Construction Methods and engineer, who generally prepares a complete

design before construction contracts are created.

Project Management • Process-sector projects include chemical plants, oil

refining, pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper, and
electrical generating. Engineers are the prime
MODULE 1 – The Construction Process designers of process-sector projects. The stages of
design include preliminary engineering, detailed
• Construction management (CM) - entails the engineering, and development of the contract
planning, scheduling, evaluation, and controlling of documents.
construction tasks or activities to accomplish Types of Procurement
specific objectives by effectively allocating and • Competitive-bid projects, contractors bid the
utilizing appropriate labor, material, and time project after the contract documents are
resources in a manner that minimizes costs and completed.
maximizes customer/owner satisfaction. • The shop drawings show the detailed fabrication
• Design and construction projects progress through and installation that will be used during
three phases: construction.
1. project definition • Site construction involves labor, material, and
2. design construction equipment to physically build the
3. construction project.
• The process selected affects financing; selection of • For non-competitive-bid projects, the owner
team members; and the project cost, quality, and negotiates a contract with a firm to provide
schedule. engineering and/or construction services.
• Projects can generally be classified into three Types of Ownership
sectors: • Projects may also be classified as:
1. Buildings 1. private-sector - The owner of a private
2. infrastructure sector project is typically a business that
3. process. provides goods and services for a profit.
• Examples of building-sector projects: commercial The business administrators have the
buildings, schools, office buildings, and hospitals. flexibility to choose any engineering and
• For building-sector projects, where the architect is construction services that suit their
the prime designer, the design follows three specific needs. For example, they can
stages: competitive bid the project or select a
1. Schematic sole source firm to provide engineering
2. design development and construction services.
3. contract documents. 2. Public-sector projects - The owner of
• The schematic design produces the basic public-sector projects is typically a
appearance of the project, building elevations, government agency, such as city, county,
layout of floors, room arrangements within the state, or federal. the owner typically uses
building, and overall features of the project. At the the competitive-hid method based on the
conclusion of schematic design, the owner can lowest bid price for securing engineering
review the design configuration and the estimated and construction services. However, in
cost before giving approval to proceed into design recent years there has been an increase in
development. qualification-based selection (QBS) for
• Design development defines the functional use and securing engineering and construction
systems in the project in order to produce the services.
contract documents, the plans and specifications • Using the QBS process, the owner selects
for constructing the project. engineering and construction services based on
• The eight functions of construction management specific qualifications and other factors, rather than
are the following: only price.
1. estimating the project,
2. contract administration,
3. managing job site and construction
operations,
4. planning and scheduling the project,
5. controlling project performance, • Collaborative Process Institute (CPI) - In 1996, a
6. managing project quality, group of owners, architects, contractors, and
7. managing project safety, engineers gathered in San Francisco to discuss
8. managing project common goals and opportunities for collaboration
Types of Projects in the building industry.
• Infrastructure-sector projects include • CONSTRUCTION PROCESS:
transportation systems, such as city streets, county 1. Design
roads, state and federal highways, airports, or 2. Pre-construction
navigational waterways. The infrastructure sector 3. Procurement
also includes utility projects, such as water and 4. Construction
sewer line systems, gas distribution lines, and 5. Post-construction
electrical transmission and distribution, telephone, 6. Owner occupancy
and cable lines. For these types of projects, the
owner may be a private company or an agency of
the government. The prime designer is the
 • Project delivery - is the process by which all the
procedures and components of designing and
PROJECT CONSTRUCTION PHASE: building a facility are organized and put together
in an agreement that results in a completed project.
It is the overall structural or organizational
framework used to put all the aspects of designing
and building a construction project together.
• Project management requires teamwork among the
three principal contracting parties.
• Design/Bid/Build contract is commonly used for
projects that have no unusual features and a well-
defined scope. It is a three-party arrangement
involving the owner, designer, and contractor.
• Design/Build contract is often used to shorten the
• The Design Stage - Every project starts with a time required to complete a project or to provide
design, and the design process involves an flexibility for the owner to make changes in the
intensive study and a lot of considerations. project during construction. It is a two-party
Architects and engineers basically take ideas arrangement between the owner and the
combined with certain requirements and develop design/build firm.
the two into comprehensible plans and • Construction Management (CM) contract can be
specifications that are used to construct the new assigned to a CM firm to coordinate the project for
building or facility. the owner. The CM contract is a four-party
• Four steps to the design process: arrangement involving the owner, designer, CM
a. Programming and feasibility firm, and contractor.
