Journal of Civil Engineering and Construction Technology Vol. 2(5), pp.

90-100, May 2011

Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/jcect
ISSN 2141-2634 ©2011 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Network analysis and building construction:

Implications for timing and costing of activities
Adebowale, S. A.1* and Oluboyede, E. D.2
1
Department of Epidemiology, Medical Statistics and Environmental Health, Faculty of Public Health, College of
Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.
2
Department of Planning and research, Oye-Local Government, Ekiti, State, Nigeria.
Accepted 29 December, 2010

The upsurge in building collapses in Nigeria recently has been a source of concern to builders,
engineers, individuals and policy makers. Previous researches have observed many factors
responsible for the menace, which includes; use of substandard product, poor design, and unskilled
labour. None have adequately addressed the impact of timing and costing of stages in the building
process as part of their key variables. This study was therefore informed to explore the cost and
minimum expected time that will be required to complete the project. The data on the cost and duration
of activities involved were obtained from ALMEGA, Nig. Ltd., a civil engineering company based in
Lagos. Both critical path method (CPM) and project evaluation and review technique (PERT) were used
for the analysis. The activities underwent crashing of both the time and cost, this paved way for the
determination of critical path. Further analysis revealed that the shortest possible time for the
completion of the analyzed building project is 55 days instead of the expected duration of 92 days. This
means that through proper scheduling of activities, the expected completion time was reduced by 37
days. The additional cost associated with the reduction in timing is N830,000.00 ($5,355.00), which
increases the initial expected cost required to complete the project from N3,290,000.00 ($21,226.00) to
N4,120,000.00 ($26,581.00). Therefore, stringent adherence to the minimum possible time to complete a
specific part of building process will trim down building collapses in Nigeria. Although, it may not be
the only antidote, but when incorporated to building plan will make a difference.

Key words: Networking, building construction, crashing, time, cost, critical path method (CPM), project
evaluation and review technique (PERT).

INTRODUCTION

The upsurge in building collapses in Nigeria recently has technicalities and so on. However, there is always
been a source of concern to builders, engineers, neglect of the influence of duration and timing to
individuals and policy makers. The collapses, which complete the sub-section and the whole building project,
occur at different stages of building construction or after this is the subject of this study.
buildings have been completed. Most factors, which the Buildings are structures, which serve as shelters for
engineers, architects, builders and the population man, his properties and activities. They must be properly
considered responsible for the menace are the use of planned, designed and erected to obtain desired satis-
substandard product, unskilled labour in terms of faction from the environment. A building project involves
a single non-representative scheme typically undertaken
to accomplish a premeditated result within a time bound
and financial plan. However, because of the individuality
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. of each project, its outcome can never be predicted with
Tel: +2348033565210. an absolute confidence (Ayininuola and Olalusi, 2010). It
 Adebowale and Oluboyede 91

