from the demolition
10.Shoring to adjoining structures
11.Arrangement for temporary water and electricity supply
12.Allotment and preparation of storage space for use of contractor and sub-
contractor
13.Allotment of space for borrows pits or other sources of fill to be brought in.
14.Provision for drains and soak-ways
15.General site problems including any special features.
Organization of Works
Organization or work, consist of making proper assignments and sequence of the
works in a systematic order aimed at making the best use of labor, materials and
time. The organization of work is the responsibility of the contractor under the
direction of the supervising architect or engineer.

These are two independent but related spheres of control and responsibility that
exist in the project construction namely;
1. The owner is represented by his architect or Engineer.
2. The contractor

The contractor is generally responsible to the owner for the following duties:
1. Providing and making access roads with regards to the convenience of
construction.
2. Erection of the site office in a central position to facilitate checking of all
sites activities.
3. Erection of store shed of adequate capacity to ensure;
a. Protection of materials against damage
b. Protection of materials against deterioration
c. Prevent materials from wastage and pilfering
4. Construction of temporary quarters and ancillaries for labor with due regard
to site works, amenities and hygienic conditions.
 5. Appointment of supervisory staff possessing technical knowledge and
capable of controlling the works and labor.
6. Early arrangement for construction equipment. i. e.
a. Scaffolding
b. Formwork
c. Instrument and machinery with necessary screw, fuel and parts etc.
d. Ladders
e. Tools
The engineer or Architect on behalf of the owner is also responsible for the
following duties;
1. As representative of the owner
a. Act as interpreter of the plan
b. As guardian and arbiter between the owner and contractor
2. Maintain site records and documents like;
a. Layout plans
b. Contract documents
c. Time and progress chart
d. Work diary
e. Contractor’s order book
f. Record of tests
g. Progress report
h. Measurement books

PLANNING PROGRAM and PROGRESS CHART

The most important part of the works organization is;
1. The preparation of the comprehensive time and progress chart for the
execution of the work.
2. The periodic revision of the chart as circumstances demand, and the regular
comparison of progress chart made with the program.

The project manager is required to prepare an approved time and progress chart,
which generally part of the main contract documents.
 1. The time and progress chart must show an analysis of the chief elements and
types of construction involved in the project.
2. The scheduled dates of commencement and completion of every stage of the
main contract and sub-contract.

Without proper program, the construction work can be disorderly managed. The
time progress charts serves as the coordination and control of all the work under
the different subdivision of the contract. With this time and progress chart it easy
to pinpoint where the delay has occurred, and who is responsible for the delay.
Likewise, because of a clear definition of the dates, all parties concerned
have assume their tasks making much easier for the contractor to finish the job on
time.
Besides of being the standard requirement, the chart, automatically shows
and offer the following information:
1. The sequence of operations
2. The target time and date for their completion
3. The rate of which they must be carried out
4. The owner’s staff and the contractor’s staff should be familiar with the
information given in the chart and should constantly strive to carry out the
work according to the projected rate of accomplishment.
5. If some operations are to be done by sub contractors, they should be notified
in advance and given a clear understanding of what exactly is expected from
them.
6. The chart also tends to prevent changes in design and layout with
consequent delays and increased in cost. It also provides essential
information regarding labor, materials and plant requirements.
From this program, the owner can be furnished with particulars of the likely
financial requirements during the period of construction, and will be able to
coordinate his program for bringing the scheme into use.
MAINAINING TIME and PROGRESS CHART
The making of time and progress chart is a matter of trial and error. It requires
consideration of alternative methods and the effect of each event, resulting in an
orderly arrangement of event and an ultimate savings of time and cost.
The chart should be flexible so as to permit modifications to meet unknown
contingencies that may arise. It will enable that in-charge of the work to see the
effect of the contingency. It will be on subsequent operations and to make the
necessary adjustments to bring the program back into line.

The chart is divided into many horizontal spaces as are required for the major
operations of the job. The vertical columns provide spaces for:
1. A description of the items
2. The target date for letting the sub-contract or purchase order.
3. Anticipated starting date, the expected completion date sufficient number of
monthly columns to cover the total time for completion.
4. One or two extra columns for the possible over-run.
Planning and Scheduling with Gantt chart
The Gantt chart is a tool used for planning and scheduling simple projects. With
the chart, the project engineer can initially schedule project activities, and to
monitor progress over time by comparing planned progress to actual progress.
To prepare the chart, the project manager has to identify the major activities
that would be required. Estimates for each activity are made the sequence was
determined. Once completed, the chart indicates which activities were to occur
including their planned duration, and when they were occurring.
As project progresses, the project manager would be able to see which
activities were ahead of schedule and which activities were delaying the project.
This will enable the project manager to direct attention where it was needed most
to speed up the project to catch up with the schedule.

The advantage of the Gantt chart is its simplicity, making it very popular. Gantt
chart however, fails to reveal certain relationship among activities that can be
crucial to effective project management. For, instance if one of the clearly
activities would have to be delayed, it is because they could not start until that
activity was completed. Conversely, some activities may be delayed without
affecting the overall project schedule.
A Gantt chart does not directly reveal this information. Gantt charts are
useful for simple projects where activities are simultaneous or where the string of
sequential activities is involved. On a more complex projects, Gantt chart can be
useful for initial project planning, which they gives way to use the networks called
PERT and CPM

LO 3 Implement Work Plans

Implement Work Plans

The stage between clarifying the construction tasks and actual planning idea
is of enormous significance for quality level of a project. Decisions made have far-
reaching consequences for architecture and urban planning as well as economical
and ecological quality of the buildings.
For the client, a given project begins with the definition stage, where the
construction tasks are outlined and the project goals specified. Generally, at this
stage, there are no services yet according to FSAE.
Subsequently, there is the search for a suitable plot and analysis of the
corresponding fringe conditions.
Afterwards, the desired project volume can be determined in a more concrete
manner and depicted in a space and function program.
Via a plan metric model, the gross areas to be expected and cubic content are
determined and expected costs deduced. If the return on investment ratio is
acceptable and cubic capacities in accordance with the plot and the expectations of
the community, it is now possible to either involve an architect for the creation of a
planning idea or to launch an architect competition.
Construction Task Clarification and Definition of Project Targets
At the start of this stage, there is a question: “What, exactly, are we trying to
achieve?” The more you look at this question in-depth, the more difficult it
becomes to answer it. All this despite the fact that the question
“What do we wish to avoid?” is just as important and, moreover, easier to answer.
These are some examples for the usual problems encountered in office and
administration building construction:
– Lack of space due to growth
– Problems on the organization side
– Lack of communication
– Problematic work areas
– Insufficient productivity
– Insufficient presentation of the company to the outside
At first, there must be the basic distinction of whether one wishes to build for
oneself and/or one’s own company or whether the project at hand is a pure
investment project that is to be marketed.

