Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

ScienceDirect
Procedia Engineering 161 (2016) 711 – 715

World Multidisciplinary Civil Engineering-Architecture-Urban Planning Symposium 2016,

WMCAUS 2016

Survey of Construction Management Documentation Usage in

Planning and Construction of Building Project
Maria Kozlovskaa, Daniela Mackovab,*, Marcela Spisakovac
a
Technical University of Kosice, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Vysokoskolska 4, Kosice, Slovakia

Abstract

Project management presents the management and the coordination of human and material resources throughout the life of project
by using the modern techniques of management for achievement of predetermined objectives in particular scope, costs, time, quality
and the satisfaction of projects stakeholders. The construction project is unique summary of activities which resulted in product
meeting the required quality parameters limited by time and costs. These parameters can be managed only through the carefully
planning. The wide range of plans is the result of construction planning. The plans allow the effectively manage the achievement
of planned construction parameters. Not only the time, costs and quality are important for construction project management, but
also the plans in the field of safety, construction equipment and measures for eliminating the impact of the winter season for
construction as a part of construction management documentation. For effective planning and the management of construction
process by the plans, it is currently necessary to use more sophisticated ICT tools.
The paper presents the results of longitudinal research focused on the opinion of construction companies in Slovakia related to their
approaches to processing these important plans for management of their construction projects. The survey was repeated in 1996,
2003, 2008 and 2013, therefore it is possible to examine the trends in the field of plans processing and then their using for
construction management. The aim of research is to find out the trend in processing of construction management documentation.
© 2016
2016TheTheAuthors.
Authors. Published
Published by Elsevier
by Elsevier Ltd. Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of WMCAUS 2016.
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of WMCAUS 2016
Keywords: construction management documentation; planning phase; construction phase; questionnaire survey;

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +421 55 602 4383.

E-mail address: [email protected]

1877-7058 © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of WMCAUS 2016
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2016.08.747
712 Maria Kozlovska et al. / Procedia Engineering 161 (2016) 711 – 715

Previously is necessary to determine the dependence of construction management documentation processing on time which is
confirmed by statistical method (chi-squared test) for investigation of quantitative characters. The findings of research indicate that
trend in the processing of construction management documentation is improving.

1. Introduction

The construction management documentation presents the result of planning of construction processes and is
necessary for its management. The processing and continual updating of construction management documentation are
essential for management of changes which are very common issues in construction projects. Any additions, deletions,
or revisions to project goals or scope are considered to be changes; regardless of whether they increase or decrease the
project cost, quality or schedule [3]. Project changes have obvious impacts on the construction process, not only on
the project’s schedule and cost but also on the project’s performance. Furthermore, it is hard to predict the changes in
construction projects. This is mainly because of the uniqueness of each project and the limited resources that can be
spent on planning, executing and delivering the project [4]. Project manager needs to predict changes in a timely
manner. According to Kartam [9], conflict will be minimized when problems are found at the earliest possible stage
of a project thereby enabling the implementation of counter measures. The changes in construction projects are
implemented in its design and planning through a complex and iterative process, which may extend over a long period
of time. The impact of these changes on the project often becomes clear only at the end of this process [10]. On the
other hand, the study of authors Cox et al. [2] estimated that the direct cost of post contract design changes in building
projects amounts to 5.1% - 7.6% of the total project cost. Author Ballard [1] discovered that over 50% of site work
had not been finished on time according to weekly plans because of the construction changes.
The processing of construction management documentation in phase of building project planning and construction
presents the significant part of information management which is essential in construction project [11]. The
construction management documentation is important resources of information for planning and the management of
construction processes which are needed for each project stakeholders (investor, designers, contractors and
subcontractors, suppliers and government administrators). An inefficient collaboration among participants has been
identified as a part of the reason for frequent overrunning in terms of time and cost and an inefficient level of
construction quality [1]. On the other hand, not only the time, costs and quality are important for construction project
management. The issue of building site planning has to be an integral part of construction planning. The result of
planning of construction processes is the processing of construction management documentation which is generally
focused on main aspects of construction – time, costs, quality closely linked to building site conditions including the
safety on site (tab. 1).