becomes imperative therefore, for the successful analytical means for scheduling the activities by defining
completion of the project, which perpetually depends on a the project activities, their precedence relation-ships and
large extent on carrying out essential activities in a their specific time requirements. Thereafter, the
sagacious sequence and deployment of resources to precedence relationships among the activities were
area of best gain and valuable importance. represented by a network, which was used to develop the
The successful achievement and management of time schedule for the project.
building project requires careful planning, scheduling and
coordi-nation of numerous interrelated activities. Any
building project will involve the completion of a number of Basic terminologies
smaller tasks. Some of these responsibilities can be
started straight away while some need to await the 1. Activity: This is a time consuming effort required to
completion of other tasks or done in parallel before they perform a part of a project Event: This is an instant in
eventually commence. Therefore, the number of building time showing the end or beginning of an activity.
collapses may arise if the specific tasks are completed 2. Restriction: This is the pre-requisite relationship which
before the minimum possible time expected to finish the establishes the sequence of activities when one activity
tasks. One way of overcoming such problems is through must be completed before a second activity begins.
the use of network models. 3. Dummy activity: This is used to represent a restraint
Network models are conventional means of finding the relationship which requires no time.
most skillful way to link a number of activities directly or 4. Pre-requisite activity: This is the one which
indirectly in order to satisfy supply and demand immediately precedes the one being considered.
requirements at different activity locations and project 5. Post-requisite activity: It is the activity which
scheduling. The need for networking arises in building immediately follows the one being considered.
construction to programme and monitor the progress of 6. Descendant activity: Is any activity restricted by the
the stages involved so that the building project is one under consideration.
completed in the minimum time. In doing this, it pin-points 7. A merge: This exists when two or more activities
the part of the project that are crucial which if delayed converge at a single event.
beyond the allotted time would increase the completion 8. Pessimistic time: This is the amount of time if we
time of the project as a whole. It further assists in encounter significant break down and/ or delays.
allocating resources, such as labour and equipment and 9. Most probable time: This is the most likely activity time
thus helps to make the total cost of the building project a under normal condition.
minimum by finding the optimum balance between 10. Optimistic time: This is the activity time if every task
various costs and time involved (Gueret and Sevaux, progresses in an ideal manner.
2002). The earliest techniques for coping with project 11. Free float: This is the amount of time activity can be
planning and scheduling challenges are the use of Gantt delayed without affecting the commencement of a
project planning charts and also the programme subsequent activity at its earliest start time but may affect
evaluation and review technique (PERT). timing of a previous activity.
Beyond the challenges due to scheduling of project, the 12. Total float: The total float for an activity is the
project manager is frequently faced with the problem of difference between the maximum time available for that
having to reduce the scheduled completion time of a activity and the duration of that activity.
project to meet the deadlines. Reducing the project 13. Latest start time: This is the latest time an activity can
duration time can be achieved by assigning more skilled begin without causing a delay in the overall duration of
labour into the project activities often in the form of the project.
overtime and by assigning more resources. However, 14. Earliest start time: It is the earliest time that an activity
additional labour and resources cost money and thus could begin assuming all the preceding activities are
increases the overall project cost and as such, the completed as soon as possible.
decision to reduce the project duration by reducing the 15. Critical path: of a network diagram gives the shortest
time of one or more of the critical path activities. This time in which the whole project can be completed. It
reduction in the critical path activities time is referred to contains activities that do not have positive float and is
as crashing. This can be achieved through deployment of the longest path (Ahuja and Orlin, 1993).
more resources in terms of monetary value to the
activities to be crashed using a procedure called project
crashing and time cost analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS
The present study determined the earliest and latest Study location and data description
start times through identification of critical path. It
revealed how time can be managed in a building project The data were collected from ALMEGA Nig. Ltd., a construction
for best outcome. These were achieved in the first instance company based in Ketu, Lagos. The floor plan of the building is the
using critical path method (CPM) and PERT to provide first phase of the building project after clearing of the bush on
92 J. Civ. Eng. Constr. Technol.

the site. The project plan of the company has the various activities factor. It is applied to very large-scale, one-time, complex, non-
that would be carried out, as well as the duration (days) and cost of routine infrastructure and Research and Development projects.
each activity in the construction of a bungalow building located at Two key terminologies involved in PERT are PERT event and
sub-urban part of Ibadan. The activities included planning, PERT activity. PERT event is a point that marks the start or
procurement of materials, excavation, plumbing and so on. The completion of one or more activities. It consumes no time and uses
data contains the level of precedence among various activities, as no resources. When it marks the completion of one or more tasks, it
well as the cost of each activity. To prevent clumsy analysis, is not “reached” (does not occur) until all of the activities leading to
activities were grouped. that event have been completed. Whereas, PERT activity is the
This study focused on the cost and on the available duration actual performance of a task, which consumes time and requires
(days) of the activities of carrying out the project. The duration is in resources, such as labor, materials, space, machinery. It is
multiple time estimates, that is, the optimistic time, the most likely expedient to note that a PERT activity cannot be performed until the
time and the pessimistic time estimate. The network analysis predecessor event has occurred. PERT has numerous advantages.
procedures were used in analyzing the data; this involves the For example, it enables building construction engineers to organize
critical path method (CPM), project evaluation and review technique and quantify project information and provides them with a graphic
(PERT) and probability estimation. The aim of estimating probability display of the project. It also helps to identify which activities are
is to find out the possibility that a node j in the network will occur by critical to the project completion time and should be watched
a pre-specified scheduled time, Sj, assuming that all the activities in closely, and which activities involve slack time and can be delayed
the network are statistically independent. This probability was without affecting the project completion time.
estimated in this study using