Depending on these premises, the following target definitions are to be weighed:

– Return on investment and productive investment
– Improvement of productivity and use of synergy effects
– Functionality and staff satisfaction
– Improvement of corporate identity and corporate culture

Search for a suitable Plot

One of the most difficult and time-consuming tasks, certainly, is the search for
suitable plot in a location as good as possible.

Lay-out &
Pric
Building Law
e
Locati
on
In this, the price of the plot plays a decisive role when calculating return on
investment. It depends primarily on location (Center or fringe location, traffic c
connection, shopping possibilities, public institutions), plot layout and available
construction rights (Development options).

Classification of Construction Works

1. Classification – I Projects Major and Minor Works – The project works
includes scheme right from procurement of land and its survey, preparation
of plans, estimates and construction to the final completion of the whole
scheme. In project, number of construction works is carried out.
2. Classification II- Permanent, semi permanent or temporary work, based on
its nature of construction.
3. Classification III – Original work and repair work
4. Classification IV- Light Construction work and heavy construction work.
Construction of heavy works involves use of machineries, Residential
buildings, school buildings, ware houses, light industrial shades comes under
light construction work. Heavy construction works are construction of
tunnels, dock and harbor, airport buildings etc.
5. Classification V – Industrial buildings, use of machineries may be required
as per size and type of construction, oil refineries, steel plants, fertilizers and
chemical plants, atomic reactors etc. come under this category.

STAGES OF CONSTRUCTION
Various stages of construction are
a. Pre-tender stage
1. Initiation of proposals and preparation of schemes
2. Technical sanction
3. Acceptance of proposal in accordance to its feasibility and acquisition of
land.
4. Survey of site
5. Accord of administrative approval and allotment of funds.
b. Post-tender stage
1. Preparation to tender documents and its invitation.
2. Opening of tender, preparation of comparative statement and acceptance
 3. Allotment of work, and issue work order
4. Execution of work supervision and its completion.
5. To submit completion report
6. Handling over of work owner.
 Planning stage- it consists of
a. Preparation of project report
b. Administrative approval and Technical sanction
c. Provision in Budget
 Execution Stage
a. Preparation of detailed drawing, design, estimate and working drawings.
b. Preparation of tender documents.
c. Publication of tender notice and inviting tender
d. Security tender
e. Acceptance of tender
f. Award of contract and issue of work order
g. Supervision – quality control and execution
h. completion report
i. Use of structure
RESOURCES OF CONSTRUCTION
Any construction work major or minor, large or small, industrial or else needs
following resources for efficient and smooth execution of construction work.
1. Men – skilled or unskilled, supervising staff, specialist personnel’s.
2. Materials – Such as cement, steel, bricks, timber, aluminum, aggregate,
fittings and fixtures, scaffolding, pile driving machines, earth moving
machineries etc.
3. Money – For almost all above items need financial resources without which
nothing can be executed.

JOB-LAYOUT
Proper job lay-out improves communication and unnecessary movement,
increasing efficiency. It is one of the most important and essential job before
starting any construction is to prepare a job lay-out indicating clearly the areas and
site available for office; warehouse, storage of materials, equipments, excavated
earth, formwork, reinforcing materials, fabrication etc. These are required to be
arranged in such a manner that working should be easy and minimum time be
consumed in carrying materials from storage areas to project site or construction
site. Materials of similar use be stored closed together where possible. The general
office and ware houses should be located near the main entrance in order that
person visiting site for one purpose or the other will have to walk minimum and
will not have to travel around construction areas for no reason. This will reduce the
danger of injuries and accidents. Cement go downs should be located near the main
entrance, first to avoid the time of collecting it from outside and second to have a
proper watch on it. It is desirable by a contractor to have sufficient area available
with him near the site for storing the materials as it reduces the labor cost
indirectly.
1. Access and Traffic route- It depends on type of project; stage of construction
and site condition. As far as possible two accesses if available; considered to
have good access to the site. For every large projects involving use of heavy
machineries, huge quantities of material at a congested site, access should ne
one way only. It should have proper traffic route. Permissions from due
authorities must be sought whenever or wherever required. Illegal use of
public land must be avoided.
2. Materials Storage and handling – the basic aim is to minimize wastage and
losses of material due to careless handling, poor storage and theft. Stores are
required to be maintained as per analysis giving due importance to each
material to be stored. The record arrival of material, issue stock, present
stock etc. must be maintained. Site plan must clearly indicate location of
stores, their sizes, routes of access etc. in complete.
3. Administrative building and facilities – Administrative block at site must be
given prime importance. It must give an overall view at site from the office
so that contractor or his agent can have a complete watch on activities at site.
Further it must be at calm and peaceful area so that if required official work
can be undertaken without getting disturbs either due noise at site or due to
 other reason. Parking facilities may also be provided for all sorts of
machineries and vehicles.
4. Plant-workshop and services- These are essential requirements for projects
involving use of heavy machineries to avoid unnecessary downtime.
Provision for temporary petrol pumps electrical connections water supply,
telephone lines, compressed air and other essentials of workshops must be
made.
5. Special problems – Many times depending upon site condition, special
provision are required to be made. In case of dismantling of any structure,
provisions are required to be made for safeguard of neighboring buildings. A
tall building requires installation of temporary lifts for lifting the materials.

