Professional Documents
Culture Documents
G
guidelines
construction management good practice
www.shf.org.za
G U I D E L I N E S CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
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Foreword
When a social housing institution, co-operative or private property developer
has to decide on an approach for the delivery of housing, it must ask
itself which strategy fits best, given its own and the client’s developmental
objectives and constraints. One can deliver housing through any of the
following scenarios:
• Acting as building “client” or developer, but outsourcing the development
function on a design-and-build (“turn-key”) package basis to a
professional external developer
The final choice of the approach will be determined by factors such as:
• The internal skills available and capacity to manage the respective options
• The extent and cost of external expertise available to assist in managing
the various options
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The guidelines take into account the decisions and actions that need to be
taken during the construction planning and implementation phase, as these
have an impact on the effectiveness of the hand-over of stock to the client,
as well as the future management and maintenance of stock.
The Social Housing Foundation is confident that this guide will be widely
used and will assist the development and growth of those social housing
institutions, co-operatives, private property developers and contractors
acting as “main contractors”.
Brian Moholo
Managing Director, Social Housing Foundation
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G U I D E L I N E S CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
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Note: The topics of property development and property management are
covered by extensive existing literature and guidelines developed
by others. For the convenience of users of this manual, brief
introductory notes on important general aspects of the property
development and construction processes are given, but these
should be used in conjunction with the more comprehensive
existing materials contained in other publications such as:
• The SHF’s Social Housing Institutions Operations Manual (together
with accompanying training materials)
• SHF Best Practice Booklets
• Manuals and guidelines produced under the Support Programme
for Social Housing’s Capacity-Building Programme
• Manuals and guidelines produced by NASHO
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Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution to this volume by others. Parts
of the text are based on consultation with, or have been borrowed from the work
of, the following people and organisations:
• The Social Housing Foundation (SHF)
• The Support Programme for Social Housing (SPSH)
• The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB)
• The Urban Sector Network (USN) and its affiliates, in particular Planact and the
Development Action Group (DAG), and Afesis-corplan
• CSIR BOUTEK
• The Department of Construction Economics at the University of Pretoria
• Social Housing Institutions across the country, especially the eMalahleni Housing
Institution
• The Masisizane Women’s Co-operative, and Andrew Moore of Rooftops
Canada
• The General Motors SA Foundation (previously Delta Foundation)
The authors nevertheless take full responsibility for any errors that may remain.
Edited by Wordsmiths
Design and Layout by MANIK Design Studio
DISCLAIMER
Great care has been taken in the preparation of this document, and the information contained herein has been derived from sources believed
to be accurate and reliable. The Social Housing Foundation does not assume responsibility for any error, omission or opinion expressed, or for as
investment decisions based on this information.
This publication was made possible through support provided by the Norwegian Embassy
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G U I D E L I N E S CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
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Contents
scope and purpose
page
What you will find in these Guidelines 7
why?
Why is good construction-management practice important? 9
how?
How should the entity behave when acting as a “main” contractor? 10
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page
Management of plant, tools and equipment 92
Managing sub-contractors 94
Required tests, inspections, approvals and certificates 101
Health and safety 105
Security 107
Contract administration 107
Construction cost management 110
Cash-flow management (income and expenditure) 113
Construction finance (operating or working capital) 114
Training 121
Training objectives 121
Planning and preparing for training 121
Who should be trained? 121
Pre-construction training 122
“Hard” building skills training 123
experiences
The experiences of some entities acting as “main” contractors 124
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G U I D E L I N E S CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
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What you will find in these Guidelines
The purpose of the guidelines is to assist users in employing good
construction management practice in the construction of low-
and medium-density housing projects.
This guide is intended for use in the pre-construction and construction phases of
housing development, by any of the following parties:
• A social housing institution acting as a “main contractor”
• A co-operative acting as a “main contractor”
• A private property developer acting as a “main contractor”
• A contractor acting as a “main contractor”
• Service providers to any of the above (support organisations, technical advisors,
professional teams and subcontractors)
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h
Housing Project Development phases
– where do these Guidelines fit in?
The housing project development process can be divided into the following broad
phases:
1. Project initiation and validation phase - Conceiving the development idea or
concept and initiating the project, including gaining control of a site that suits
the idea
2. Pre-design feasibility or development appraisal phase - Preliminary studies
are conducted to determine if the idea is viable, and whether to proceed
3. Pre-contract detail design development and technical documentation phase
- Extending the appointment of professionals for further work stages, refining
and finalising designs, conducting cost estimates and feasibility studies, preparing
technical documentation, obtaining municipal approval to start building,
initiating marketing (if applicable), and securing funding
4. Construction procurement or tender phase – Deciding on tender and
contracting strategies and options, calling for proposals or tenders, adjudicating
tenders, and awarding and signing construction contracts
5. Implementation or post-contract construction phase - Managing the actual
construction process from site handover to the contractor(s) to taking on the
completed units, and closing out the process financially and administratively
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G U I D E L I N E S CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
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Why is good construction
management practice important?
Good construction management practice is essential in maintaining efficiency, cost-
effectiveness and control on projects. This, in turn, helps to maintain and protect
projected profits, long-term financial viability, integrity, good reputation and good
customer relations. Effective construction management, therefore, is an essential tool
in ensuring the sustainability of the construction entity, together with marketing and
adequate capitalisation. Other reasons for practising good construction management
include the following:
• Ensuring the most efficient and effective use of scarce and costly resources such
as money, people’s time, materials and equipment in producing affordable
housing to people with low income
• Maintaining high standards of quality and workmanship to ensure that
beneficiaries live in pleasant and well-functioning buildings; and managing
entities enjoy low-maintenance requirements and expenses for the ultimate
benefit of paying occupants
• Maintaining high standards of health and safety on building sites
• Setting an example and being a role model for aspiring entrepreneurs and
development organisations in the community
• Building a reputation for dependable service (on time, within budget, and of
good quality) with clients, communities and funding agencies
• Building trust and good relations with suppliers, subcontractors, professionals,
and support organisations, which leads to smoother running of projects with
fewer problems, delays and disputes
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h
How should the entity behave when
acting as a “main contractor”?
Where an entity acts as developer only, it will normally employ professional consultants
and a main contractor to do the design and construction work respectively. In this
case, design risk and accountability rest with the design team, while construction
risk lies with the main contractor.
Acting as both developer and main contractor often places an entity in a position in
which it is important to draw a clear line between the two responsibilities, and to
organise its operational structure or project in such a way that accountability resides
where it appropriately belongs. This could mean, for instance, that the external design
team reports to those members or employees within the entity that are responsible
for managing the development process, and that construction-related activities and
resources (subcontractors, suppliers and labour) are managed by other members or
employees of the entity responsible for managing the construction process.
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The construction process
What is construction?
Construction can be seen as the conversion of “raw” resource inputs into defined
functioning outputs, by means of a managed process.
The above are the “technical” objectives of a project. There are usually other “softer”
objectives as well, such as achieving buy-in through participation, capacity building,
skills transfer, and promoting job creation and local economic development.