RESULTS

Data presentation

Table 1 shows the description of activities involved for the

construction process of a house construction project at
Celica area, Ibadan. The construction activities begin with
where z is the normal random variable and Justification for the use activity A and ends with activity O. Table 2 shows the
of the normal distribution is that is the sum of independent distribution of the project activities relative to the actual
random variables. Therefore, according to the central limit theorem number of days to complete individual activity and their
is approximately normally distributed.
respective cost implication in terms of naira and dollar of
In CPM networking, all the activities time estimates are single the building. The costs are basically labour costs based
values with the assumption that activity time are known with on the assumption that materials are already available for
certainty by using a single activity time estimate. In reality however, use. This is because, once the materials are available,
it is rare to have activity time estimate to be certain. This is because the reduction in number of days to complete a particular
projects longest time is the activity required to be completed activity will only be affected by the cost of hiring
assuming everything went on normally. Therefore, the three time
estimates were subsequently used to estimate the expected time additional labour. Table 3 shows the project activity
(mean) and variance of the distribution. Expected time is the weight according to activities that must be performed before the
average of the three time estimates (optimistic (a), pessimistic (b) next activity can begin, this is called the predecessor.
and most likely time (M)): The optimistic estimate (a), most likely estimate (m) and
pessimistic estimate (b) of the building were determined
to see the variations in the estimates as they affect the
construction activities.
Using the formulae;
Project crashing was done using:

.
were computed as shown in Table 4. The critical path
PERT analysis was used to obtain the cheapest cost by crashing as calculations involve two passes: The forward pass
many activities as possible on the critical path. determines the earliest occurrence times of the events,
PERT is a model designed to analyze and characterize the tasks and backward pass calculates their latest occurrence
involved in completing a given project. It is useful in the analysis of
times (Hamdy, 2007). The earliest time is calculated as
activities involved in completing a given project, particularly the time
needed to complete each activity, and identifying the minimum time follows:
needed to complete the total project. PERT was developed
primarily to simplify the planning and scheduling of large and
complex projects. It was used to incorporate uncertainty by making
it possible to schedule a project while not knowing precisely the
where i is the starting node number for a particular
details and durations of all the activities. It is more of an event-
oriented technique rather than start- and completion-oriented, and activity; j is the ending node number for a particular
is used more in projects where time, rather than cost, is the major activity; tij is the expected time to complete activity i to j
 Adebowale and Oluboyede 93

Table 1. Description of activities involved for the construction process of a house

construction project at Celica area, Ibadan.

Activity Description of activity

A Site clearing
B Excavating
C A Foundation
D B Rough wall
E CD Rough exterior plumbing
F B Roof
G F Rough electrical work
H F Rough interior plumbing
I H Exterior sliding
J EG Wall board
K CD Exterior painting
L K Flooring
M IJ Interior painting
N H Exterior fixtures
O LMN Interior fixtures

Table 2. Project activity, days (actual) and Cost (actual) of a house construction project at Celica area, Ibadan.

Activity Days Normal cost (N) Normal cost ($)

A 3 100,000.00 645.16
B 4 50,000.00 322.58
C A 9 50,000.00 322.58
D B 4 250,000.00 1,612.90
E CD 5 400,000.00 2,580.65
F B 6 200,000.00 1,290.32
G F 8 420,000.00 2,709.68
H F 7 400,000.00 2,580.65
I H 8 300,000.00 1,935.48
J EG 9 220,000.00 1,19.35
K CD 4 180,000.00 1,161.29
L K 6 200,000.00 1,290.32
M IJ 4 190,000.00 1,225.81
N H 8 160,000.00 1,03226
O LMN 7 170,000.00 1,096.77
The costs in the table are labour cost excluding the cost of materials. It is assumed that materials are already in stock for the
project. Therefore, crashing the time and labour does not affect cost of materials.