REQUIREMENT OF SITE LAY –OUT

The basic requirement of any construction site is men, material, machineries and
equipment. As such while preparing layout, these should be placed and controlled
in such a manner that;
1. Machines are placed in most advantageous position from security and use of
view.
2. Material should be stored on the basic analysis and must be easy to handle
without creating problems to workers and circulation.
3. Working persons should have ample space for free working hours. It makes
them free to work and creates a feeling of safety against any accidents.
4. Adequate space must be available for storage of materials. Further materials
like cement, lime, fixtures, and fastening should be stored in close area and
locked always.
5. The requirement of materials; their quantity go on changing as per the
progress of the work, such as layout should have sufficient flexibility of
planning.
FACTORS AFFECTING JOB-LAYOUT
There are mainly three factors affect the job-layout for almost all civil
engineering works and must be considered before any layout for any construction
work is prepared. These are;
1. Nature and type of work
2. Site condition
3. Method used for execution of work.
Every job has its peculiar method of construction depending upon its type; nature
and size. Construction of building, bridge and canal will need altogether different
layout. Use of machineries on big projects also affects a lot its job-layout. The site
condition also affects a lot on job-layout. In cities, for building construction in
narrow streets hardly spaces are either to store material or for working of labor.
Hence many times pump crate concrete is used for reinforced concrete frame
construction.

METHODS OF EXECUTION OF WORKS

Almost all the civil engineering works are executed by either of the following
systems;
1. Employing daily labor
2. Contract system
In the first case, materials are supplied by the owner, and owner himself arranges
labor on daily wages and gets the work executed through them. Payments either
weekly or daily made by owner. The owner individual person or any government.
Generally, small works are executed by these systems. In contract system the
contract given to the same person or firm who undertakes the risks and complete
that job. In labor contract all the materials are supplied by the owner and contractor
arranges all labor required to execute that job. The labor contractor collects money
from the owner and makes payment to labor on daily wages. In government job
generally contract is given to complete the work. Contractor himself is required to
arrange and purchase all materials required, he arranges all labor and executes the
work specified terms and conditions and as per contract documents and tender
deed. This is most common system adopted now-a-days either by Government or
other private bodies with little modification cement and steel are supplied by the
owner and remaining materials are arranged by the contractor.

DAY WORKS
In civil engineering works; there are certain items and works; those are not
included in the schedule of rates; further these works can not be measured. Such
works are executed by employing daily labor generally skilled or semi-skilled on
daily wages and payment is made on the basis of number of days worked. Such
works are called day works. Under such conditions generally materials are
supplied by the owner and labor employed to execute the works. The labor cost is
usually high materials cost. Following are examples of such work.
1. Decorative works of all kinds
2. Dressings of stone for this type of works now-a-day labor is not available
hence are required to be brought from other places.
3. Removal of free roots during excavation

DAY WORK SHEET

1. Name of Work …………………………….
2. Name of owner/Department ……………………..
3. Name of Engineer/Architect/department engineer (designation)
……………………
4. Particular of item for which day work is sanctioned
……………………………
5. Date of sanction ……………………………….
6. Date of commencement of work ……………………………
Material Consumed Labor Employed Out-turn of work
Materials Quantity Class Number
Date …………………………
Work time …………………… Signature of contractor
……………….
Person (competent) of work

DAILY LABOUR or MUSTER ROLL SYSTEM

When the work is carried out by the department directly by employing the daily
labor such as masons, builders, carpenters, coolies, blacksmiths, plumbers, etc. it is
known as daily labor or muster roll system. All the materials required for the
construction are issued from stores or purchased directly changeably to the
concerned work.
The attendance of the laborers is maintained in a muster roll. The presence
in muster roll of each labor should be marked by the proper officer at the starting
hour of the day. Periodic inspections by higher authority are done to check the
actual laborers working. On the basis of the muster roll the payment is made to the
laborers, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or at the completion of work according to
the requirement. The muster roll consists of two parts. In the first part names of
workers, designation, date of attendance, rate of wages, total amount due to each
worker, total amount of M.R., signature of persons taking the attendance, signature
of the officer checking, making payment etc. are entered. In the second part details
of quantities of work done and the progress of the work entered.

DAILY LABOR REPORT

When large work or group of work are done through daily labor, a consolidated
daily labor report showing the number of laborers employed is prepared by Junior
Engineer/Section Officer for the M.R. in the following prescribe form, and is
submitted daily for control & check
Daily Labor Report

Daily report of the day …………………………………..

Of…………………………………………
Name of Class of No. of each Rate Approx. Remarks
Work labour quantity of
work done

Date ………………………………………………………… Signature

……………………………

DAILY DIARY
The engineer in-charge on site is required to maintain the record of work progress
and its analysis in standard form. Two types of forms are used. This form consists
of two parts. First part clearly shows the work progress; the second part shows the
up-to-date expenditures incurred sub head wise. From this also records the details
of construction balance.
For minor works and works where it is difficult to measure the work
progress form giving simplified works abstract is used. In this form only the
charges incurred on the works are recorded. This is also called the Work Abstract

Daily Report
Name of Work ……………………………. Residential building at …………..
Date ………………..
Name of Supervisor …………………………….
Labor Employed
Sr. No. Work Done Quantity Unit rate Supervisor Mason
1. Laying of 14.5 Cubic Meter 1 3
Roof
 Labor Employed
Carpenter Welder Steelman Operator Helper Cost Allocation
1 16 6 1 1 264 RCC Roof

Materials and Equipment used Report

Materials Used
Sr. No. Item Quantity Unit Rate Cost
1. Cement 100 Bags 127 12,700
2. Sand 6 Cubic meter 60 360
3. Aggregate 2 Cubic meter 80 160
4. 20mm 12