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G U I D E L I N E S CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
• Calculating and submitting claims for interim progress payments from the
employer and/or funders for own work completed, and ensuring sub-contractors
do the same
• Practising continuous internal costing and cost control
• Keeping a site book for instructions, as well as a drawing-receipt register to
ensure that work is being carried out in accordance with the latest drawings
and/or instructions
• Assisting with pricing variations and site instructions with cost implications
• Keeping a site diary and other records (covering rainfall, incidents, number and
categories of personnel, plant and equipment on site)
• Submitting well-motivated claims for extras and requests for extension of the
contract period
• Hosting site meetings
• Cleaning and protecting all completed or partly completed work, removing rubble
regularly, and maintaining a clean, neat and safe building site
• Generally maintaining efficient administration of the contract, both on and off site
• Managing risks related to the construction process
Quality
Cost Time
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Approved plans
Local authority
Permanent service
connections
Service connections
Subsidy
agreement
Loan Employer Professional services
Temporary
agreement
t ag
t)
co rol
s
ac
ta
ntr
Ac
Inspecti
c
ons
Participates in planning
Pay Main
Project
Orders
overheads
contractor Payments
in
Adm por t
su p
Head Managers
office Ad
sup min
por
t
Supply
Site Materials
suppliers
Su
pp
ly
Plant-hire
Site establishment companies
provides
ides
Recruit, supervise,
Labour
prov
pay wages
provides
Contract, co-ordinate
supply materials,
Labour-only
pay for work done sub-contractors
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G U I D E L I N E S CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
How to counter:
• Putting in place clear HR and personnel-management policies and procedures
• Selecting competent staff
• Providing training and support (identifying real training needs is very important here)
• Monitoring progress, conducting appraisals and providing counselling where
appropriate
• Having good contracts with performance clauses
• Using a “stick” and “carrot” system (sanction and incentives)
• Taking care with succession-planning
How to counter:
Non-completion of the works:
• Obtain, where possible, performance guarantees from sub-contractors issued
by a bank or insurance company. This usually involves the main contractor
providing back-to-back payment guarantees to the sub-contractor. With small
and emerging sub-contractors this will, however, in many cases not be possible,
and the contractor will have to rely on proper selection, regular and fair payment,
and hands-on management to ensure sub-contractors perform
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How to counter:
• Choose reliable suppliers
• Ensure timeous ordering of materials
• Have formal ordering procedures (negotiate, quote, written order, check
deliveries and delivery notes) with a proper follow-up system
• Negotiate, as far as possible, fixed prices for the duration of the project
• Get bricks delivered in pallets rather than tipped
• Specify standard materials of known quality where possible
• Always try to obtain physical samples of materials and check their quality before
ordering
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G U I D E L I N E S CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
How to counter:
Theft on site:
• Take out insurance
• Provide safe storage
• Maintain site security
• Have proper control systems and procedures for receipt, issuing and checking
on the usage and wastage of materials on site
• Do not bring valuable materials to site or instal them too early (before that section
of the works can be locked securely)
How to counter:
• Build up and keep some cash reserves
• Secure overdraft facilities while things are going well, not when you are already
in crisis
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General risks:
• Inexperience of workers
• Inadequate security on site
• Vandalism
• Dealing with latent defects
• Bad weather
• Breakdown of co-ordination between trades (and resulting disputes)
• Underestimation of resources, cost and time required for the work
• Disputes around materials lost through excessive wastage, theft, damage, wrong
setting out of works, and replacement of defective work
• Working with large amounts of cash on site and in transit (wages) – this is to be
avoided as far as possible by opening bank accounts for all service providers and
paying via electronic funds transfers (EFTs)
• Conflict among sub-contractors or in the community regarding who should get
the work and be part of the construction team
• Interference by local politicians (or would-be politicians) and other vested
interests and powers
How to counter:
Most of the above are dealt with in these Guidelines. Some specific advice is as
follows:
Latent defects:
• Put in place a retention/construction guarantee
• Get NHBRC registration where applicable
• Make sure there is adequate supervision
• Insist on proper specifications and designs
• Be aware of the law and your legal rights
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Bad weather:
• In your schedule, allow for work stoppages caused by the kind of weather
conditions to be expected in accordance with the season
• Plan a construction sequence to ensure, for instance, that roofs are up as soon
as possible for phases completed during the rainy season
• Protection – ensure, for instance, that storm water will not flood foundation trenches
or other parts where work must proceed in order to stay on programme
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This document provides starter guidelines only. If the entity is involved in large-scale
and continuous construction as a contractor, it should send staff members on training
courses offered by private colleges, universities and technical universities/technikons,
and other organisations in the industry; subscribe to technical journals (check with
Brooke Patrick Publications for available titles); and acquire some good books on
the subject.
Authors who deal with building construction as well as management aspects, include:
Calvert, Chudley, Davis, Langdon and Everest, Everett, MacKay, Nunnally, Seeley, Harris
and McCaffer, the Mitchell’s Building Construction series, Spence Geddes, Willis, and
a very readable series of publications by the British Aqua Group. Locally, the CSIR’s
BOUTEK division and its predecessor, the National Building Research Institute (NBRI),
published over the years many useful papers and booklets with good practice guides. Most
university libraries keep copies of these, or you can order them from the CSIR direct. The
International Labour Organisation (ILO), with support from Ntsika Enterprise Promotion
Agency, the Black Construction Council, and the Department of Public Works, also
developed a series of manuals for the Contracting Entrepreneurial Training Programme
(CET), and it may still be possible to obtain copies from one of the promoters.
Many materials manufacturers (of roof sheeting and tiles, cement, paint, ceramic
tiling and other materials) provide technical brochures to assist in the proper
measurement and use of their materials. These are often obtainable from the larger
building supply stores. It may also be worthwhile (for a fee) to subscribe to a good
product catalogue library such as Archi-text.
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d
Decisions that the entity acting as
contractor should be involved in
before construction
Choice of construction technology (structure
and finishes)
Introduction
Although design and specification is normally the domain of architects and engineers,
contractors can play a useful part in giving practical advice. Where the entity acts as
contractor, it is imperative that they are actively involved in design and specification
decisions from the start, in order to ensure:
• Cost-effective construction and an affordable end-product
• Low-maintenance facilities
• Socio-economic and empowerment objectives are promoted through the choice
of construction technologies to be employed, for example, labour-based rather
than plant-based construction
It is always a challenge for an institution developing any form of social housing to balance
its primary objective of providing quality affordable accommodation, with the secondary
objectives of job creation, empowerment and local economic development. Each institution
must examine its priorities and set its own criteria in this regard, and the contractor can
guide the decision-making parties on how to achieve their objectives, by distinguishing
between labour-based, labour-intensive and community-based construction.
The contractor should also share its experience with regard to technology required in
various designs and specifications, and the practicality of the proposed technology to
be used. Various products (with different specifications) are available on the market.
The contractor should be open to sharing information with regard to the quality of the
product or the practicalities pertaining to the applications of such specifications.
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Technical considerations
Foundations
Conventional strip footings under walls, and reinforced pads or bases under columns
in framed structures can be labour-intensive (excavations and concreting by hand,
with or without the aid of mechanical excavators and concrete mixers).
Engineers often specify integrated floor and foundation raft systems for stand-alone
houses, especially because of their effective performance in poor soil conditions
and the speed at which they can be built. Specialised mechanical excavators are
normally used for the narrow ribs or beams in the ground. These could also be
dug by hand, but this is not very practical. Some foundation raft companies have
initiatives where they rent out equipment and provide training and assistance to
local teams or emerging sub-contractors to construct the rafts.
Walls
Conventional brick or block walling is labour-based (even more so if the bricks or
blocks are manufactured on site), and the most familiar method to bricklayers. Single-
skin block walls, although quick to erect and the cheapest option, are problematic
with regard to water penetration. The structural integrity of the walls can also be
compromised if the blocks are not built with properly filled beds and joints. Fixing
of window and door frames and roof anchors, especially if not detailed correctly,
can also be problematic.
There are countless patented walling “systems” on the market, from so-called “dry-
stacking” blocks (interlocking blocks with no mortar beds and joints required) to
complete composite wall panels pre-fabricated on site or in a factory off site.
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Wall finishes
Internal wall finishes should provide good cover (plaster basis with paint) and the
paint should be washable (although this is more expensive) in order to reduce the
maintenance requirement of the house or unit once occupied. External finishes,
within the bounds of affordability, should provide adequate resistance to water
penetration, should be durable and should have low maintenance requirements.
Wall finishes should provide attractive facades.
Face brick is ideal from a maintenance point of view, and is not much more expensive
than a good plaster-and-paint finish. When used in double-skin construction, and
if bought from a reputable manufacturer, face bricks offer adequate resistance to
moisture absorption. Face bricks vary widely in cost and quality, and should be
carefully selected and incorporated into designs that make aesthetically acceptable
use of them – remember this cannot be changed later, as with paint colours. It is
also more difficult to repair damage (matching later batches of bricks, and colour
of mortar in joints), and to clean face-brick walls defaced by graffiti.
Plaster and paint may offer more variety and scope for re-decoration, but periodic
re-painting will be required. This could become quite expensive in taller buildings
because of the need for scaffolding. If this option is selected, use good quality
externalpaint, preferably thicker-textured or elastic types of coatings that will cover
minor cracks. Usual practice is to re-paint every five or six years.
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Some experts recommend, however, that the first re-painting be done within 3 years
of completion. This “consolidates” the painted surface after the initial reactions with
oxygen, solar radiation and moisture, both inside the structure and in the atmosphere,
and makes it possible to stretch subsequent re-paintings to longer intervals, say up
to seven or even nine years.
Certain patented wall coatings claim to last the life of the building (“Marmoran”,
“Gamma-Zenith”), but these are expensive, and if there is movement or moisture
in the underlying structure, there could be expensive-to-fix problems such as
discolouration, cracks and spalling.
Another type of composite slab makes use of concrete hollow blocks packed in
narrowly spaced parallel rows on a flat steel deck, and covered in in-situ concrete
to form a ribbed structure. The blocks are light enough to be handled manually, and
therefore provide employment.
For shapes that are more irregular, and smaller slabs, it is more practical to cast an
in-situ solid slab. Building solid slabs is also a more labour-intensive method. Always
get quotes for both options and discuss the options with your engineer before
deciding on the type of slab.
Roof structures
Conventional trusses can be made on site in a jig (which provides employment),
but this can be time-consuming, because production is limited by the number of
carpenters, jigs and amount of space available. Truss components are first nailed
together, and then bolted tight once erected. This can time-consuming and labour-
intensive. This method also requires more cutting on site and increases the amount
of material wastage.