The backward pass is calculated as the latest time of time required to complete an activity are shown in the
occurrences of the last node, which is calculated as circle (base) whereas, the top of the circles are identified
by the activity number. The critical path is along activity
BFGJMO where there is no redundancy and is the
longest path.

The procedures are shown in the calculations below; the

values of earliest and latest times are shown and The analyses of the paths are shown as:
arranged in Table 5. Figure 1 shows the network diagram
of the project. In the diagram, all the activities are PATHS
represented by alphabets A to O. The earliest and latest
94 J. Civ. Eng. Constr. Technol.

Table 3. Project Activity, Predecessor, optimistic estimate (a), most likely estimate (m) and pessimistic estimate (b) of a
building construction project at celica area, Ibadan.

Activity Predecessor Optimistic estimate (a) Most likely estimate (m) Pessimistic Estimate (b)
A - 4 3 16
B - 4 4 18
C A 6 9 25
D B 7 5 27
E CD 4 6 21
F B 9 8 20
G F 13 7 28
H F 15 9 29
I H 14 6 22
J EG 20 5 33
K CD 11 4 24
L K 2 3 14
M IJ 7 3 18
N H 6 8 20
O LMN 9 6 20

Table 4. Mean and variances of activities of a building construction project at Celica area, Ibadan.

Activity Predecessor Mean Variance Standard deviation

A - 5.3 4.0 2
B - 6.3 5.4 2.3
C A 11.2 10.0 3.2
D B 9.0 3.4 1.8
E CD 8.1 8.0 2.8
F B 10.1 3.4 1.8
G F 11.5 6.3 2.5
H F 13.3 5.4 2.3
I H 10.0 1.8 1.3
J EG 12.2 4.7 2.2
K CD 8.5 4.7 2.2
L K 4.7 4.0 2.0
M IJ 6.2 3.4 1.8
N H 9.7 5.4 2.3
O LMN 9.0 3.4 1.8

Table 6 shows the Means and Variances of Activities

along the Identified Critical Path. In actual fact, many
project work are full of uncertainties, in this project
however, the longest path is BFGJMO (critical activity),
which means the completion time is approximately 55.3
days. Then, it becomes necessary to know how realistic
this will be by estimating the probability of achieving this
scheduled date.
Therefore, in order to know whether this project time
can be completed at this time, we assumed a completion
number of days say 60. Thereafter, we computed the
 Adebowale and Oluboyede 95

Table 5. Procedures for calculating forward pass and backward pas.

Forward pass (Earliest start time) Backward pass (Latest event time)
" #$ %
! #$ %
#$ %
#$ %
#$ %
#$ %
#$ %
#$ %
#$ %
& #$ %
#$ %
#$ %
#$ %
! #$ %
" #$ %

K
C 3 8.5 7
11.2 16.5 19.8 25.0 41.6
1
5.3 8.6
E 8.1 L
4.7
A
5.3
5 J 8 M 10
D 9 O
0 9.0 27.9 27.9
12.2
40.1 40.1
55.3 55.3
6.2 46.3 46.3
0 0 9.0
6.3
G 11.5
I 10.0
B 2
N
6.31 6.31
9.7
6
F 29.7 30.1
10.1 4 H
16.4 16.4 13.3

Figure 1. Network diagram.

probability that the project will be completed in less than Cost analysis
60 days as:
This building project analyses will be incomplete if the
cost associated with its monetary terms is not worked
out. The essence of cost analyses is to determine the
optimum cost of the project using the method of least
Therefore, the probability that project will be completed in cost scheduling. This was done by reducing the time of
less than 60 days: activities on the critical path with the lowest cost slope. If
the time is reduced this will in turn increases the cost.
This could result to extending the hours of work per day
or hiring more labour:
96 J. Civ. Eng. Constr. Technol.