Plot Analysis
With the increasing amount our congested urban areas are built up, anyone looking
to build is going to encounter great difficulties finding a suitable commercial plot,
whether already built on or vacant. Sufficient size, excellent location and a
developed terrain as well as a functional infrastructure are all required. If one has
finally succeeded, such a plot can still come with a number of unpleasant surprises.
Especially in the case of congested urban areas, many dangers lurk, so that
professional location analysis is important as part of the plot search process.
Even when a plot is already available, such location analyses, in slightly adapted
form, are to be urgently recommended to be on the safe side of planning. We are
now going to touch on some essential criteria that are to be looked into during such
a location analysis.
Building law: At the very least, a land development plan should be available in the
case of congested urban areas, which allows for building on the plot concerned.
This, however, still does not provide any type of certainty for development
potential, which can be provided only by a valid zoning map. Such a zoning map,
however, does not always come only with advantages, especially when, for
whatever reasons, there were very restrictive guidelines at the time of its creation.
Town planning: While the urban planning authority’s desires may not necessarily
be binding for later planning, it is nonetheless important to know for the later
process just along what lines those in charge of this area do actually think. This,
primarily, is about incorporating a new project into its environment.
Infrastructure: For large projects, it is urgently recommended to have a traffic
report done by a qualified firm prior to the actual beginning of planning. Adequate
access to energy and water for the building area, as well as to availability of
disposal options, is a further important component of the infrastructure.
Mortgage on land: Only when the development potential of the plot has been
clarified, in both size and extent, can the specified plot price be properly assessed.
In the end, it needs to be looked at per m2 of productive land/ effective surface
and/or work place.
Development costs are another significant cost factor when looking into the
purchase of a piece of land. In this, we generally distinguish between connection
costs that relate to consumption – such as for electricity, heating media like gas,
and water – and general takeover costs as are usually agreed upon nowadays for
such things as access to traffic infrastructure and waste water disposal. If a plot in
the urban area is already built on, e.g. if there are still some buildings present, then
demolition works can very well become substantial, especially if there was an
industrial operation there before that has produced products with contaminated
remnants.
Building site: An essential influence, especially on basements and the foundation
of planned buildings, is the position of the ground water, traffic routes and piping
routes.
Old burdens: If, during the research, there is suspicion of contaminated soil, a
chemical analysis is urgently recommended. If it turns out that there is a need for
rehabilitation, the perpetrator concept generally applies.
However, principally, the owner is responsible for the rehabilitation undertaking.
While transport problems in congested inner cities and also recycling possibilities
are a primary consideration for regular excavation material, the primary
considerations for contaminated soils are the different rehabilitation options.
Currently, we are to assume that the transport of highly contaminated soil.
The sooner one deals with the problem, the more it is possible to limit the impact
on later planning and realization.
Hence, as a rule, it makes more sense to partially forgo development of the site and
to leave the soil where it is. To do this, the respective current laws need to be
checked concerning disposal obligation for the entire site.
Ground water level, catchment area:
Nowadays, ground water level is a decisive factor for the development potential of
a plot in the basement areas, for instance underground garage, and control room
and storage area. Building or laying foundations, when it is done in ground water,
causes significant additional costs, meaning that prior to buying the plot one needs
to attempt to find out ground water level in the plot area from the authorities. The
final certainty, of course, is only on the basis of an official soil assessment, which
however is too expensive and time consuming prior to purchase of the property
because certain statements about the ground water can only be made by means of a
perennial well. Special care must be taken whenever the plot is in the region of a
catchment area.
Environmental stipulations: Environmental protection agencies, in essence,
contribute the following factors to the development process:
– Preservation of air exchange corridors
– Reduction of emissions
– Protection of water bodies
– Tree protection
– Avoiding final covers.

LO 4 Monitor Work Activities and Review and Evaluate Work

Plans and Activities

In a particular construction industries monitoring work activities is the important

factors especially when you are already start the construction process so that you
will monitor the flow of the budget, manpower and work quality in this idea, some
of the engineers / architects/construction managers create specific function to
proceed construction process especially high rise or multi-storey building
structures.

SITE MANAGEMENT OF WORKS

Safety in the project construction must be given primarily considered from the
mechanical side to the legal angles of workmen’s compensation or even as a matter
of training and motivation toward work practices for workers.
The immediate supervisor’s responsibility is to see to it that the working
place is properly arranged and maintained wherein the equipment, scaffolding and
the like are all in safe operating conditions. He should strictly see to it, that all
workers do follow the safe working habits.
Regardless of the exact percentage relationship, influencing human
motivation to work safely is an important responsibility of the foreman and
supervisors. Safety must begin from the drawing board. In the original design of
the lay –out of work place or tools, accident hazard may be built in or eliminate. A
safety minded project engineer will make adequate provisions for safety measures
to:
1. Minimize manual handling hazard materials
2. Will locate control and fuse panels where they can be reached safely.
3. Will install strong and rigid forms and scaffolding
4. Will insulate all live wires and screen high pressure areas
 5. Will adequately guard belting and line shafting even if it is normally
accessible.

PLANNED MAINTENANCE
Effective maintenance of the plant and construction equipment is a preventive to
efficient operation and uninterrupted construction activities. While deterioration of
building cannot be stopped, it can be retarded by maintenance.
Machine and equipment likewise, are subject to wear and tear from use.
Machine tend to got out of adjustment not only as the result of use, but also
because of the temperature changes, vibration, seasoning of machine parts and a
host of other causes.
Time is likewise a factor as corrosion forms in bodies and on various vital
parts of the machine. Dirt gradually finds its way into many types of equipment.
Moisture seeps into electrical windings and breaks down insulation. To counteract
the effect of all these inherent diseases in equipment, the only wonder drug that
could be prescribed is proper periodic maintenance.
Planned maintenance is an organized attempt to prevent sudden breakdown in
equipment and periodic shutdown for repairs. It is accomplished under the program
of preventive maintenance, a definite program of periodic cleaning, servicing,
inspection and replacement of worn parts.
Preventive maintenance has long been an economic necessity for
construction equipment which must operate on a continuous process. When failure
does occur, investigation is made to know the cause, and statistical records are kept
to indicate whether or not the preventive maintenance program is effective and
working. Maintenance for the machine and equipment is very costly. Continuity of
operation demands that the following general procedures should be carried out:
1. Down time of each equipment for servicing is planned in advance.
2. Important items of equipment that requires regular cleaning and maintenance
or liable to sudden failure should be ready at hand for substitution at any
time of failure or signs of approaching failure.
3. Records should be maintained and analysis made of repetitive failure.
 4. Regular and prescribed inspections should be made for signs of impending
failure.

A number of engineers feel that in the long run, the cost of regular inspections of
equipment exceeds the cost failures that are hereby prevented. They pointed out,
that many break downs occur suddenly and without warning. Hence, predicting the
approach of such failures is statistical improbable.
How does one foresee a fractured drive shaft, a sticky hydraulic valve, a
limit switch that suddenly fails to operate a transformer that blows up? these are
only few of equipment breakdown headache which are difficult if not impossible to
cure by the inspection medicine. Thus, every case of preventive maintenance
inspection must be weighted on the balance scale of cost. The question is: does an
ounce of prevention really affect a pound of cure, or does a pound of prevention
result in only an ounce of cure?
Where machine and equipment have been in operation for a considerable
period of time, records of the timing and extent of failures are available. Knowing
the probability of breakdowns and their associated costs, the expected expenses of
different maintenance policies are calculated. Preventive maintenance program is
indicative of the value of calculation, which revealed the interval between
overhauls that minimizes maintenance costs.
Economic reasoning frequently must bow to other considerations. Or some
items of equipment, failures is prohibitive from the standpoint both of the property
damaged and of employee safety. The frequent of inspections will depend upon the
nature of the facility or item being checked, its important to the continuity of
operations or to the safety of the plant and workers and the time interval from the
first indication of trouble to the actual failure. General inspection of machinery can
be scheduled at intervals of perhaps 3 to 4 months depending upon the volume of
service or operations.