The other option is to buy engineered trusses from a specialist who provides the
design, supply and, if required, erection as well. These trusses are of better quality,
and are lighter than those made on site. Lightweight galvanised steel truss systems
can also be considered, pending the effectiveness in certain applications.
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Roof covering
You will need to choose between concrete and clay tiles, or long-length profiled
metal and fibre cement sheeting. The user public seems to prefer tiles, although
pre-painted corrugated sheeting appears to have made a comeback. Tiles require
steeper pitches (meaning more brickwork in gables), and more support in the form
of trusses and battens spaced closer together. Profiled sheeting can be put on flatter
pitches, and can span longer distances without support. On the other hand, they
require more edge treatment (fascias and bargeboards) to appear acceptable, can
make rooms very hot if there is not an insulated ceiling underneath, and could
be prone to leaks if the pitch is too flat, or if there is poor workmanship during
installation. Maintenance-wise, there is little difference between different roofs
under normal circumstances. In areas with high winds, tiles may be damaged from
time to time, and in corrosive industrial or coastal atmospheres, metal sheeting is
prone to rusting, even if it is pre-painted.
Flooring
Carpeting and vinyl flooring wear out and are easily damaged by occupants. They
will have to be patched and replaced several times during the lifetime of a building.
Ceramic tiling is more durable, but also costs more. Life-cycle cost comparisons should
be made, where the estimated escalated costs of each option over the lifetime of a
building or occupancy period (initial, periodic replacement, cleaning and maintenance)
are discounted to a present value and compared. (If you do not know how to do this,
ask a quantity surveyor to help.)
Windows
Steel window frames are most commonly used because they are strong, durable, come
in many standard sizes and shapes for every application, and are readily available at
competitive prices. With a bit of preparation and training, they can also be manufactured
on site or in the local community. They do, however, require good protection against
rust by periodic re-painting, which is a tedious and costly exercise.
Aluminium and PVC windows are attractive and durable, with virtually no
maintenance requirements, but they are expensive.
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p
Planning for execution of work
Deciding on the implementation approach
and the construction methodology
Introduction
Construction of single-storey buildings is usually quite simple. Acting as contractor
on these projects requires fewer resources and less skilled labour. Unless the site is
geologically suspect, only rudimentary structural design of foundation may be required,
providing the roof construction is properly certified in terms of legislation pertaining to
roof design, erection and inspection (notably for prefabricated timber trusses).
In a situation where the entity acts as “main contractor”, however, as is dealt with
by these Guidelines, there are many issues to consider in addition to the normal
development functions. Before construction starts, the entity as contractor will have
to carefully study the drawings, specifications and bills of quantities; consider site
location and conditions in order to work out the approach to implementation;
and draw up lists of work to be done and resources that will be needed for each
phase (labour and skills requirements, plant and equipment and constructional aids
needed). Aspects to be decided on include the following:
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Guideline:
If the entity acts as contractor only occasionally, for instance tackling
one project at a time as the opportunity for new stock-development
arises, it is best not to employ full-time staff, but to do all the work
with sub-contractors, managed by a professional construction
manager under contract. Clear allocation of responsibilities, careful
co-ordination between different trades, good communication, and
good monitoring and reporting systems and procedures are very
important. If the entity is going to build continuously for a long time,
for example under an extended stock-development programme, it may
be prudent to employ a small full-time core team of skilled people and
general workers who can do basic work that sometimes falls into the
gaps between different types of sub-contract work. Examples would
be excavating and concreting foundations before the brick-laying sub-
contractors arrive. Instead of a full-time team, the entity could also
train and employ community-based labour teams to perform this kind
of work, from the areas in which projects are carried out.
How will we manage the construction work? Should we employ our own
full-time in-house contract manager and clerk of works; should we engage
the services of a professional construction manager; or should we extend the
brief of the normal professional team to include organising, co-ordination and
supervision of the various labour teams and/or sub-contractors on site, while
we, as main contractor, provide plant, materials and working capital?
Guideline:
In the early stages of its existence, the internal priorities of an entity
are to have a competent CEO and financial officer or manager in place,
with some support staff. The number and size of construction projects
determines whether a full-time in-house construction manager is
necessary. For projects of up to 200 units, the cost of a full-time in-
house construction manager or project manager is not justified, and
the CEO or operations manager will take responsibility for managing
the construction process, with outside help from stakeholders such
as provinces, the SHF, the NHFC and others. Although the entity can
make do in this way for a while, the CEO’s attention tends to shift
to dealing full-time with strategic management and internal office
administration.
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Guideline:
The entity should aim for maximum employment without sacrificing
production, quality and affordability. For example: compaction of filling
under floors can be done by hand (if the areas are relatively small),
however, it would be more economical and appropriate to compact larger
areas such as parking areas with small petrol-driven compactors, which
also make the level of quality of compaction much easier to achieve.
Plate-compactor for compaction of large Bomag roller for compaction of large areas Wacker for compaction
areas of small areas and narrow
widths
What is the most effective horizontal transportation method on site for different
sites and different types of materials – wheelbarrows, dumper trucks?
Guideline:
Moving materials around by wheelbarrow is labour-intensive and works
well on smaller sites. For larger sites, it slows down production, and
increases the labour requirement beyond cost-effectiveness. It may
be better to hire a dumper truck or two for bulk carting of materials
from stockpiles to the area of work, and to use wheelbarrows only for
the short distances to the final position. A very useful piece of plant
to have on larger sites is a tractor loader backhoe (TLB), which is a
modified tractor with a hydraulically operated front loader scoop and
a rear excavating bucket. Its intended function (for which it is very
versatile and cost-effective) is to excavate long trenches and holes
for manholes, and to load excavated material and rubble onto trucks
for carting away. However, many site agents use it as a general-
purpose carrier for moving cement, aggregates, mixed concrete and
mortar, window frames and even workers in the front loader scoop. The
machine is not designed for this purpose and its load-carrying capacity
is too small to justify its running costs when used in this way.
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Guideline:
For single-storey buildings, materials required higher up (at the top of
walls or on the roof), can simply be passed by hand from the ground
up onto scaffolding erected for bricklaying and plastering, and from
there onto the required level. For double-storey buildings, scaffolding
could still work. If there is space it is a good idea to build a ramp up
the side of the building or over the steps of stairways to the first
floor, made of scaffold frames and planks, so it can be used by people
with wheelbarrows.
Mobile cranes are too expensive to have on site full-time, and are usually
only hired for specific days (or even hours) for lifting heavy components
in spaces that cannot be reached by other means, for example, lifting
a 300 kg safe door over the roof into a second-storey office.
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Mobile crane for vertical transportation Tower crane for vertical transportation
What types of constructional aids are needed (for example, different types
of scaffolding, support work and formwork)?
Guideline:
The general understanding in the industry is that the main contractor
provides heavy-duty external scaffolding for use by sub-contractors
such as bricklayers and plasterers, while the sub-contractors provide
their own trestles and planks for internal work such as plastering,
painting, and nailing up ceilings. The entity working with small or
emerging sub-contractors may have to provide the
internal support work as well – remember to check and
cater for this in your cost estimates.
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G U I D E L I N E S CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
when they have thick coats of shiny new paint on them – the paint
may be all that holds a rusty old pipe underneath together.
The most common and economical type of formwork for flat concrete
slabs is standard steel pans, which can be re-used many times if
properly cared for. Likewise, there are standard steel panels clipped
together to form “boxes” for column formwork. The contractor must
check the design and ensure that column sizes specified correspond
with these standard panel sizes.
Formwork is only needed from time to time for short periods, and
it is therefore more cost-effective to hire it when needed. Another
alternative is to employ sub-contractors who supply and erect their
own formwork. Some, though, will only erect flat decks excluding edges
or other vertical formwork, as their insurance does not cover them
for the latter. This can be a nuisance, as the contractor must then
provide the vertical formwork.
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Scaffold
tube
Flat Deck Formwork
lacing
Fastrike props and box floor-centres can
be used with either pressed or coined deck Fastrike prop 50x50
panels for quick and easy erection and Band and plate
dismantling of soffit formwork coupler
Guideline:
For small volumes, excavating by hand is generally best (and
provides more employment). To have an excavator on site for a
day is expensive. The machine may only be required for an hour
or two, meaning you pay for transportation and idle time out
of proportion to the value of the work to be done. For longer
runs of trench excavation (strip footings for long buildings, or
sewer trenches), it is most economical to take out the bulk of
the material by machine, and then trim by hand.
For large volumes and deep excavations such as in cut and fill-
over site, and basements, using machines is more productive
Excavation by hand and economical. There are many different types of specialised
excavating and earthmoving equipment, and the most
appropriate machine for the job should be hired.