Table 6. The earliest time, latest time and slack activities of a building construction project
at Celica Area, Ibadan.

Activity Earliest time Latest time Slack

A 5.3 8.6 3.3
B 6.3 6.3 0
C 16.5 19.8 3.3
D 16.6 19.8 3.3
E 27.9 27.9 0
F 16.4 16.4 0
G 27.9 27.9 0
H 29.7 30.1 0.4
I 40.1 40.1 0
J 40.1 40.1 0
K 25.1 41.6 16.5
L 29.8 46.3 16.5
M 46.3 46.3 0
N 46.3 46.3 0
O 55.3 55.3 0

Applying this model on each of the activity gives:

;
; ;

; ;

; ;

The path duration of all the activities is as shown in Table

7 below. For each crashing process, there must be an
activity belonging to the initial critical path. This means
we did not crash non-critical path alone and we crashed
at least one activity along the critical path. Also, crashing
; of the activities from critical path could be done in any
order provided that the initial critical path is eliminated to
generate a zero critical path entirely. In Table 8, we have
utilized all the possible chares available to the crashing of
the critical activities, further crashing will not be economi-
cally viable, and will not reduce the project completion
number of days. However, only crashed activities will
; attract extra cost over the normal cost as earlier
 Adebowale and Oluboyede 97

Table 7. Means and variances of activities along the identified critical path.

Critical activity B F G J M O
Mean 6.3 10.1 13.5 12.2 6.2 55.3
Variance 5.4 3.4 6.3 4.7 3.4 25.9

Table 8. Path duration from activity A to O.

Slope Slope
Activity Path 1 Path 2 Path 3 Path 4 Path 5 Path 6 Path 7 Crash time
N’000 $’000
% 5.3 5.3 1 20.00 0.129
% 6.3 6.3 6.3 6.3 6.3 2 10.00 0.065
% 11.2 11.2 3 10.00 0.065
% 9.0 9.0 1 20.00 0.129
% 8.1 8.1 2 20.00 0.129
% 10.1 10.1 10.1 2 45.00 0.290
% 11.5 4 10.00 0.065
% 13.3 13.3 4 12.50 0.081
% 10.0 4 62.50 0.403
% 12.2 12.2 12.2 3 30.00 0.194
% 8.5 8.5 2 30.00 0.194
% 4.7 4.7 3 16.70 0.108
% 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.2 2 05.00 0.032
! % 9.7 4 05.00 0.032
" % 9.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 2 20.00 0.129
Total duration 38.7 52.0 50.8 37.5 55.3 54.9 48.4

explained. normal situation, which is cost before crashing plus

Tables 9 and 10 shows the project Activity, days (actual overhead cost for 55 days. That is equal to N3290 + 500
and crash) and cost (actual and crash) of the house 55 = N30 790.00. ($198.65)
construction. In the tables, crashing activity A for one day
for instance will attract N20, 000.00 extra costs. Also,
crashing of activity from 4 days to 2 days will increase the DISCUSSION
activity cost from N50,000.00 to N70,000.00. The process
of crashing continues till the building is completed. Networking is a planning technique for projects that are
Activity (0-1) has been crashed by 1 day at an extra cost sequential in nature. The basis of the technique is to find
the required resources for each stage or operation so that
of 1 N 20 = N20 and reducing the period by 1 the subsequent stages are not interfered with and the
day.Activity (0-2) has been crashed by 2 days at an extra target output can be achieved (Robinson et al., 1993).
cost of 2 N10 = N20 and reducing the period by 2 days. The network analysis technique has been applied in
Activity (1-3) has been crashed by 3 days at an extra cost construction work mainly to house building and highway
of 3 N10 = N30 and reducing the period by 3 days. construction. The method as used in this study helped at
Activity (2-3) has been crashed by 1 day at an extra cost reducing the number of days expected to complete a
building project located at Celica Area, Ibadan. The
of 2 N20 = N40 and reducing the period by 2 days. And building was designed by ALMEGA Nig. Ltd., Ketu Lagos.
so on. The company gave the expected number of days and
Therefore, the crash duration will be 53 days and at a cost that will be required to complete each activity
total cost of (summation of the total cost after crashing involved till the project is done.
and their over head cost) N4120 + N 500 53 = N30 The researchers with aim of trying to explore how
620.00 ($197.55). This means that the cost after the networking model can be perfectly applied to this building
crashing plus over head cost for 53 days is N30 620.00 without breaking standing rules of National Building
($197.55). This result was better than the result under Codes. Data analysis was done using CPM and PERT
98 J. Civ. Eng. Constr. Technol.