b. Schematic design • Construction Management Association of America
c. Design development (CMAA) defines agency CM as a fee-based service
d. Contract documents in which the construction manager is responsible
• The Procurement Stage - To procure means to buy exclusively to the owner and acts in the owner’s
or obtain. The procurement stage of construction best interests at every stage of the project.
management is often referred to as “buying out” • Agency CM - A construction management option in
the job or purchasing the labor, materials, and which the construction manager acts in the owner’s
equipment needed to complete the project. best interests at every stage of the project from
• The Construction Stage - Once the work is ready to design through construction. The construction
start, the superintendent will call for a pre- manager offers advice and project management
construction meeting with all the subcontractors services to the owner but is not financially
and major material vendors. This meeting responsible for the construction.
essentially establishes the ground rules for working • Multiple prime - A contracting methodology in
together. The superintendent also uses this which the owner bypasses the use of a general
opportunity to go over issues such as work contractor and enters into multiple separate
sequencing, work hours, material storage, quality contracts with trade or specialty contractors for the
control, site access, and many other pertinent various sections of the work associated with the
topics. project, such as concrete, framing, mechanical, and
• Post-Construction Stage - is the cleanup stage. electrical work. Each of the specialty contractors
• The Project Closeout - The final step in the involved becomes prime contractor on the project.
construction process is the project closeout. This is • At-risk CM - A project delivery method where the
the stage where all the loose ends get taken care construction manager acts as a consultant to the
of as the construction team readies the facility for owner in the development and design phases but
occupancy by the end users. This is the time when as the equivalent of a general contractor during the
the contractor turns the building over to the owner. construction phase.
• list of final standard procedures: • Owner/agent arrangement is sometimes used for
i. Project punchout handling a project. Some owners perform part of
ii. Substantial completion the design with in-house personnel and contract
iii. Final inspection the balance of design to one or more outside
iv. Certificate of occupancy design consultants.
v. Commissioning Two general types of owners:
vi. Final documentation 1. Single-builder owners are organizations that do
vii. Final completion not have a need for projects on a repetitive basis,
• Architectural programming - The research and normally have a limited project staff, and contract
decision-making process, initiated by an owner, all design and construction activities to outside
usually with the help of an architect or other organizations. They usually handle projects with a
programming specialist, that identifies the basic design/bid/build or construction management
needs of the client and the parameters of the contract.
project to be designed and ultimately built by a 2. Multiple-builder owners are generally large
construction professional. organizations that have a continual need for
• Scope of work - The parameters defining the overall projects, and generally have a staff assigned to
extent of work to be included in a construction project work. They typically will handle small-sized,
contract. The project scope is commonly short-duration projects by Design/Bid/Build. For a
communicated through construction plans and project in which they desire extensive involvement,
written specifications.
 a design/build, construction management, or gives up their right to place a lien on the payer's
owner/agent contract arrangement is often used. property or goods.
• Fast tracking - is a technique used to speed up the • Retainage/Retention Money - A certain percentage
completion of a construction project by of money owed to the contractor for work progress
overlapping the design and construction that is held back by the owner to encourage
processes. completion of the project.
MODULE 2 – Contract Administration • Liquidated damages are an amount of money that
is assessed to the contractor for a failure to meet a
• Contract administration is all about managing the specified contract completion date.
business details and relationships. It is a task which • Project Incentives are one of the more common
considers all of the general conditions, approaches is to reward contractors with a certain
supplemental conditions, and specifications financial benefit if they complete the job before the
associated with the contract prior to project dedicated completion date.
execution. TYPES OF CHANGE ORDERS
Every statement and every clause in the contract set a) Changes in Scope - Scope changes are some of the
forth rules, regulations, and procedures for every easiest change orders to process because they are
aspect of the construction process. normally instigated by the owner.
• Request for information (RFI) - A written request for b) Time Extensions - There are occasions when the
clarification regarding the details presented in the contractor is compelled to request a time extension
plans or specifications. The requests are usually to the contract.
made by subcontractors through the general ISSUES IN CONTRACT MANAGEMENT
contractor to the architect. • Claim - An issue that occurs during
• Submittals - are similar to RFIs but are processed construction and remains unresolved after the
with a different purpose in mind. Submittals contain job is complete.
information concerning products and equipment • In mediation, an impartial third party (the
that are to be used in the building of the project. mediator) facilitates the negotiation between
Submittals provide a means by which the architect the disputing parties.
and owner can confirm the intent of the design. • A minitrial is conducted as an informal private
• contract is signed between a contractor and the process that combines aspects of both
building owner under which the contractor agrees mediation and litigation.
to construct a specific building on a specified site • Arbitration is a more formal process and is
and the owner agrees to pay for the materials and generally more costly and time-consuming
services provided. than either a mediation or a minitrial, but it is
• A specification states what materials and less expensive than litigation.
equipment needs to be incorporated in the MODULE 3 – Construction Project
building.