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G U I D E L I N E S CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
Guideline:
According to conventional wisdom it is more economical to mix on
site. This is sometimes a fallacy, and contractors are notoriously
unable to estimate properly for the true costs of site mixing once all
the waste factors and breaks in productivity have been accounted
for. Quality control is also more difficult with site mixing, but it does
provide more employment for manual labour.
If ready mix is used, concrete pours must be well planned and efficiently
executed. Delivery trucks run on a schedule, and cannot afford to
stand around while concrete is laboriously transported by wheelbarrow
from the point of off-loading to where it is needed on site. Although
the cost of hiring a concrete pump may seem prohibitive at first, it is
often more economical in the long run because of he time saved.
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Guideline:
Careful calculations are required (see also pricing of plant in the
section on Estimating and Pricing further along in this document)
to determine which option is more economical. Owning plant means
you carry the fixed annual cost (depreciation, finance charges/loss
of interest on capital, insurances) even when the machine is not
working and recovering those costs, maintenance and repairs are
your responsibility. Owning also brings about a certain inflexibility and
potential mismatch between what you have, and what is required on
a specific project (for example, the mixer you own may be too large or
too small for a particular project to be practical and cost-effective),
whereas if you hire you can get the right machine for the job.
If you hire on the other hand, you pay for the rental company’s
overheads and profits, and delivery and repairs during emergency
breakdowns could be unreliable. The rental company is responsible
though for all the “hassle” of owning plant – insurance, maintenance
and repairs, transporting around, keeping up to date with the latest
models, and for starters, it is advisable to hire rather than purchase
plant, especially larger, more expensive pieces that are only needed
from time to time.
There must be site offices for meetings, sheds for safe storage of materials and tools,
ablutions for the workers on site, fencing and security, name boards, certain fixed plant
such as concrete batching plants and vertical hoists or tower cranes (sometimes also
referred to as site establishment). The contractor must usually provide sureties that will
make available funds for completion of the contract should the contractor
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G U I D E L I N E S CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
fail to do so, and take out insurance for damage or loss of the works, loss or injury
to workers, and third-party liability.
The contractor is also responsible for security of the site (fencing, access control
and guarding). He must provide samples of materials for approval by the employer
or architect, protect the completed works against damage, regularly clean the site,
and cart away the rubble.
All of the above are usually priced separately from the direct labour and material costs,
and are collectively referred to as preliminaries or preliminary and general.
Site offices
Storage sheds
Storage containers
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Once the decision, based on the preliminary estimates, has been taken to proceed,
and more detailed working drawings have been prepared, it becomes necessary
for the contractor to measure the quantities, and estimate the construction cost
accurately. This is done so that the work can be properly planned and programmed,
resources allocated, and materials ordered. This detailed estimate is also used as a
baseline or budget for cost monitoring and control by the contractor. Where the entity
acts as contractor, the construction side needs detailed estimates for the same reasons
as above, as well as to provide the development side with more accurate budgets of
construction costs to feed into refined total-development cost estimates.
For the entity acting as main contractor, these distinctions help in estimating likely
sub-contract prices (and estimating price negotiations with sub-contractors) on the
one hand, and on the other hand the over-and-above costs that will be incurred by
the entity as main contractor.
We can further distinguish between price and rates. Price usually means the total
amount at which the contractor will erect the building or erect a certain portion of
the work, whereas rates are the “prices” per unit of separate individual items of
work, which make up the total price. Price, therefore, is quantity x rate.
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G U I D E L I N E S CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
Costing is the collating of cost information during and after the erection of a building,
and the processing thereof into monetary terms, mainly to monitor the profitability
of the project or contract, and to make changes to improve it. It also provides the
estimator with information for future estimating.
Some sub-contractors will quote on a labour-only basis, meaning the main contractor
must supply, and, therefore, budget for the cost of materials involved.
Others may quote on a supply-and-fit (labour and materials) basis, but the main
contractor will have to supply some of the materials, for instance the plumber’s
quote may include the supply of all pipes and pipe fittings, but the main contractor
must provide the taps and sanitary fittings. In plumbing, the main contractor is also
usually expected to do some of the work associated with that sub-contractor’s trade.
An example is where the plumber’s quote would include the supply of manhole
covers, but exclude the building of the manholes.
Sub-contract documentation must be clear on these issues, and the main contractor
must ensure nothing is left to fall through the gaps when adding up total estimated
costs of labour, materials and sub-contracts.
It would be a big mistake to simply add up all the sub-contract sums, and
quotes from materials suppliers, and think that is the total building cost.
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Attendance on sub-contractors
Providing sub-contractors with scaffolding, power, water and storage; and assisting
them with off-loading and handling of materials and equipment (usually varies from
2.5% to 10% of the value of sub-contract work).
The entity must exercise care when estimating costs. Certain of its head-office
resources will be needed to manage the process, and this may mean buying-in
additional capacity or specialised skills in the form of extra staff, equipment, office
space, etc. or in outsourced form. It is often difficult to quantify the above accurately,
but some allowances should be made in budgets and cash-flow forecasts.
On the other hand, the entity may save at least a portion of main contractor’s
off-site costs, or head-office overheads (office rent, salaries of head office staff,
telephones, office equipment, and general insurances).
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Delivery cost
The price per unit quoted for items of smaller bulk that are delivered from the
retailer’s own yard often includes the cost of delivery up to a certain radius (say
within 10 km or 20 km of the yard). The retailer estimates that in a certain year, say,
two 3-ton trucks will travel 30 000 km each on daily deliveries within the chosen
radius. The total cost of this is taken as an overhead cost and added as a percentage
to the price quoted for all materials.
For items of larger bulk or weight, such as bricks, sand, stone, cement, etc. where
the cost of delivery is significantly influenced by distance, prices are usually quoted
ex yard, and additional charges are made for loading, and on a rate per km or per
area/zone for delivery. Delivery is also charged for smaller items that are delivered
outside the normal radius.
Waste
Waste is that portion of materials that is lost in handling and processing and cannot be
re-used in the permanent structure (see also the section on materials management).
Discount
General discount to the trade
Suppliers often provide materials at lower prices to contractors than to the public. All
steel window suppliers, for instance, work from a standard price list. Different discounts
off the list prices are then offered to different categories of buyer. A small once-off sale
to an unknown client may happen at a discount of, say, only 10%, while a contractor
who regularly buys large quantities may get as much as 50% to 60% off the list price. The
entity acting as contractor should vigorously negotiate for these kinds of discounts.
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Settlement discount
Material costs: R10 000.00 less (5/100 x 10 000) = R9 500.00 (Saving is R500)
If the R10 000.00 was kept in a call-account for 30 days at 6% p.a., it would earn
interest of R10 000 x 6/100 x 30/365 = R49.31.
By judicious timing of purchase dates, the entity can get almost 60 days to pay,
without forfeiting any discount. Accounts are usually made up on the 25th of a month
for all orders delivered up to then. Say the entity orders an item on the 26th of the
previous month (that is after accounts for the previous month have closed), he or
she will receive an invoice for that item after the 25th of the current month (around
the end of month), and will only have to pay for it 30 days after that.
Example:
± 60 Days
Contractor Pays
Contractor
Account Less 5%
Buys Cement
Cash discount
These are attractive discounts to encourage contractors to pay cash.
Bulk discount
This is a discount for large quantities, to encourage contractors to
buy in bulk.
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The cost and rate of materials for the above item could be calculated as follows:
Estimating cost of materials for the above (per m2):
Bricks (after discount to trade):
Price of bricks ex yard: R 450/1 000
Loading and delivery cost R 200/1 000
Net cost of bricks delivered to site R 650/1 000
Net per m2: (1.0/(0.22x0.085)=53x2=106+4%(waste)=110/m2@ R650/1 000 R 71.50
Mortar (0.072m3/m2):
Building sand: 5/6 x 0.072 x 1.5 = 0.09m3 @ R90/m3 (del. Incl.) R 8.10
Cement : 1/6 x 0.072 x1.5/0.033= 0.55 sk @ R36 (del. Incl.) R 19.80
Sub-total R 27.90
Waste: 5% say R 1.40 R 29.30
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The labour constant is calculated by keeping record of the time it takes a group of
workers to do a large amount of a certain type of work over a period (1 year) under
all kinds of working and weather conditions. The quantity of work units or output
is measured and the total time is divided by the total number of units of work. The
labour constant multiplied by the total cost per hour, i.e. wage, contributions and
labour overhead of all the workers required to produce the unit of work, is the net
labour cost of that unit of work.
Examples:
(i) One worker takes 2.5 hours to dig a trench of 1 m3
or:
Four workers take five hours to excavate 8m3. One worker, therefore, would
have taken 20 hours to excavate 8 m3. For 1 m3 we therefore have to divide
20 by 8:
The labour constant is then multiplied by the hourly rate of a worker to arrive
at the labour cost of a specific activity
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In concrete work, separate labour constants would be used for the following
discrete activities:
• The transportation of ingredients from stockpile to place of mixing (e.g.