Table 9. Path duration from activity A to O.

Activity Path 1 Path 2 Path 3 Path 4 Path 5 Path 6 Path 7

Initial Duration 38.7 52.0 50.8 37.5 55.3 54.9 48.4
Crashing % by 1 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
Revised duration 37.7 51.0 49.8 36.5 54.3 53.9 47.4
Crashing % by 2 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)
Revised Duration 36.7 50.7 48.8 35.5 53.3 52.9 46.4
Crashing % by 3 (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
Revised Duration 34.7 48.0 46.8 36.5 51.3 50.9 44.4
Crashing % by 1 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1)
Revised duration 35.7 49.0 47.8 34.5 52.3 51.9 45.4
Crashing % by 2 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)
Revised duration 33.7 46.0 41.8 34.5 41.3 41.9 42.4
Crashing % by 2 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)
Revised duration 34.7 48.0 46.8 33.5 51.3 49.9 44.4
Crashing % by 4 (4) (4) (4) (4) (4) (4) (4)
Revised duration 30.7 44.0 42.8 29.5 47.3 45.9 40.4
Crashing % by 4 (4) (4) (4) (4) (4) (4) (4)
Revised duration 30.7 44.0 42.8 29.5 42.3 46.9 40.4
Crashing % by 4 (4) (4) (4) (4) (4) (4) (4)
Revised duration 26.7 40.0 38.8 25.5 43.3 41.9 40.4
Crashing % by 3 (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
Revised duration 27.3 41.0 39.8 26.5 44.3 42.9 37.4
Crashing % by 2 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)
Revised Duration 33.7 47.0 45.8 32.5 50.3 49.9 43.4
Crashing % by 3 (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3)
Revised Duration 30.7 44.0 42.8 29.5 47.3 46.9 40.3
Crashing % by 2 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)
Revised duration 25.3 39.0 37.8 24.5 42.3 40.9 35.0
Crashing % by 4 (4) (4) (4) (4) (4) (4) (4)
Revised duration 26.7 40.0 38.8 25.5 43.3 41.9 40.7
Crashing % by 2 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)
Revised duration 28.7 42.0 40.8 27.5 45.3 43.9 42.0

methods to reduce both the timing (days) and costing for the completion of the building project in this study is
(‘N000). It is normal that if number of days to complete a 55.3 days instead of the expected duration of 92 days.
project is reduced, then the associated cost will increase. This means that through proper planning and scheduling
Timing reduction was done by identification of critical of activities, the expected completion time was reduced
path by searching for the tasks that their earliest and by 36.7 days. Also, the cost associated with the reduction
latest start times are identical. Thereafter, we determine in timing to complete the project is N830,000.00
which path between such tasks that has no slack. This is ($5,354.84). This is the additional cost required to
the critical path. On the diagram (Figure 2), the critical complete the project. Therefore, the initial cost of
path is indicated by striking the connected lines with two N3,290,000.00 ($21,225.81) will increase to
bars. N4,120,000.00 ($26,580.65) to recruit more skilled labour
With the proper identification of the critical path, we to complete the project.
were able to track down the total time of the project and In order to know whether this project time can be
we know how much slack there is in the non-critical completed at this time, we assumed a completion number
tasks. We have a structured plan that is logical and of days say 60. Thereafter, the probability that the project
ordered. All the company would have to do now is how will be completed in less than 60 days was estimated at
to assign resources and put them into action. 0.8212. This means, the probability of achieving the
Further analysis revealed that the shortest possible time scheduled time of less than 60 days is 82.12%. This is a
 Adebowale and Oluboyede 99

Table 10. Project Activity, Days (actual and crash) and cost (actual and crash) of a house construction project at Celica area, Ibadan.