Table 1. Analyses of construction management documentation for planning and construction phase
Evaluated aspect Required document
Time schedule of construction works
Costs budget
Quality quality control plan for construction realization
Building site construction site layout planning
plan for occupational safety and health
plan of measures for eliminating the impact of the winter season for constr. plan

Management of information flows is crucial for construction projects [7]. Considering schedule of construction
works, the site manager assesses the ability to meet the deadline specified in the business. Planning and management
of construction costs are provided by construction budget containing the construction cost estimating. During the
construction phase of building is needed the constant monitoring and updating of construction resources and spending
costs [5,12,13]. The quality control plan for construction realization is document processed by quality manager where
is assessed the compliance the required and offered quality of construction works what presents quality aspects of
construction [6]. Construction site layout involves identifying, sizing, and location building site equipments within
the boundaries of construction site. This document allows effective planning and management of construction process
 Maria Kozlovska et al. / Procedia Engineering 161 (2016) 711 – 715 713

conditions. Plan for occupational safety and health (OSH) on the construction site is a document containing data,
information and procedures prepared in details necessary to ensure a safe and healthy work during construction [8].
The plan of measures for eliminating the impact of the winter season is used to eliminate the effects of weather
conditions to a construction process that affect its progression and continuity.
Obligation of processing almost all documents (except quality control plan for construction realization and plan for
OSH) is not legislatively required. On the other hand, this documentation provides the necessary and valuable
information and data for effective and correct management of construction in all aspects of construction.

2. Methodology

The goal of research is to find out the trend in processing of construction management documentation in Slovak
construction companies. Previously is necessary to determine the dependence of this documentation processing on
time. The dependence is determined by the results of questionnaire survey which have done since 1996 in Technical
University in Kosice. This research analyses data collected in four years - 1996, 2003, 2008, 2013. Respondents
(experts) were asked by personal questioning to answer questions relating to construction management documents. In
1996 were interviewed 64 respondents, in 2003 48 respondents, 159 respondents in year 2008 and 59 respondents in
year 2013. This study analyses selected six construction management documents processing in Slovak construction
companies depends on time: schedule of construction works (question Q1), budget (question Q2), quality control plan
for construction realization (question Q3), construction site layout planning (question Q4), plan of occupational safety
and health (question Q5), plan of measures for eliminating the impact of the winter season for construction (question
Q6). The questionnaire mentioned above contained questions related to the processing of these documents and the
respondent had scale of possible answers: always, sometimes and never documents are processed. The share of answers
(in percent) for all six questions depending on time is shown in table 2 and also in figure 1.
Using chi-squared test (significance level Į = 0.05) by software MS Excel it was investigated influence of time to
construction management documents processing. A null hypothesis was: The processing of documents is independent
on the time. The share of answers (in percent) for all six questions depending on time is shown in table 2. Consequently
chi-squared test was done and the results are shown in table 3.

Table 2. Share of answers for questions Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, Q6 [%].
always [%] sometimes [%] never [%]
1996 2003 2008 2013 1996 2003 2008 2013 1996 2003 2008 2013
Q1 54 43 71 69 46 50 25 25 0 7 4 6
Q2 61 50 57 51 31 38 36 35 8 12 7 14
Q3 50 35 44 46 33 50 35 40 17 15 21 14
Q4 38 22 48 26 54 40 31 55 8 38 21 18
Q5 54 53 74 71 31 38 21 21 15 9 5 8
Q6 31 22 27 20 61 43 53 54 8 35 20 26

Table 3. Results of chi-squared test.

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6
p-value 3.39 10-5 0.49 0.182 1.10-7 4.2 10-3 6.8 10-4
p<Į p>Į p>Į p<Į p<Į p<Į
C 0.846 - - 0.885 0.782 0.813
p-value of chi-squared test; significance level Į = 0.05, C - Pearson contingency coefficient.

3. Result and discussion

As we can see in table 3, p-value of chi-squared test is for questions Q2, Q3 higher than significance level Į=0.05,
therefore we accept null hypothesis: Processing of these two construction management documents (budget of
construction works and quality control plan for construction realization) is independent on time. On the other hand,
714 Maria Kozlovska et al. / Procedia Engineering 161 (2016) 711 – 715

we can see that p-value of chi-squared test is for questions Q1, Q4, Q5, Q6 lower than significance level Į=0.05,
therefore we reject null hypothesis and accept alternative hypothesis: Processing of these four construction
management documents (schedule of construction works, construction site layout planning, plan of OSH and plan of
measures for eliminating the impact of the winter season for construction) is dependent on time.

Fig. 1. The share of answers and trend curve for questions Q1-Q6 depending on time.