LC = 0.5, therefore it would take one worker 0.5 h to transport 1 m3 of
materials)
• Mixing (by hand) (e.g. LC = 3.5, i.e. it would take one worker 3.5 h to mix
1 m3 of concrete)
• Loading into barrows, and transportation to place of pouring (e.g. LC = 0.5,
i.e. it would take one worker 0.5 h to transport 1 m3 of materials)
• Placing and levelling of concrete in foundation trenches (e.g. LC = 0.75, i.e.
it would take one worker 0.75 h to place and level 1 m3 of mixed concrete)
Although there are small theoretical differences, for practical purposes and
within measurable margins, the labour constants for transporting and mixing
are the same for all strengths of concrete. Thereafter the placing, spreading and
compaction for different building elements are different. Placing in foundations
is easier and quicker than placing in columns, etc.
The multiplier
The multiplier is a factor that indicates how much longer a particular operation takes
under circumstances different to the norm. Carting mixed concrete over a distance
of not more than 25 m would, for instance, have an LC of 0.5 h. Carting up to 50
m would take twice as long and a multiplier of x2 would therefore be applied to
the basic LC of 0.5.
The use of multipliers reduces the number of tables that need to be compiled for
LCs, and allows for discretionary adjustment of basic LCs when it is clear to the
estimator that a standard piece of work is going to be executed under non-standard
conditions.
Example:
From the tables, an LC of 0.75 is given for the placing of concrete
in foundation trenches. Instead of giving separate tables for placing
in columns, which is more difficult and takes longer, a multiplier of
say 1.8 is used. The LC for placing concrete in columns therefore, is
0.75 x 1.8 = 1.35.
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Organisational factors
(i) Materials shortages: Results in waiting time and demoralisation of workforce.
Materials stored untidily or far from the work area reduce efficiency.
(ii) Untidy site: Reduces efficiency and leads to accidents.
(iii) Poor worker relations: Foreman shouting and swearing at workers, workers not
properly informed and motivated, inappropriate grouping of people with regard
to skills, etc.
(iv) Poor lighting: leads to sloppy work, mistakes and accidents.
(v) Inefficient and poorly maintained plant and equipment.
(vi) Workers’ wages less than on other sites in the same area.
Personal problems
(i) Illness of workers.
(ii) Domestic problems: financial problems or illness in the home.
(iii) Exhaustion due to poor nutrition or work not suited to person’s personal ability
and strength.
(iv) Demand for and supply of labour: in times of high demand, production rates are
generally lower than in situations of oversupply of labour.
When a contractor is tendering for work within its normal area of activity, the LCs
should take into account expected average weather conditions for the area and
time of year. Where the work is elsewhere, adjustments will have to be made for
differences in the expected weather conditions.
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For this type of work, a small team consisting of one bricklayer and two
assistants will be considered as a unit working together. The assistants will be
mixing mortar, transporting materials, helping with the erection of scaffolding,
etc. so that the bricklayer is free to lay as many bricks as possible in a day.
Say the unit is able to lay 900 bricks in a day of 8 hours, and the team’s
total cost to the company is made up as follows (no living-out or travel
allowances):
At 900 bricks a day, the LC for the unit is 900/8 = 112.5 bricks/h: Therefore at 110 bricks per m , the LC =
2
The completed estimate of labour price for the item would be as follows:
Description Unit Quantity Rate Price
The total price for the item (labour and material) would therefore be:
Description Unit Quantity Rate Price
159.39
One-brick wall in 1:5 cement mortar m 2
120 19 126.80
(110.88+48.51)
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Note: The contractor has studied the drawings and visited the site
and noticed that:
• The columns will be less than 25 m away from the mixing platform
but the ground level will be about 5 m higher than the mixing
platform, meaning transportation of mixed concrete will take longer
than allowed for in the standard LC for this activity
General worker:
Transport materials from stockpile:
0.5h x 2 (multiplier for distance 25-50m)= 1.0h
Mix concrete: 3.5h/m3= 3.5h
Transport concrete to position:
0.5h x 1.2 (steep slope multiplier)= 0.6h
5.1h @ R 10.50 = R 53.55
Semi-skilled worker:
Place and consolidate concrete:
0.75h x 1.8 (multiplier for columns)= 1.35h @ R 15.00 = R 20.25
The completed estimate of labour price for the above item would be as follows:
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Plant has two types of costs. One is annual cost. This is made up of the costs
incurred by owning the piece of plant, regardless of its usage, for example, annual
depreciation of the asset value (purchase price), finance costs, insurances, licensing,
maintenance and servicing. The other is hourly cost, i.e. direct operational costs
such as fuel, lubricants and operator wages.
Finance costs
If the plant is bought with borrowed money (financed by a bank), there are annual
interest costs. If the plant is bought with own reserve funds, the money is not available
for investment where it could potentially earn interest or other income. This loss of
interest or income is a cost.
Licensing
Bigger plant often has its own road wheels for transportation and would have to be
licensed with the traffic authorities.
Insurances
Plant must be insured against loss of or damage to the asset, as well as for third-
party liability.
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Fuel/energy
Manufacturers’ estimates or past records will indicate the hourly consumption of
petrol, diesoline and electricity.
Lubricants
Plant must be oiled and greased on a regular basis and this cost can be as much as
10% to 20% of energy cost, depending on operating conditions.
Operator wages
The total cost of dedicated operators is included here. (A dedicated operator is one
who works full-time on a particular piece of plant, for example, a crane driver).
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3. Hourly cost:
3.1 Fuel: 2.5 litre @ R4.00 R 10.00
3.2 Lubricants: 20% x R10.00 R 2.00
3.3 Operator: 8/6 x R12.00/h R 16.00 R28.00
Total cost per hour R34.88
Total cost per m3: 3m3/hour (12 x 250 litre/h) =R 34.88/2 R 11 63/m3
The total cost of using the concrete mixer is R11.63/m3. This cost will be included
in the unit rate for each measured item of concrete work in the bill. The cost of
transporting the mixer to and from site is calculated separately (it will vary for
each contract) and priced in the preliminaries section of the bill.
Notes:
1. Simple interest was used for finance costs above. The interest is paid on a reducing balance
(at the end of each year a certain amount of the loan has been paid off and interest is
only payable on the outstanding balance). For simplicity, an averaging factor of 0.5 was
therefore applied to interest charges, on the assumption that at the beginning of the
repayment period (first year), interest is calculated on the full purchase price and at the
end the balance is zero.
2. The mixer effectively works only 6 hours per day. The operator is paid for a full 8 hours
however (he spends the other two hours on cleaning and maintenance). His attributable
cost to the working time of the mixer is therefore 8/6 times his hourly rate.
If the crane in the above example was hired instead of being owned, the calculation
might be as follows. (The plant-hire company would base its hire rate on the same
calculations of annual cost plus an allowance for overhead and profit, except that
it would be more conservative than the contractor owning his own plant. This
is because, among other factors, it would have to maintain better, and replace
stock more often to stay in the market with up to date equipment, and because
the stock would be subjected to more abuse or carelessness by hirers):
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From the above, it may appear that it is always better to own plant, but this is not
necessarily so. The “real” cost of owning plant must take the following into account:
1. Risk of damage, breakage, theft, etc.
2. Having to rent or own storage space
3. Underutilisation, meaning that capital is tied up uselessly instead of earning profits by
being available as working capital on new contracts, etc.
4. The restricting cash-flow factor of regular and long-term repayment commitments
5. Hired plant is generally better maintained, thereby reducing downtime due to
malfunction
6. Servicing and repairs are the hire company’s problem and just a phone call away
7. Obsolescence, etc.
The cost of preliminaries on conventional building contracts usually range between 7.5% and
20% of contract value, but can vary considerably between projects, depending on:
• Type of work (building or civil construction, low-rise housing or inner-city tower block)
• Size and phasing of project
• Location (urban, suburban, peri-urban, rural, out of country). In certain remote or
underdeveloped parts of the world, such as Siberia in Russia, preliminaries could be as
high as the actual value of building work because contractors have to establish their own
infrastructure, and provide expensive protection against the harsh climate
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The major cost items under preliminaries are plant and salaries/wages of site
staff. Both are directly related to the size and duration of the contract, with
duration or time being the major factor
In estimating preliminaries costs (the most difficult part of cost estimating, and best
left to an experienced estimator), the following activities are involved:
• After deciding what work will be done manually to increase employment,
assessing what types and numbers of plant and equipment will be needed; and
by studying the work programme, estimating how long they will be needed on
site
• Drawing up an organogram of site administrative staff needed (excluding labour
directly involved in actual construction activities), and how long they will be
needed
• Studying the work force requirement, and contract stipulations to see what
temporary facilities and services are needed for the execution of the contract
• Studying the contract conditions and statutory requirements to see what
insurances are required, and what fees and deposits are payable to the local
and other authorities
• Discussing with contracts managers and site staff what the security requirements
are
Overheads are those costs that cannot readily be apportioned to specific work items
on a project or projects, but which are necessary to execute the project(s).