Other way of monitoring work activities is by Operations strategy, this is

applicable all types of projects like constructions, manufacturing, etc.
Operation Strategy

What is strategy – Strategic decision can be classified as those decision which

make major long term changes to the resources base of the organization in
responsible to external factors such as markets, customers and competitors. These
strategic decisions occur as a result of an evaluation of the external and internal
environments. The external evaluation may be reveal market opportunities or
threats from competitors. Strategy is seen complex in nature due to high degree of
uncertainly in future consequences arriving from decisions, integration is required
of all aspects and functionality area of business and major change may have to be
implemented as consequences of strategic choices made. Operations strategy is
concerned with both what the operation has to do in order to meet current and
future challenges also is concerned with the long- term development of the
operations resources so that they can provide the basis for sustainable advantage.

Levels of Strategy
Strategy can be seen to exist at three main levels within the organization. At the
highest or corporate levels that strategy provides very general long-range guidance
for the whole organization, often expressed as a statement of its mission. The
mission statement describes in general terms what key decision-makers want the
company to accomplish and what kind of company they want it to become. Thus
the mission focuses the organization on specific market areas and the basis on
which it must compete.

The second level of strategy terms is termed a business strategy and may be
for the organization or at the strategic business unit level in larger diversified
companies. There the concerns in with the products and services that should be
offered in the market defined at the corporate level. The third level of strategy is
termed the operational or functional strategy. Since the operation function is
responsible in the large part for the delivery of the product/service it has major
responsibility for business strategy formulation and implementation. This model
implies a top-down approach to strategy formation in which corporate goals are
communicated down to business and then functional areas. Although there has
always been interaction within this hierarchy in both directions in this model the
role of functional areas such as operations in setting the framework for how a
company can compete is being recognized. The increasing importance of
operations strategy development is discussed in the other sections.

The Role of Operations in Strategy Development

The operations functions play an important role in the formulation and delivery of
the organization’s strategy. Market conditions have changed from a mass
production era with an emphasis on high volume, low cost production to an
environment demanding performance on measures such as quality and speed of
delivery as well as cost. In addition the rapid pace of change in markets means the
basis of how the organization will compete may change quickly over time.
The traditional approach to strategy development has been for senior managers to
establish corporate objectives, develop a strategy for meeting these objectives and
then to acquire resources necessary to implement the chosen strategy. This
approach is intended to ensure that resources are directed efficiently at the areas
identified as strategically important from the strategies analysis. The approach is
based on the firm’s ability to forecast future market conditions and thus identify
gaps between future market needs and organizational capability. However, in
dynamic market the ability to forecast far enough into the future in order to build a
competitive advantage will be limited. Also this approach has led to an emphasis
on relatively short-term objectives and a lack of emphasis on behavioral factors
such as performance evaluation systems and selection and development of work-
force. The idea is that in dynamic market condition the strategic plan should
indicate the general direction that the organization should follow based on the
capabilities and values it possesses.
Operations Competitive Priorities
Operations should focuses on special capabilities that given it a competitive edge
which may be termed competitive priorities. Four operations priorities or measures
of these capabilities can be termed cost, time, quality and flexibility.
Cost
In an organization in competing on price then it is essential that it keeps it cost
base lower than the competition. Then it will either make more profit than rivals, if
price is equal, or gain market share if price is lower. Cost is also important for a
strategy of providing a product to a market, which competition cannot provide.
Thus, cost proximity is important to maximize profits and deter competitors from
entering the market. The major categories of cost are staff, facilities, and material
with the greatest scope for costs reduction lies with reduction of the cost of
materials. A relatively small proportion of costs are usually assigned to direct
labor.

Time
The time delay or speed of operation can be measured as the time between a
customer request for a product/ service and then receiving that product/ service.
Speed is an important factor to the customer in making a choice about which
organization to use. In this case the speed of the internal processes of purchase and
make will directly affect the delivery time experienced by the customer. Thus the
advantage of speed is that it can either be used to reduce the amount of speculative
activity and keep the delivery time constant or for the same amount of speculative
activity it can reduce overall delivery lead time. Thus in competitive terms speed
can be used to both reduce costs.
Quality
Quality offers both the quality of the product/service itself and the quality of the
process that delivers the product/service. Quality can be measured by the cost of
the quality model were costs are categorized as either the cost of achieving good
quality. The advantage of good quality on competitiveness includes increasing
dependability, reduced costs and improved customer service.

Flexibility
There are a number of areas in which flexibility can be demonstrated. For example
it can mean the ability to offer a wide variety of products/services to the customer
and to be able to change these product/services quickly. Flexibility is needed so
that organization can adapt to changing customer needs in terms of product ranged
and varying demand and to cope with capacity shortfalls due to equipment
breakdown or component shortage. Types of flexibility include product flexibility
which is the ability to be able to quickly act in response to changing customer
needs with new product/service design and volume flexibility which is the ability
to be able to decrease or increase output in response to change in demand. Volume
flexibility may be needed for seasonal changes in demand as service may have to
reach to demand changes minute by minute.