• A special type of specification, called the Organization and Manpower
prescriptive specification details how a contractor
should use and install materials to produce a • The three principal players in any construction
specific or all parts of the contract. project:
a) owner,
• Mock-Up – These are physical models or small
b) the designers (architects and engineers),
samples constructed to allow the architect and
c) and the contractor.
owner to review the appearance and function of
materials, colors, textures, and other aesthetic • No construction would ever be accomplished
features before incorporating them into the actual without owners. They are the driving force behind
project. the construction industry.
TYPES OF OWNERS
• Shop Drawings - Shop drawings include details,
a) Public owners are typically government
dimensions, and configurations of the item to be
agencies such as the General Services
fabricated.
Administration, the Army Corps of
• The Payment Request Process - Requests for Engineers, or the state departments of
payment are made by the contractor to the owner transportation.
via the architect on a monthly basis. b) Private owners make up the bulk of
• Schedule of values - A budget template established construction spending and may take the
early in the project against which progress form of an individual building a single
payments are measured. The schedule summarizes home, a developer who builds
the total project cost by the various divisions of speculatively, a small manufacturer
work. enlarging operations, or a national firm
• The Pay Request Continuation Sheet - This form is that owns numerous facilities.
simply a continuation of the schedule of values, • Program - A written statement that identifies and
tracking previous payments and change orders as describes an owner or end user’s needs and
well as identifying the current payment due. requirements for a facility. Every design starts with
• The application for payment is the final document a program.
needed to process a payment request. This form DESIGN PROFESSIONALS
summarizes the actual payment amounts and • Architects are licensed professionals trained in the
provides the official approvals required before the art and science of building design. They transform
payment can be released. the owner’s program into concepts and then
• lien waiver - is a written agreement between a develop the concepts into building images and
payer and a counterparty where said counterparty plans that can be constructed by others.
 • Design architects are the creators of the aesthetic trade associations, education and training,
solution— they are the concept and idea people. bankers, and others.
• Architectural technicians are typically the drafters THE INDUSTRY IMAGE
of the building plans. They are the ones who • The Associated General Contractors (AGC) - has
actually produce the drawings that are used for developed an exciting campaign called
construction. Construction Futures, an initiative designed to alter
• The specification writer is responsible for spelling the current perception of the construction industry
out the specific products and methods that are to and to inform and educate youngsters, their
be used on a project in order to ensure a particular parents, and teachers about the career
level of performance and quality. opportunities that the construction industry has to
• Engineers are usually the lead designers for heavy offer.
civil and industrial projects. • The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)
• Structural engineers design the timber, concrete, or created a public service campaign called Home
steel structural systems that support a building and Builders Care to recognize contractors who have
basically hold it up to withstand the forces of wind, contributed millions of dollars in cash, building
gravity, and seismic activity. materials, supplies, and countless volunteer hours
• Mechanical engineers design the heating, cooling, to community charities through local community
ventilating, plumbing, and fire suppression systems service projects.
within a building. • ABCares, is another national community service
• Electrical engineers design and calculate electrical initiative undertaken by the Associated Builders
loads and determine the circuitry, lighting, motors, and Contractors (ABC) to recognize chapters that
transformers, and telecommunications needed for contribute significantly to their communities.
a building. a. Technology - As with most industries,
advancements in technology have revolutionized
• Civil engineers design roads, bridges, tunnels,
the way that we do business in construction.
dams, site drainage, parking lots, runways, and
Constructability Reviews - A design review process in which
water supply and sewage systems.
experienced contractors and construction managers work
• Landscape architects deal with the building site
with designers to ensure that the details of the design
and outside environmental issues surrounding the
actually can be built in an efficient and cost-effective
structure.
manner.
• Interior Designers - They deal with the building’s b. Globalization - Today anyone working in the
interior finishes or schemes and make decisions construction industry should anticipate a future
regarding furniture selection and placement, paint involving an international experience.
colors and accessories, light fixtures, window c. Sustainability - Today, a much greater emphasis is
treatments, floor finishes, and ceiling treatments. being placed on the environment and the
• The general contractor, also known as the prime relationship between our buildings and the
contractor, enters into a contract with the owner to communities in which they are constructed.
deliver the construction project in accordance with d. Efficiency - Historically the design and construction
the plans and specifications that have been industry has had the notorious reputation of being
prepared by the architects and engineers. one of the most wasteful and inefficient industries
Self-Performed Work - Construction work that is performed in the United States.
with the general contractor’s own Lean Principles - Stemming from the Toyota Production
forces or labor. This is work that is not subcontracted. System, principles that focus on creating more value for
• The primary responsibility of the construction customers with less work and the elimination of waste.
manager is to organize the project team to perform These principles are now being applied to the
the construction management function. construction industry.