The cost of indirect or general office overheads, which can vary from 5% to 20% of
contract value, must be spread over all the projects executed in a particular year,
that is to say each project must make a “contribution” to overhead costs.
Example:
Project 2
Project 1 (5% of contract value)
Project 3
(5% of contract value) (5% of contract value)
CONTRACTOR’S
OFFICE COSTS
(say 5% of turnover)
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In this way, the total amount of building work carried out during the year will
contribute the full amount of overhead needed. This calculation must be reviewed
constantly. This is because the estimates of turnover for the year will be adjusted
as the real turnover figures start emerging. For example, if by mid-year it is evident
that only 75% of estimated turnover is likely to be realised, the contractor will have
to either adjust the percentage upward (if market conditions allow), or start cutting
overhead costs.
Contingency allowances
This is one of the most misunderstood and abused aspects of estimating. Contractors,
consultants (and their clients) see it as a simple case of “add 10% so we have a bit
of fat in the estimate”.
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and reduce with each subsequent estimate as more detail becomes available
from the design team. Once tenders are in and construction is ready to start,
this could be reduced to a very small allowance, unless parts of the design are
still incomplete.
2. Building contract contingencies – to allow for real unforeseen expenditures. The
circumstances of the project will determine the amount that should be allowed.
It should also reduce up to a point, but an amount should remain in place until
construction is well underway, or even until the end of construction.
How much to allow will depend on the circumstances. It is usual to allow 2.5%
to 5% of estimated final building cost for each category (5% to 10% total) in the
preliminary estimates, reducing to 1.5% to 2.5% (3% to 5% total) at tender stage,
and reduced even more from time to time in cost reports during the construction
phase. (For refurbishment and conversion, the initial contingency should be bumped
up to at least 15%).
The starting point for all construction cost estimates is the day on which the estimate is
done. In other words, the rates used are those that apply on that day as if the project
could be completed on the same day. This is usually called the “ESTIMATED CURRENT
CONSTRUCTION COST”. This is logical because the rates known to us at this stage
can only be from current or (recently) past tenders, and not from the future.
To estimate only the current building cost is not realistic. Feasibility studies (of which
the estimate of construction cost is an important part) first have to be carried out,
tender documentation must be prepared, tenders called and adjudicated, plans
submitted for scrutiny and permission to start building by the local authority, etc. This
can take from four to 12 months, and even longer on large and complex projects.
During this time, construction costs will fluctuate in response to both macro-
economic and local construction market factors. Recently, these fluctuations have
usually been upwards because of continued inflation, and it is expected to remain
so for the foreseeable future. The anticipated future tender price for the work will
invariably be higher than the estimated current construction cost, which must
therefore be escalated in full for the estimated total planning period, at a projected
rate based on construction market trends.
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Fixed-price contracts
A fixed-price contract is one where the contractor accepts full risk for any fluctuation
in the costs of labour and material. Smaller contracts are often fixed-price contracts
where the contractor accepts full responsibility for any fluctuation in the costs of
labour and material. The employer will not, therefore, reimburse the contractor for
any fluctuations in building costs after acceptance of a tender, and the contractor
must allow in his tender for any expected fluctuations.
There is no way of knowing how much, if any, the contractor allows in his tender for
this risk. When the market is competitive (with many builders chasing little work),
contractors tend to use the escalation risk as a competitive variable. In plain language
that means they will load their tenders with as little as possible, and hope to put the
screws on their suppliers and sub-contractors (who should be equally hungry for
business) to keep their input prices fixed as well. When the economy is booming
and there is too much work around, the opposite will be the case.
The main advantage of fixed-price contracts for the employer, on the other hand,
is that the final cost is known with greater certainty from the beginning (making
budgeting less risky).
The project planning and construction periods (time) have an important effect on
time-related cost aspects such as:
• Preliminaries (especially salaries, plant and other time-related items)
• Pre- and post-tender construction cost escalations
• Financing cost (interim interest)
The effects of time on final building costs as outlined above must always be taken
into account in building cost estimates. This requires highly specialised knowledge
and skill, as found in the competent professional quantity surveyor (QS).
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It is important for the contractor to understand the lead times in the overall
development process, to enable him/her to provide for cost escalations in
estimates.
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The above are indications only. Real times will be affected by the degree to
which the developing institution is willing to take the risks involved in overlapping
some activities, the availability of money to fund land acquisition, rezoning costs,
professional fees for documentation, and administrative delays in getting Land
Availability Agreements set up.
From the above it can be seen that the time between project initiation and having
a builder on site is around 12 to 16 months in straightforward cases, and around
20 to 24 months where there are complications involved, such as rezoning. These
periods vary considerably according to individual circumstances and the degree
of overlapping the developing institution is willing to risk (for instance initiating
land acquisition before preliminary studies are complete, proceeding with town
planning procedures on risk before the property is transferred, preparing full tender
documentation before plans are approved).
Township establishment could take slightly longer than rezoning in simple cases (single
piece of land owned by council), or could add anything from 12 to 24 months to
the normal process in cases where, say, a new estate is to be planned on previously
un-proclaimed land. This is because new land-use layouts have to be prepared and
submitted to several government departments for input.
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This would be far too time-consuming at the time of estimating, and a quicker
method is required. A simplified version of the critical-element method is therefore
the most appropriate estimating tool. It is based on the observation that the concrete
frame in the case of multi-storey buildings, and the walls, slabs and roofs in the
case of, say, walk-ups are usually the main critical elements. The method is to first
estimate the time needed for the structure, and then to add time for start-up and
finishing off respectively.
Each activity or job is then planned while taking into account the materials required,
and the resources of labour and plant required and available. This includes a close
study of all the contract documents – such as drawings, specifications, bills of
quantities, conditions of contract – so that all activities and important conditions
and prescriptions that influence the method of execution can be noted.
All the main activities are then scheduled in logical sequence on a building or works
programme.
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Example
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Number each activity in batches of Put the time it will take to complete each
10’s if the order of activities is not activity here. Work only on working days to
perfect it can be corrected later. start with, excluding weekends & holidays.
To assist you, the following list of typical activities on a residential building project
is given. The activities in the shaded blocks are normally included in the building
programme, while the unshaded ones represent actions the contractor undertakes in
the “background” as part of internal management of the contract:
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Concrete foundations
Erect first lift (ground to 1st floor) of structural con- • Arrange inspection of steel by engineer
crete columns and walls as applicable, including:
• Fix reinforcing steel cages
• Erect shutters
• Pour concrete
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Surface beds/ground floor slabs, including: • Arrange inspection of filling, compaction tests if required
• Filling under floors
• Soil poisoning
• Laying damp course membrane under floors
• Arranging plumber and electrician to lay pipes and
conduits under floors
• Arranging and casting concrete in surface beds
• Striking and curing of surface beds
If load-bearing brick structure with slabs resting • Arrange inspection of DPC as applicable
on walls) – Build ground floor superstructure
walls to wall plate height for single-storey, or
underside of first slab for multi-storey, including:
• Laying damp course under walls and setting up door
frames
• Working out the brickwork gauge (heights of courses,
cills, lintels, wall plates, etc.) and setting up profiles
• Setting up and building in windows, lintels, pipes,
conduits, wall ties, roof ties, brick reinforcing, etc. as
the work proceeds
• Treating and bedding wall plates, or
• Placing bearing surface joint material for slabs
(malthoid and polystyrene)
(If multi-storey framed structure with infill brick- • Arrange delivery of steel reinforcing
work) – Erect first floor slab, including: • Arrange delivery of concrete
• Erecting support work for decking (formwork) • Arrange inspection of steel by engineer
• Decking
• Fixing steel reinforcing
• Arranging plumber and electrician to lay pipes, con-
duits and fit sleeves, etc.
• Pouring concrete
Formwork can usually be stripped after 10-14 days
with some props staying in place a little longer to allow
building work to continue under the slab
Ground floor infill brickwork
(Followed by subsequent slabs and infill brick-
work at the different levels as applicable)
Roof structure, including:
• Ordering, or making on site and erecting roof trusses,
purlins/tiling battens, etc. (Remember bracing)
Build gables and beamfilling
Lay roof covering and bed on walls, including
plastic underlay as required
Instal window sills (remember DPC)
Plaster walls and screed floors • After plastering, arrange for specialists to measure for kitchen
units, built-in cupboards, glazing
Instal ceilings • Instal ceilings only after plastering, and do glazing and hanging of
doors only after plastering and ceilings to avoid risk of damage
Glaze windows
Fit window handles, catches, etc. and service
Hang doors and fit locks
(UNIT CAN NOW BE LOCKED)
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There are many practical aspects to consider – what is the optimum size of a team doing
excavations that will facilitate adequate supervision and control over productivity and
quality, how many teams can practically be working on a limited site at any one time,
how many suitably skilled workers are available to the contractor, what to do with surplus
workers once a certain task is completed (can they be absorbed into other subsequent
activities, or will the contractor have to retrench workers).