Management System
In most construction contracts, the contractor is given only one opportunity
to set its price (the bid).
From that point on, profits are determined by the project managerial ability to save
money through better planning of daily operations and the skill to make good
decisions. If a project is to be constructed within its established budget and time
schedule, close management control of field operations is a necessity. Project
conditions such as technical complexity, importance of timely completion,
resource limitations, and substantial costs put great emphasis on the planning,
scheduling, and control of construction operations. Unfortunately, the construction
process, once set into motion, is not a self regulating mechanism and requires
expert guidance if events are to conform to plans.
It must be remembered that projects are one-time and largely unique efforts of
limited time duration that involve work of a non standardized and variable nature.
Field construction work can be affected profoundly by events that are difficult, if
not impossible, to anticipate. Under such uncertain and shifting conditions, field
construction costs and time requirements are changing constantly and can seriously
deteriorate with little or no advance warning. The presence of uncertainty in
construction does not suggest that planning is impossible but rather that it will
assume a monumental role in the success or failure of the project. The greater the
level of uncertainty in the project, the greater the need for exhaustive project
planning and skilled and unremitting management effort.
Under most competitively bid, fixed-sum contracts calling for construction
services only, the general contractor exercises management control over
construction operations. Self-interest is the essential motivation in such cases, the
contractor being obligated by contract to meet a prescribed completion date and to
finish the project for a stipulated sum. The surest way for the contractor to achieve
its own objectives, and those of the owner in the bargain, is by applying some
system of project management.
Serving the best interests of the owner is the primary emphasis of project control
under other forms of contracts. Field management under design-construct,
construction management, and many cost-plus contracts is directed principally
toward providing the owner with professional advisory and management services
to best achieve the owner’s objectives.

Project Management Characteristics

In its most common context, the term management relates to the planning,
organizing, directing, and controlling of a business enterprise. Business
management is essentially a continuing and internal activity involving that
company’s own personnel, finances, property, and other resources.
Construction project management, however, applies to a given project, the various
phases of which usually are accomplished by different organizations. Therefore,
the management of a construction project is not so much a process of managing the
internal affairs of a single company as it is one of coordinating and regulating all of
the elements needed to accomplish the job at hand. Thus, the typical project
manager must work extensively with organizations other than his own. In such
circumstances, much of his authority is conferred by contractual terms or power of
agency and is therefore less direct than that of the usual business manager. Project
management is accomplished largely through the personnel of different employers
working closely together.

Management Procedures
Field construction has little in common with the assembly-line production of
standardized products.
Standard costs, time-and-motion studies, process flowcharts, and line-of-balance
techniques all traditional management devices used by the manufacturing
industries have not lent themselves well to general construction applications.
Historically, construction project management has been a rudimentary and largely
intuitive process, aided by the useful but inadequate bar chart
Over the years, however, new scientific management concepts have been
developed and applied.
Application of these principles to construction has resulted in the development of
techniques for the management control of construction cost, time, resources, and
project finance, treating the entire construction process as a unified system.
Comprehensive management control is applied from inception to completion of
construction operations.
Field project management starts with the onset of construction, at which point a
comprehensive construction budget and detailed time schedule of operations are
prepared. These constitute the accepted cost and time goals used as a blueprint for
the actual construction process. After the project has begun, monitoring systems
are established that measure the actual costs and progress of the work at periodic
intervals. The reporting system provides progress information that is measured
against the programmed targets. Comparison of field expense and progress with
the established plan quickly detects exceptions that must receive prompt
management attention. Data from the system can be used to make corrected
forecasts of costs and time to complete the work.
The process just described is often called a management-by-exception procedure.
When applied to a given project, it emphasizes the prompt and explicit
identification of deviations from an established plan or norm. Reports that
highlight exceptions from the standard enable the manager to recognize quickly
those project areas requiring attention. As long as an item of work is progressing in
accordance with the plan, no action is needed, but there are always plenty of
problem areas that do require attention.
Management-by-exception devices are useful, and this book emphasizes their
application.
In addition to cost and time, the field management system is necessarily concerned
with the management of job resources and with project financial control.
Resources in this context refer to materials, labor, construction equipment, and
subcontractors. Resource management is primarily a process of the advance
recognition of project needs, scheduling and expediting of the resources required,
and adjusting the demands where necessary. Project financial control involves the
responsibility of the project manager for the total cash flow generated by the
construction work and the terms of the contract.
As indicated by the preceding discussion, there are several different aspects of a
project control system.
Each of these major management topics is treated separately in the chapters that
follow. It must be recognized, however, that these aspects are highly interrelated
segments of a total project management process.
Time and Cost Management
Project time and cost management are based on time and cost schedules developed
for the project and an information system that will provide data for comparing
expected with actual performance. The information or monitor system measures,
evaluates, and reports job progress, comparing it with the planned performance,
which keeps the project manager apprised of the nature and extent of any
deviation. When deviations do occur, the manager takes whatever action is
considered feasible and effective to correct the situation. Costs and time can
quickly get out of hand on construction projects where production conditions are
volatile. Job monitoring must detect such aberrations quickly. Cost and time
control information must be timely with little delay between field work and
management review of performance. This timely information gives the project
manager a chance to evaluate alternatives and take corrective action while an
opportunity still exists to rectify problem areas.
In a sense, all management efforts are directed toward cost control because
expedient completion of safe and high-quality projects represents both construction
savings for the contractor and beneficial usage for the owner. In practice, however,
time and cost management are spoken of and applied as separate, although
interrelated, procedures. One aspect of this separation is the difference in job
breakdown structure used for time and cost control purposes. The distinctive
character of the two procedures requires that the project be divided into two
different sets of elements: project components for time control and work
classifications for cost control.
The realities of a field project make the strict control of every detail unattainable in
a practical sense.
Consequently, it must be recognized that the time and cost management methods
discussed in this book are imperfect procedures, affording results of reasonable
accuracy and to managers whose powers to control are far from absolute. Project
management procedures offer no panacea for construction problems. They provide
no magic answers, and the management information generated is no better than the
quality of the input data. Nevertheless, a reasonably good basis is established for
informed decision making.