In addition, it can be interpret also strength of dependency by the Pearson contingency coefficient (C). Pearson
contingency coefficient (can take values from the interval from 0 to 1) values of 0.846 for question Q1, 0.885 for
question Q4, 0.782 for question Q5 and 0.813 for question Q6 points the high degree of dependency. Fig. 1 shows
share of answers (in %) for all six questions in monitored years (1996, 2003, 2008, 2013) and there are also indicated
trend curves for each possible answer within all questions, which were drawn up according to collected data in research
mentioned above. Trend curves (polynomial functions of one variable - time) show future direction in the field of
construction management documents and it is possible to say, that processing of construction management documents
has improving tendencies in generally. Specifically, we can argue that the trend of schedule of construction works
processing, construction site layout planning, plan of OSH and plan of measures for eliminating the impact of the
 Maria Kozlovska et al. / Procedia Engineering 161 (2016) 711 – 715 715

winter season for construction will be improving. The trend of processing of construction works budget and quality
control plan for construction realization is unchanged. The construction companies had created the budget of
construction works and quality control plan already in investigated period (1996-2013). Thus, this unchanged trend is
satisfactory. The budget of construction works provided to companies the valuable information in the field of
construction costs. On the other hand, the obligation of quality control plan processing is legislatively required (Act
254/1998 Coll. of Laws on Public works, standard STN EN ISO 9001).

4. Conclusion

The construction process is complex system. Primarily, the successfully completed project must be carefully
planned. The aim of submitted paper is to determine the trend in processing of construction management
documentation. Initial step was to find out the dependence of its processing. According to confirmed and verified
dependency (using chi-squared test) of impact of time to construction management documents processing in Slovak
construction companies, there were determined the trend curves of their processing in future. The trend of schedule
of construction works processing, construction site layout planning, plan of OSH and plan of measures for eliminating
the impact of the winter season for construction will be improving. The processing of budget of construction works
and quality control plan has been already satisfactory and in the future will not change.
It can be concluded, that in spite the fact that obligation of construction management documents processing is not
defined in any legislation (except quality control plan for construction realization and plan for OSH), the construction
companies focus their attention on its processing in planning phase of construction process. Precisely planned and
constantly updated progress of construction presents a primary assumption for successful completion of the
construction according to contract terms (costs, time, quality).

Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by Grant Agency of Slovak Republic to support of project VEGA No.1/0677/14
“Research of construction efficiency improvement through MMC technologies”.

References

[1] H. G. Ballard, The Last Planner System of Production Control, University of Birmingham, Faculty of Engineering, Institute of Civil Engineering,
Birmingham, UK, 2000.
[2] I. D. Cox, J. P. Morris, J. H. Rogersong, G. E. Jared, A quantitative study of post contract award design changes in construction, Construction
Management and Economics, 1999, 17 (4): 427–439.
[3] C. Ibbs, C. K. Wong, Y. H.Kwak, Project change management system, Journal of Management in Engineering, 2001, 17 (3): 159–165.
[4] A. S. Hanna, R.Camlic, P. Peterson, M. J. Lee, Cumulative effect of project changes for electrical and mechanical construction, Journal of
Construction Engineering Management, 2004, 130 (6): 762–771.
[5] M. Juszczyk, R. Kozik, A. Lesniak, E. Plebankiewicz, K. Zima, Errors in the preparation of design documentation in public procurement in
Poland, In: Procedia Engineering Creative Construction Conference, Prague, 2014, pp. 283-292.
[6] J. Gasparik, M.Gasparik, Automated quality excellence evaluation, In: Proceedings of the 29th International Symposium of Automation and
Robotics in Construction 2012, Eindhoven, 6p, 2012.
[7] P. Mesaros, T. Mandicak, M. Mesarosova, Competency-based management of information flows in construction projects, In: SGEM 2014: 14th
international multidiscilinary scientific geoconference: GeoConference on Informatics, Geoinformatics and Remote Sensing: conference
proceedings: volume 1: 17-26, June, 2014, Albena, Bulgaria, 2014, pp. 89-96.
[8] Z. Hulinova, Need of change in the attitude to OSH, In: Construction Technology and Management 2014, Bratislava, 2014, pp. 209-217.
[9] N. Kartam, Making effective use of construction lessons learned in project life cycle, Journal of Construction Engineering Management, 1996,
12 (1): 14–21.
[10] M. Whelton, G. Ballard, Project definition and wicked problems, In: Proceeding of International Group for Lean Construction 10th Annual
Conference, Gramado, Brazil, 2002, pp. 375-387.
[11] S. Xu, H. Luo, The information-related time loss on construction sites – a case study on two sites, International Journal of Advan. Robot. Syst.,
2014, 128 (11): 128–139.
[12] E. Radziszewska-Zielina, B. Szewczyk, Analysis of correlations between the level of partnering relations and their influence on the time, cost,
quality and safety of implementation of construction projects, SSP - Journal of civil engineering, vol. 9/issue 2, 2014, pp. 65 – 75.
[13] A. LeĞniak, E. Plebankiewicz, Identification of leadership styles in the selected polish construction company, Proceedings of the International
Conference on Management and Engineering (CME 2014), 2014, pp. 1281-1287.