If the contractor owns one concrete mixer with a maximum daily yield or output of, say,
32m3, and it takes one worker 0.5 hours to place and level a cubic metre of concrete
(maximum output of 16m3 in an eight-hour day), it would be pointless having more
than two such workers on site while concrete work is being done. More workers will
be required to transport raw materials from the stockpiles to the place of mixing, to
operate and clean the mixer, and to transport the mixed concrete to the works.
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The calculation of resources for the whole operation would find the right balance
between the potential output of the machine and the amount and different categories
of workers required, to ensure that everyone is kept busy for optimum productivity
on the day. Economic periods for each activity or operation are calculated to fit
within the overall time allowed for the project. This is commonly referred to as
Resource levelling. It is quite a complicated process, and should not be attempted
the first time without help from an experienced construction manager or works
foreman. Consultation with specialists such as formwork erectors should also form
part of this process.
Although work study (based on scientific and published research and/or our own ob-
servations and records) provides us with average output rates, each project and each
site is different, and as in cost estimating, we often have to apply adjustment factors
or multipliers to the averages to account for specific circumstances such as:
• Site gradient, size and shape – it takes longer to transport materials by barrow
on steeper sites. Confined sites limit the number of plant and workers that can
work simultaneously on a task or on different tasks
• Nature of the work – it takes longer to place concrete in slender elements such
as columns, as compared with bases or slabs
• Climatic conditions – work is more sluggish early on cold Highveld winter mornings,
or in the heat of noon at mid-summer. In certain parts of the country strong winds
can have a real impact on resources at certain times of the year (requiring for
instance more workers than normal to safely carry items such as roof sheets or
ceiling boards)
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Bars that represent the duration of activities or tasks are now drawn to scale on a chart:
ID Task Start Finish Duration 20 Nov 27 Nov 4 Dec 11 Dec
Name
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Next, the bars are plotted in their correct positions on the horizontal time-scale, overlapping where
appropriate:
ID Task Start Finish Duration 8 Jan 15 Jan 22 Jan 29 Jan 5 Feb 12 Feb
Name
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
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Example:
Eighty units must be completed in one year (48 working weeks). Eight
weeks is subtracted for one complete unit. This leaves 40 weeks, and
that divided into 80 units is 2 hand-overs per week. This information can
be used to plan materials delivery and labour take-on. If, for instance,
a bricklaying team (bricklayer and two helpers) can do all the brickwork
on a unit in two weeks, then it can be calculated that four such teams
will be needed on site for the bulk of the time to meet the required
hand-over rate.
Network programming
Network programming includes methods such as Critical Path method (CPM), and
Project Evaluation Review Technique (PERT). The basic principle underlying all of these
is recognising the interdependence between activities, and the effects of delays in one
activity on linked activities and the overall completion date immediately show up.
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buckle frames and crack glass. Ceramic cladding tends to come adrift if applied too
early or under unfavourable conditions. Shrinkages in exposed brickwork tend to
vary seasonally, and this should be factored into any programme.
The figure below shows a generic project life cycle (there is also the so-called
S-curve for expenditure on a project):
Cost and
Intermediate phases
staffing
level
Initial Final
phase phase
Cost and staffing levels are low at the start, higher towards the middle, and drop
rapidly as the project draws to a conclusion.
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Permits are also required for demolition of old structures on the site, and after
demolition clearance certificates, stating that the site is vermin-free, must be
obtained.
Permission to close off parts of streets and use pavements may sometimes have to
be obtained on tight inner city sites (and deposits are then payable to cover any
possible damage to paving and kerbs, parking meters and the like).
This is vital, and no one should be allowed to set foot on site if all the
insurances are not in place. From site hand-over, the contractor is in control
of the site, and responsible for everything that happens on it.
The basic insurances required are normally covered by a so-called Contractor’s All
Risk (CAR) policy. This includes:
• Insurance of the “works”, covering loss or damage to materials on site and the
permanent structures due to theft, vandalism, accidents, weather, storms and
floods, fire and the like
• Workmen’s compensation or death or injury of the contractor’s workers
• Third party or public liability cover for death or injury to the person of, or damage
to the property of visitors to the site, passers-by and the general public
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Problems caused by political unrest are covered by policies issued by the South
African Special Risks Insurance Association (SASRIA).
In some instances, where deep excavations close to site boundaries are required (for
example, basements, or cutting down levels on steep sites), and there is a potential
danger of destabilising existing buildings on adjacent sites, it is necessary to take
out Removal of Lateral Support insurance. In such cases it is also prudent to inspect
adjacent buildings together with their owners, and note and take photographs of all
existing cracks and subsidence to avoid arguments later.
In addition the contractor must ensure that all his plant and equipment are adequately
insured.
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e
Executing the work
Site layout and organisation
There is no standard site lay-out – each site is different and should be planned
differently. The aim is to ensure optimum efficiency, economy and safety by looking
at the implications of tidiness, accessibility and co-ordination.
If the entity is not going to employ a professional site agent or construction manager
(both of whom should know how to do this planning), it should at least obtain advice
on this aspect. Go to another building site where such people are employed and
ask them to help you. The following can be used as a checklist:
General guidelines
1. Draw up a plan or map of the site showing:
• Access and exit points for people and vehicles
• Circulation of people, materials, machines and vehicles
• Position of temporary service connections (water, drainage, electricity)
• Position of permanent structures (buildings to be erected), and temporary
facilities such as stores, offices, ablutions, sleeping accommodation, fixed plant
(for example, tower cranes and batching plants), and material stockpiles
2. Plan where to start with the work and the physical sequence of completion,
keeping in mind:
• Minimising disturbing occupants of completed phases – no-one likes living on
a construction site
• Risk of damage to roads, services and buildings completed or partly
completed
3. Identify potential problem areas and plan how to deal with them, for
example:
• Check low areas and impediments to run-off that could cause stormwater ponding
and possible flooding; grade portions of the site affected, and/or dig channels for
run-off; or construct temporary earth berms or retaining walls out of sand bags
• Check for steep banks and unstable slopes that could collapse in heavy rain, or
when heavy vehicles and plant move nearby
• Check for weak points from a site security point of view, for example, hidden
corners or places of easy access from adjoining properties
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Site boundary
Permanent structure
(flats)
Mechanical hoist
Permanent structure
(flats)
Guard hut
In Out
Office site
meetings
Pavement
Temporary service
connections
Street
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• Remember completed parts of buildings can be used for stores. Keep this in
mind when programming the construction sequence. A few lock-up garages,
for instance, can be finished quite quickly and used for stores without
disturbance
• Consider the following factors when placing stores and establishing a materials
handling system:
• Optimum balance between ease of access for delivery and closeness to
point of use
• Proper control procedures for receipt and issue of materials and tools
• Security – make sure stores cannot be breached unnoticed from the street
or from adjoining open spaces. (In one case on a major Eastern Cape project
a store was located on the boundary with its back wall forming part of the
fence. The stores clerk duly cut a hatch in the wall and ran a profitable
“sideline” from there.)
• Design a flow diagram of stock movement and a delivery schedule to ensure
enough materials on site at all times and to avoid bottlenecks and delays
• Keep site tidy and regularly remove rubble to keep working and movement
space clean
• Establish gravity feeds whenever possible for bulk aggregates, cement (silos)
and rubbish removal chutes in multi-storey buildings
Final location in
Handle structure
Receipt
Materials and
of Offload
equipment
delivered to site
Handle
Handle
Store
Cement ineffectively stored, should be stored in waterproofed Bricks delivered in pallets, placed close to its end use
sheds
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The types of materials and components that will be required are indicated in the
specifications, on the drawings and finishing schedules, and in the bills of quantities
– in that order of precedence. Where the type of material is not specified, or there
is a discrepancy between any of the above documents, check with the specifier
(usually the architect or engineer).