Duration (days) Cost (N‘000) Cost ($)

Acivity
Actual Crash Actual Crash Actual Crash
% 3 2 100 120 645.16 774.19
% 4 2 50 70 322.58 451.61
% 9 6 50 80 322.58 516.13
% 4 3 250 270 1,612.90 1741.94
% 5 3 400 440 2,580.65 2838.71
% 6 4 200 290 1,290.32 1870.97
% 8 4 420 460 2,709.68 2967.74
% 7 3 400 450 2,580.65 2903.22
% 8 4 300 550 1,935.48 3548.39
% 9 6 220 310 1,19.35 2000.00
% 4 2 180 240 1,161.29 1548.39
% 6 3 200 250 1,290.32 1612.90
% 4 2 190 200 1,225.81 1290.32
% 8 4 160 180 1,03226 1161.29
% 7 5 170 210 1,096.77 1354.84
Total 3290 4120 21,225.81 26,580.65
Activity (0-1) has been crashed by 1 day at an extra cost of 1'N 20 = N20 and reducing the period by 1 day; Activity (0-2) has been crashed by 2
days at an extra cost of 2'N10 = N20 and reducing the period by 2 days; Activity (1-3) has been crashed by 3 days at an extra cost of 3'N10 =
N30 and reducing the period by 3 days; Activity (2-3) has been crashed by 1 day at an extra cost of 2'N20 = N40 and reducing the period by 2
days. And so on.

Figure 2. The front view of the building.

high probability and it implies that the assumption that the resources will be employed. The architectural design of
project will be completed in less than 60 days is the front view of the building is as shown in Figure 2.
plausible. However, if the management of the company
considers this probability not too good enough, more
efforts must be geared towards attaining an acceptable Conclusion
probability okay for the project completion. Further
crashing of activities may be the solution where more The problem of poor project execution, non completion
100. J. Civ. Eng. Constr. Technol.

and behind schedule, which are rampant in our society REFERENCES

today will be a thing of the past if network analysis tools
Ahuja RT, Orlin J (1993). Network Flows: Theory, Algorithms and
are employed and incorporated into the project plan at Applications, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. First Edition, p.
the onset of work activities. Also, the task of building 217-243.
project management can be improved if network analysis Ayininuola GM, Olalusi OO (2010). Assessment of Building Failures in
Nigeria: Lagos and Ibadan case study. Afr. J. Sci. Technol. (ajst)
technique is adopted, this will identify minimum time a
science and engineering series, 5(1): 73-78.
building project can take before completion. It will Gueret CC, Sevaux M (2002). Applications of Optimization with Xpress-
eliminate any sort of redundancy or dangling of activities, MP, translated and revised by Susanne Heipke, Dash Optimization
so that the developer can meet the needs of other clients Ltd., London. First Edition, pp. 159-178.
Hamdy AA (2007). Operations research: An Introduction. Pearson
who need its services at other building sites. We recom- Education, Inc. and Dorling Kindersley Publishing Inc. Eight edition,
mend that stringent adherence to the minimum possible pp. 295-313.
time to complete a specific part of building process will Robinson EW, Muggenborg S, Gao, L (1993). Designing an Integrated
check the effects of building collapses in Nigeria. Distribution System at DowBrands, Inc, Interfaces, 23(3): 107-117.
Although it may not be only antidote, but when
incorporated to building plan will make a difference.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors greatly appreciate the supports and technical

advice of Engineer Adeoye Olowofoyeku, the managing
director of ALMEGA Nig. Ltd. during the data collection
exercise and the study write up. He made brilliant
contributions in terms of proficiency. Thanks to Dr. (Mrs)
F.O. Fawole, the acting head department of
Epidemiology, Medical Stat. and Environmental Health,
University of Ibadan for her encouragement.