CPM Procedure
The planning and scheduling of construction projects normally uses a network-
based management procedure referred to as the Critical Path Method (CPM). CPM
was developed especially to provide an effective and workable procedure for
planning and scheduling construction operations. Widely used by the construction
industry, and frequently a contract requirement, CPM involves a definite body of
management procedures and is the basis for the planning and scheduling methods
discussed in this book.
The heart of CPM is a graphical job plan that shows all the construction activities
necessary for job completion and the order in which they will be done. This
graphical network portrays, in simple and direct form, the complex time
relationships and constraints among the various segments of a project. It has the
tremendous advantage of easily accommodating modifications, refinements, and
corrections. It provides the project manager with 12 invaluable time control
information and devices:
1. Concise information regarding the planned sequence of construction operations
2. A means to predict with reasonable accuracy the time required for overall
project completion and the times to reach intermediate construction goals
(commonly called milestones)
3. Proposed start and finish calendar dates for project activities consistent with the
construction plan
4. Identification of those critical activities who is crucial to only project completion
5. A guide for reducing project time
6. A basis for scheduling subcontractors and material deliveries to the job site
7. A basis for balanced scheduling of manpower and construction equipment on the
project
8. The rapid evaluation of time requirements for alternative construction methods
9. An effective model for numerically computing project status
10. An essential vehicle for progress reporting, recording, and analysis
11. A basis for evaluating the time effects of construction changes and delays
12. A language for the communication of plans, processes, and goals for the entire
project team
Time Monitoring and Control
When field operations begin, the order in which the project proceeds is in
accordance with an approved job plan. During the construction period,
advancement of the work is monitored by measuring and reporting field progress at
regular intervals. These data are analyzed and time-control measures are taken as
appropriate to keep the work progressing on schedule.
Progress measurement for time-control purposes is an approximate process and is
based on determining the time status of each individual job activity. Progress
normally is measured by noting those activities that have been completed and
estimating the remaining time required to complete those in process. When
compared with the latest planned schedule, these data give the manager an
immediate indication of the time status of each job activity. Because activities
seldom start or finish exactly as scheduled, the field information also serves as the
basis for occasional updates that yield revised project completion dates and
corrected time schedules for the construction yet to be done. The workings of
project time control are discussed in Chapter 9.
Project Cost System
The project cost system is concerned with the control of expenses on current
projects and the gathering of production information for use in estimating the cost
of future work. The application of cost controls to a construction project actually
begins when the costs are estimated initially. It is then that the project budget is
established. This is the budget used by the project manager for cost-control
purposes during field construction.
If there is to be an opportunity for genuine cost control, it must be possible to
detect cost overruns promptly by making frequent comparisons between actual and
budgeted expenses of production during the construction process. In addition, the
actual costs must be determined in sufficient detail to enable project management
to locate the source of cost overruns. During construction, cost accounting methods
are applied to obtain the actual production rates and costs as they occur.
Specifically designed summary reports are prepared periodically to pinpoint work
areas where costs are exceeding the budget. This management-by-exception cost
system immediately identifies for the project manager where production costs are
unsatisfactory and management action is needed. If the project manager takes
timely and suitable corrective measures, cost overruns often can be minimized and
future expenditures brought into line with budget estimates. In addition to
maintaining a continuous check on production costs for cost-control purposes, the
project cost system yields valuable information needed for estimating future
construction work. Average production rates and unit costs are obtained from
completed projects and maintained in permanent and easily accessible databases.
These records of past cost experience are a valuable resource to the estimator when
new projects are being estimated.
For both cost-control and estimating purposes, a construction project must be
broken down into standardized and categorized building blocks, often called cost
codes, work types, or Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) elements. Hence, cost
information gathered during the construction phase must be tracked using the same
cost codes that will be used in producing future estimates. This allows the
historical cost information to be recalled and assembled in a variety of different
ways to produce reasonable cost estimates of future projects. Some examples of
work types might be a footing concrete, place at or non-structural steel. These
classifications are used throughout a company’s cost system. Each work type is
assigned a unique and permanent cost code number that is used consistently by all
company personnel and that does not change from project to project.

WHAT IS A BAR CHART

A bar chart is a simple, visual scheduling tool that is easy to use.
It displays planning information graphically in a compact format to a time-scale. It
is a diagram divided into columns and rows.
Columns represent a given time-scale, which could be expressed as months, weeks,
days or even hours. Activities are scheduled as bars within horizontal rows.
The first column lists activities that are to be scheduled in a more or less logical
order of production. The production process is then represented by horizontal bars
which are drawn for each activity within the time-frame of the bar chart. The
length of an activity bar gives activity duration. Figure 2.1 is an example of a
simple bar chart.
The start and end points of an activity bar are significant in determining the
position of that activity within a logical production sequence. In other words, the
start point of an activity bar is closely related to the end point of a preceding
activity bar.
Similarly, the end point of an activity bar shows the relationship between that
activity and the following activities. For example, the start of the activity ‘Footings
excavation’ is linked to the finish of the preceding activity, ‘Services excavation’,
and the finish of the activity ‘Footings excavation’ is linked to the start of the next
activity, ‘Concrete footin
27

Bar charts
However, it is unclear whether the start of the activity ‘Concrete footings’ is only
related to the finish of the preceding activity, ‘Footings excavation’, or to
‘Concrete slab’ as well. It is also difficult to determine if the activity ‘Concrete
footings’ is in any way related to the activities ‘Electrical’ and ‘Plumbing’.
The graph shown in Figure 2.1 represents a traditional format of bar chart. It
should be clear from the foregoing discussion that this format makes it difficult for
the user to interpret the relationships between activities. If one of the activities is
delayed, would the user be able to interpret the impact of this delay on other
activities? For example, would the user be able to correctly deduce the impact of a
one-day delay in the completion of the activity ‘Concrete slab’ on the activities
‘Steel frame’, ‘Electrical’ and ‘Plumbing’? For this simple project, the experienced
user would most likely deduce the correct answer. When projects become more
complex, interpretation of relationships among activities is much more difficult.
This problem can easily be overcome by constructing a linked bar chart.
LINKED BAR CHART
When the end of a preceding activity is connected to the start of a following
activity by a link line, the traditional bar chart format is converted into a linked
format
A linked bar chart provides a clear picture of relationships among scheduled
activities. It even defines relationships between those activities that are scheduled
concurrently. For example, the completion of ‘Walls’ affects the completion of
‘Plumbing’; similarly, the completion of ‘Roof’ affects the completion of
‘Electrical’.
Without these links, the relationship between the activities ‘Wall’ and ‘Plumbing’,
and ‘Roof’ and ‘Electrical’ would be extremely difficult to define.
Linking of activities has overcome the main shortcoming of bar charts. Positive
features of a bar chart scheduling technique include:
• Speed and ease of development
• ease of understanding
• The ability to schedule complex relationships among activities
• The ability to communicate information
• The ability to monitor and control the production process.
PROCESS OF DEVELOPING A BAR CHART
It provides a framework on which a process of developing a bar chart or any other
technique used in scheduling is based. Logical steps in developing a bar chart
include:
1. Identifying the work to be done and setting an objective
2. Determining the extent of planning detail for a particular level of WBS
3. Breaking the work down into activities
4. Developing alternative planning strategies:
• preparing a logic diagram (that is, a logical sequence of activities) for each
alternative
• determining duration of activities (see this section for more details) based on the
volume of work and the required resources (that is, people, plant/equipment,
materials)
• Recording planning information in method statements (see pages 33–34 for
details)
• preparing preliminary bar charts, one for each alternative
• Considering the use of resources; for example, one crew of workers cannot be
scheduled to work on two separate activities at the same time
• checking the volume of resources at each time interval to prevent their
unnecessary accumulation
5. Selecting the preferred planning strategy
6. Reviewing the preferred planning strategy illustrated on a bar chart schedule.
Does it all make sense? Will the user be able to understand it? Does the bar chart
schedule include enough information to be workable? Has anything been left out?
Is there a better alternative? Does the bar chart schedule meet the planning
objectives?
7. Committing to the bar chart schedule
8. Monitoring the progress regularly.