• Specialty contractors are often referred to as e. Diversity - There is no doubt that the construction
subcontractors because they perform their work industry in the United States is still a white and
under a contract with another contractor (typically male-dominated industry.
the general contractor) to do a portion of the f. Collaboration - The Web is no longer a passive
contractor’s work, as opposed to contracting place where people idly surf, read listen, or watch
directly with an owner. without engaging.
THE BUILDING TRADES
a) First-Level Players
This level of influence includes subcontractors, material
suppliers, and equipment vendors. This
MODULE 4 – Project Scheduling
layer directly influences the outcome of a job in a
• Project planning is the process of identifying all the
serious way.
activities necessary to successfully complete the
b) Second-Level Players - This level of influence
project.
includes insurance companies, utility
• Project scheduling is the process of determining
companies, bonding companies, building code
the sequential order of the planned activities,
officials, zoning, labor unions, and
assigning realistic durations to each activity, and
manufacturers. Although this level has no
determining the start and finish dates for each
contractual connection or obligation to any of
activity.
the three primary parties, they hold great
influence over your project. • Planning is more difficult to accomplish than
c) Third-Level Players - This layer of influence scheduling. The real test of the project
includes the courts and attorneys, local planner/scheduler is his or her ability to identify all
government, state and federal government, the work required to complete the project. is the
 first step to project scheduling. Planning is a activity and the subscript / represents the following
process and not a discrete activity. activity.
DESIRED RESULTS OF PLANNING • Critical Path - series of interconnected activities
1. Finish the project on time through the network diagram, with each activity
2. Continuous (uninterrupted) flow of work (no having zero, free and total float time. The critical
delays) path determines the minimum time to complete the
3. Reduced amount of rework (least amount of project.
changes) • Dummy Activity - An activity (represented by a
4. Minimize confusion and misunderstandings dotted line on the arrow network diagram) that
5. Increased knowledge of status of project by indicates that any activity following the dummy
everyone cannot be started until the activity or activities
6. Meaningful and timely reports to management preceding the dummy are completed. The dummy
7. You run the project instead of the project does not require any time.
running you • Duration (D) - The estimated time required to
8. Knowledge of scheduled times of key parts of perform an activity. The time should include all
the project resources that are assigned to the activity.
9. Knowledge of distribution of costs of the project • Early Start (ES) - The earliest time an activity can be
10. Accountability of people, defined started.
responsibility/authority
• Early Finish (EF) - The earliest time an activity can
11. Clear understanding of who does what, when,
be finished and is equal to the early start plus the
and how much
duration.
12. Integration of all work to ensure a quality
EF = ES + D
project for the owner
• Late Finish (LF) - The latest time an activity can be
• Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) – is a
finished.
project management planning tool to calculate the
• Late Start (LS) - The latest time an activity can be
amount to time it will take to realistically finish a
started without delaying the completion date of the
project. PERT is a technique of planning and control
project.
of time. (Event Oriented and Probabilistic)
LS = LF - D
• Critical Path Method (CPM) – is a statistical
• Total Float (TF) - The amount of time an activity may
technique of project management that manage well
be delayed without delaying the completion date
defined activities of a project.
of the project.
WBS structure may be created through various
TF = LF - EF = LS – ES
approaches. Some of the popular methods include:
a. the top-down approach, the use of
organization-specific guidelines, and the use
of WBS templates.
b. A bottom-up approach can be used to group
subcomponents.
TYPES OF WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (WBS)
a. Phase-Based Work Breakdown Structure - Using
phases of the project life cycle as the second level
of decomposition, with the product and project
deliverables inserted at the third level.
b. Deliverable-Based Work Breakdown Structure -
Using major deliverables as the second level of
decomposition. In a deliverable-based WBS, the
project phases are divided into project deliverables
and work packages.
PERT uses a weighted average of the three times to find the
overall project duration. This average is called the expected
time, te, and is found by the following simple equation:

• Activity - The performance of a task required to

complete the project
• Network - A diagram to represent the
relationship of activities to complete the
project.
• Arrow Diagram –The relationship between the
activities is represented by arrows.
• Precedence Diagram – this method shows the
activities as nodes.
NETWORK ANALYSIS SYSTEMS
• Free Float (FF) - The amount of time an activity may
be delayed without delaying the early start time of
the immediately following activity. FF = ES - EF
where the subscript / represents the preceding