A fundamental truth in construction is that every project is unique. As a result, every project presents new challenges as well as new opportunities for owners, designers and constructors. In recent history, the predominant delivery system for construction projects has separated the design and construction portions of the project, but several others are used as well. A number of studies have been performed which have attempted to quantify the relative benefits of each approach. Some useful results have been obtained, but overall the results have been inconclusive. The selection of a delivery system depends upon a number of factors including the general project requirements, the experience level of the owner, budget, time constraints and many others. Careful selection of a delivery system that best suits the project is perhaps the most important decision an owner will make on a project. The extra attention and effort put into the initial phases of the project can yield a smoother, faster, safer and ultimately more profitable result.
Historically, a number of different delivery systems have been used on construction projects. The four main systems used today are known as: Design-bid-build, CM (construction management) agency, CM at risk and Design Build.
The design-bid-build method is performed in the three distinct phases of design, construction and commissioning, with little overlap between the first two in particular. This process begins when an owner retains an architect to develop a design which meets their performance and budget specifications. An important note is that there is typically no constructor involvement during the design process and that the cost estimates provided by the architect are often very rough. The inherent lack of constructor input during the design process is a key weakness of the design-bid-build delivery method. In fact, constructor involvement begins following the completion of the design documents in a process of competitive bidding. The complete construction documents are made available to a number of competing contractors and the one who returns the lowest cost for responsible completion is awarded the project. The main benefit of this delivery system is that it removes any appearance of impropriety in the awarding of contracts. It has also been traditionally believed that the design-bid-build method yields the lowest possible cost. Recent successes of alternative delivery methods however, have challenged this assumption. The design-bid-build approach provides a transparent and simple to understand delivery system best suited for inexperienced owners or agencies legally bound to its use.
As the United States economy struggles through a sluggish time with the stock market dropping and unemployment rising, being competitive in the job market has become extremely important among professionals. Engineers are no exception. For most engineering firms, being competitive and successful requires obtaining design projects offered by companies in other fields. These projects can range from designing heating and ventilation systems for office buildings to water systems for cities to computer networks for businesses—the list of possibilities and disciplines is extensive. To get these jobs, engineers must make a bid proposal for the project. Bidding involves estimating the entire cost of the project, including the designing and building processes, as well as the materials and labor. Usually, the company with the lowest bid and the best plan gets the job. The ethical issue in this process is determining the cheapest building materials and construction procedures possible without compromising public safety.
The construction of a building or buildings is a complex process which includes numerous parties and various different activities. Large projects need the cooperation of many organizations including clients, architects, engineers, financiers, builders and subcontractors while even small projects are beyond the extent of a single organization to complete in isolation. The domain knowledge of involved parties are different and effective completion of the project requires intense cooperation during design, manufacture and maintenance/management of the system.
The findings of this research had shown both the progress of BIM implementation that have taken place over the years and at the same time the limitations to BIM usage in the management of projects. In the view of the limitations, this researcher is of the opinion that certain steps can help to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of BIM implementation in construction projects. The research results had suggested that BIM is applicable and beneficial to all stakeholders in all phases of construction projects. It is also found that BIM have collaboration, legal and implementation problems of which this researcher recommends as follows;
The objective of this report is to present and discuss the management of field construction projects. These projects involve a great deal of time and expense, so close control and management is paramount if they are to be completed within the established time and cost limitations. The term construction management is applied to the provision of professional management services to the owner of a construction project with the objective of achieving high quality with low costs.
Moving away from the functional silo structures to the pure project structure works well in some industries such as the construction industry. It entails a fixed ...
Fundamentally, construction projects can be viewed as grouped collections of information and data that require convenient and appropriate storage, organization and distribution to those needing them. Configuration control comes across as a means of signifying changes between the updated and previous version of prints and drawings. In the current paper, I will reflect on the importance of configuration control in a construction project. Configuration control is a critical aspect of a construction project because of the need to organize, store and distribute new information and data correctly and timely to all those who need them.
Design and build can appeal to clients because it offers one purpose of responsibility for delivering the whole project. Some clients but contemplate it 's solely acceptable for easy comes, wherever style quality isn 't the most thought.
Vrijhoef, R. and Koskela, L. (2004) ‘The four roles of supply chain management in construction’, European Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management, 6(3-4), pp. 169-178 ScienceDirect [Online]. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/ (Accessed: 6 February 2010).
All parties of construction project will benefit from IPD. The integrated process required more participants' involvement at early stage, because the IPD structure will recognize the compensation and reward at early involvement. The compensation will be based on adding value to the project and it will rewards what's the best for the project instead of individual benefit. For example providing incentives tied to achieving project objectives and goals. The concept is to use innovative business models to enhance collaboration and efficiency.
- Rockart, J.F., 1979, "Chief executives define their own data needs", Harvard Business Review, 57, 2, 81-93.
When trying to design for automated construction systems, all parameters of a construction process must be integrated accurately and constantly to satisfy relevant parties, and finally, the quality of construction materials and products in terms of geometry, physical and design aspects will be changed. In order to reach automated construction goals, all the following aspects have to be fulfilled:
This paper explores what it takes to be a construction manager and the responsibilities of being a construction manager and the skills that a construction manager should have. It also explores what good construction managers do to have success on their construction projects and the steps that a construction manager must follow to end a project and meet their deadlines at the same
With the contractor plan every step of the construction as well as the timeline/deadline for completion.
“Ballard (2000) indicates that Last Planner System (LPS) is a technique that shapes workflow and addresses project variability in construction”. (Salem, 2005). The purpose of Last Planner System is to establish a coordinated plan of action while encouraging collaboration, cooperation and communication between different parties ensuring the full utilization of the available resources leading to an improved performance and thus maximizing value and minimizing waste. (Salme….).
There are several advantages of this traditional route in the construction industry. First, the designs are completed before tender and tender can provide good time and cost control. Also, the tenderer can receive complete information and design and they can be bidding on the same basis, so the competitive is fair. Moreover, this is design-led and the client can change the design ability, so the level of functionality and quality will be increased in the overall design. And then, it is relatively easy of variations to arrange and manage if the design will be changed because client’s needs and technology. Also, traditional paths are a tried and tested route, so it is well established and the market is very familiar with. Furthermore, it is good price certainty at the award of the contract because of full set information.