ACTIVITY DURATION
An activity is a task that needs to be accomplished. It describes a particular type of
work, for example bulk excavation or plumbing.
But ‘work’ May not always involve human activity, for example the curing of
concrete occurs by natural means. Nevertheless, it must be included in a schedule
since it adds time to the project.
One of the most difficult tasks in planning is establishing the duration of activities.
To do that, the planner needs to know:
• The quantity of the work
• The resources needed for its execution
• Productivity rates of the required resources
• The specific contractual requirements imposed on the project
• The presence of risk.
Determining time duration of activities from labour productivity rates
The quantity of work is commonly measured and compiled by a quantity surveyor
in a document called a ‘bill of quantities’. In some countries, such as the USA and
Japan, clients don’t commission consulting quantity surveyors to prepare a bill of
quantities as a bidding document; rather, bidding contractors are required to
prepare their own quantities.
When a bill of quantities for a particular project is available to the contractor, the
contractor’s planner can easily determine the volume of work for each activity in
the project. For example, the bill of quantities specifies the quantity of ‘trench
excavation’ as 60 m3. Let’s assume that the trench is 15 meters long, 2 meters
wide and 2 meters deep, and the soil is clay.
If this excavation activity is to be performed by laborers, the planner needs to
know a productivity rate or units of work for
labour excavating the trench. The planner may deduce this productivity rate from
experience or extract it from readily available published databases. The task of
calculating duration of this activity is fairly simple once the planner has
determined the total volume of labour hours and the size of the labour crew.
Total labour hours = quantity of work × productivity rate
Activity duration = total labour hours/number of persons
Assume that 1.5 labour hours is required to excavate 1 m3 of soil.
Therefore,
Total labour hours = 60 m3 × 1.5 labour hours = 90 labour hours or
12 labour days (at 8 hrs per day).
With, say, three persons assigned to this activity, duration will be:
Activity duration = 12/3 = 4 days
The planner may vary the activity duration by either increasing or decreasing the
labour crew size, provided this is possible or practicable. For example, with two
and four people assigned to the above activity, its duration would be six and three
days respectively. The planner may then optimize alternative activity durations in
terms of cost and time to determine the optimum outcome.

Determining time duration of activities from daily output rates of resources

Duration of activities can also be calculated from the volume of work and the daily
output rates of resources. In most countries, output rates per day for
plant/equipment and labour may be obtained from published cost data catalogues.
The calculation process to determine activity duration in days is:
Activity duration in days = quantity of work/resource output rate per day
For the previous example, assume that a backhoe will be used to excavate the
trench. The output rate of the selected backhoe is say 80 m3 per day. To excavate
the required 60 m3 will be calculated as follows:
Activity duration = 60/80 = 0.75 day
Although it takes less than one day to excavate the trench, the planner will
probably round the duration to the nearest day, in this case one day. More complex
tasks performed by plant or equipment may require the allocation of additional
labour to assist with and supervise such tasks.
Determining duration of activities from the target dates
Sometimes a bidding contractor is required to prepare a construction schedule that meets a tight
completion date. The contractor’s planner would need to schedule the project by working from
its completion date to the start date by fitting all the work within the given time-frame. This often
results in some activities having unrealistically short durations. In such cases, the planner is
required to allocate whatever resources are needed to meet the required activity duration.
Single-value estimates of activity duration
Before leaving this topic, it is useful to note that productivity and output rates of resources from
which activity durations are calculated are commonly expressed as single-value estimates. They
are extracted from databases in the form of mean or average rates. For example, an average

output rate for laying bricks extracted from a database may be 300 per bricklayer per day.
This rate has been compiled from virtually thousands of past bricklaying output rates stored in
the database. An average estimate of the output rate is in fact a mean of a distribution of
individual output rates. The range of the output rate distribution is defined by its standard
deviation. When the standard deviation is high, the range is correspondingly wide.

For example, with the standard deviation of 50 bricks per day, the range of the
output rate distribution would be approximately between 150 and 450 bricks per
bricklayer per day.
By definition, the mean or average is 50 per cent. It means that the output rate of
300 bricks per bricklayer per day has around 50 per cent probability of being
achieved. Since the range of the distribution is wide, the actual output rate that will
be achieved could in fact be anywhere within the defined range. Scheduling a
project on the basis of average time estimates is obviously risky.
Scheduling that relies on using average productivity and output rates of resources
are referred to as single-value (deterministic) scheduling. An alternative approach
known as probability (stochastic) scheduling expresses estimates of productivity
and output rates in the form of probability distributions. Using an appropriate
probability analysis method such as the Monte Carlo simulation, the combined
effect of individual probability distributions on the schedule can be assessed
statistically.
RISK CONTINGENCY
Schedules built up from ‘average’ estimates of activity durations do not reflect the
presence of risk. Risk that may cause delays in execution of the work is commonly
assessed separately by the planner. Most frequent risks responsible for delays
include inclement weather, latent site conditions, variations orders, and
unavailability of resources, re-work accidents and the like. From the contractor’s
perspective, delays caused by the client are not risk events if the contractor is able
to claim time extension under the contract, for example delays caused by variations
orders or latent site conditions. For such risk events, the contractor will add no
time contingency to the schedule. However, the other risks for which the contractor
is responsible would need to be carefully assessed and added to the schedule in the
form of a time contingency.
The contractor may deal with a time contingency in one of the following ways:
• add time contingencies to ‘risky activities’ only, or
• add a time contingency to the whole project as a lump-sum allowance (to the end
date of the schedule), or
• break up the lump-sum time contingency into a number of smaller contingencies
that are then added to the schedule at regular intervals, for example each month.