Some main items where the make and source of supply are usually left to the discre-
tion of the contractor include:
• Plaster bricks – Check not only price, but also quality. Excessive breakage and
waste due to crumbly bricks often costs more than paying slightly more for a
harder brick and reliable supply
• Aggregates (sand and stone) – Again, poor quality in the form of dirty aggregates,
poorly graded sand, or excessively flaky stone can later result in extra costs
because of repairs to cracking concrete and plaster, high cement demand in mixes
etc. Where large quantities of structural concrete are required (walk-ups and
high-rises), it is prudent to collect samples of aggregates from different sources
in the area, and to get your nearest concrete laboratory to do mix designs that
will give you the most cost-efficient proportions of cement and aggregates. Most
of the major consulting engineering firms have such laboratories in the larger
centres
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• Steel windows and door frames – This is a cut-throat business, with many players
entering and leaving all the time. Anyone with a shed and a welder can make
windows, but the trueness of their jigs, the soundness of their welds, and the
quality of hinges (brass pins preferred to mild steel) and fittings will determine
the level of problems during installation and glazing, including potential future
maintenance problems. Deal with suppliers who have a good reputation – there
are enough of them around in all urban areas to ensure competitive pricing
• Roof and other timber – Timber sold commercially has its grade stamped on
the end of each length. When lengths are cut shorter in the shop, the grade
stamp may be lost. Visual checking for defects at delivery is very important. Also
ensure your supplier stores timber under a roof or otherwise protected against
rain and sun
• Roof sheeting – Rolling profiled roof sheeting from coil (flat sheet produced by
the national producer of steel) is fairly straightforward and there should be no
real problems with quality. Ensure that you buy the correct thickness or gauge.
Off-the-shelf sheeting is often only 0.45 mm or even 0.35 mm thick these days
(used on RDP housing), but it is not advisable to go less than 0.6 mm or 0.5 mm
“Fullhard” for our purposes
• Cement – Making cement is a capital-intensive business, and consequently there
are no fly-by-nights in this industry. The only problem is price monopolies
Read item descriptions and the standard preambles that apply to that particular type
of item very carefully. Suppliers, especially those that cater for the general public
on a cash and carry basis, usually stock the cheapest (and sometimes the “nastiest”)
brands – often the result of import dumping. Many of these cheap brands do not
comply with the specifications of formal building projects. This is especially true
of items such as external batten doors, steel door frames and windows, door locks
and general ironmongery, roof sheeting, taps and mixers, light fittings and paint
products.
Pressed steel door frames are often of the so-called “knock-down” type, made of
very thin material, and with very flimsily assembled corners. The furniture on steel
windows (handles and stays) is usually of poor quality unless a better quality is
specifically called for, and although it may seem like a small thing, experience shows
that one of the most common complaints from occupants of low-cost houses is that
windows won’t close properly because of poor quality fittings.
In other instances, the standard stock carried by suppliers is perfectly good for its
intended purpose, but not of a high enough standard for quality housing. An example
is where a project specification calls for 6 mm thick panels on the back of flush-back
wooden doors (more resistant to puncturing by children or vandals), whereas the
standard product on most shelves only has a 3 mm or maybe a 4 mm-thick panel.
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Also remember that when quantity surveyors compile bills of quantities, they measure
off the net sizes as shown on the drawings, and it is up to the contractor to make
allowances for waste and other causes of shrinkage as set out below.
Quantifying by counting
Some components such as windows have an exact number and are easily quantifiable
by means of simple counting. Check numbers given on window schedules against
the layout plans and clear up any discrepancies before ordering. Also check the
windows as pictured on the schedules and/or elevations against the product codes
and sizes in standard window catalogues available from most suppliers.
Ensure where windows have opening sections on one side only, that the correct
“hand” is stipulated.
opening sash
fixed sash
hinges
opening sash
fixed sash opening to right
• plan
• elevation facing
window from
outside
• right-hand opening
Remember door frames are left or right “hand”. When facing the frame standing
on the side towards which the door will open, the hand is indicated by the side of
the frame the hinges are on. For so-called “French doors” you must also indicate
whether the door is opening out or in, as the hinges will be different.
Pressed steel door frames are made 50mm longer than final door size. This is to allow
for the bottom of the frame to be embedded in the floor screed or topping. Where the
concrete surface bed or floor slab is simply going to be floated smooth, without any
further screed, a special “no-screed” frame which is shorter must be ordered otherwise
there will be a large gap between the bottom of the door and the floor surface.
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hinges
hinges
hinges
• Right-hand
• Plan
Pressed steel door frames have hinges welded on and are supplied with lock striking
plates. Timber door frames come bare, and hinges and striking plates must be
purchased separately.
A specified mix proportion of 1:4:5 for concrete means that, measured by volume,
the concrete should consist of one part cement, four parts fine aggregate (sand or
crusher run) and five parts coarse aggregate (broken stone or gravel). It does not
mean – as many small builders mistakenly believe – one bag of cement to four
wheelbarrows of sand and five wheelbarrows of stone.
The relative quantities for the above mix will therefore, be calculated as follows:
• Cement – 1/10th of total volume
• Sand – 4/10ths of total volume
• Stone – 5/10ths of total volume
Likewise, a mortar mix of 1:5 means one part by volume cement and five parts
sand, calculated as follows:
• Cement – 1/6th of total volume
• Sand – 5/6ths of total volume
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However, the above quantities would yield less than a cubic metre of mixed concrete,
and we have to make some extra allowances first.
When the cement, sand and stone are mixed together, the smaller particles (cement
and sand) fill the voids between the larger ones (stone), causing the total mixed
volume to be less than the sum of the volumes of the separate materials brought
to the mix. To make up for the combined effect of bulking and void filling, one
would have to order up to 50% more cement, sand and stone than the theoretical
quantities, i.e. for 1 m3 of 1:4:5 concrete as in the example above, one would have
to order (and mix) the following actual quantities:
• Cement – 100 litres x 1.5 = 150 litres or 4.54 bags
• Sand – 400 litres x 1.5 = 600 litres or 0.6m3
• Stone – 500 litres x 1.5 = 750 litres or 0.75m3
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Lapping of materials
For certain materials there are prescribed laps at end or side joints, for example roof
sheets. A standard profiled galvanised roof sheet such as IBR or “S-rib” (corrugated
sheeting) is 762 mm or 914 mm wide, but with the prescribed side lap the effective
cover width would only be 686 mm or 838 mm.
Lapping also applies to damp proofing membranes in walls and under floors, brick
reinforcement, concrete roof tiles, and any other material that needs to be sealed
for waterproofing purposes.
Waste
“Waste” is the loss of material that cannot be re-used. Waste usually taking place during
delivery, handling, processing and fixing in the building. Waste is caused by spilling of
materials such as during the transportation and placing of concrete; mortar droppings
during bricklaying; the application and subsequent smoothing of plaster; cutting bricks,
tiles, roof sheets and ceiling boards to fit; and off-cuts from standard purchased lengths
when cutting timber to design lengths. A certain unavoidable amount of breakage also
occurs during delivery and off-loading of bricks, although with bricks most commonly
being delivered in pallets, this problem has been reduced considerably.
The average thickness of plaster could be well in excess of the specified minimum 12
mm – as much as double that depending on how rough the bricklayers were, and how
unevenly shaped the bricks were. It would be prudent to work on a thickness of 25 mm.
To convert the measured square metres of plaster surface area to the amount of mortar
required in cubic metres, we would multiply the area by 0.025 rather than by 0.012.
The above would apply wherever material of a certain specified thickness is applied to
a potentially uneven base, such as floor screeds on concrete surface beds (allow 40 mm
thickness for a specified 22 mm to 25mm screed), and concrete against excavated or
backfilled earth. During the excavation of foundations in earth, so-called “overbreak”
(due to removal of loose stones and soft soil) and partial collapse of sides always occurs,
resulting in the need to pour an extra amount of concrete to fill the voids. In clean, stiff
soil (free of pebbles, roots and boulders), an allowance of around 2.5% should be enough,
but in stony soil, that allowance may have to be increased to 5% or even 10%.
The percentage to allow for waste on different types of materials depends on many
factors such as the quality of supervision and waste management in the organisation,
training and discipline of site personnel, methods of storage, transportation on site
and handling, and the nature of the works and the site. There will be more spillage
of concrete and mortar, for instance, during transportation by wheelbarrow on
steeper slopes than on flat ones.
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Consumables
Materials meant for permanent inclusion in the finished product are shown on the
drawings or are described in the specifications and bills of quantities.
Certain “materials” however, are classed as consumables, and are not shown on any
contract documents. The contractor still must estimate their quantities for inclusion
in the estimate or budget, and because they have to be purchased as well. Some
examples are:
• Sanding paper, thinners, brushes that are used up in painting operations
• Drill bits, angle grinder cutting discs and saw blades used up on the project
• Plastic spacers for wall and floor tiling
• Cleaning materials such as “Mortalift” used for cleaning mortar splashes off
face-brick work and tiling, cloth and detergents used for general cleaning of
the works
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Experience will teach what allowances to make for these – in the meantime speak to
painters, carpenters and others who do the work to get an idea.
Item
Unit
Sand and stone Truck loads of 5 m3, 5.5 m3, 6 m3 or 10 m3 for larger quantities, or by cubic metre for smaller quantities. (The
rate per m3 for smaller than standard tipper truck loads is quite high because of proportionately higher loading
and transport costs)
Cement 50 kg bags for smaller projects or projects done in phases. Tonnes for larger projects where the cement is
delivered to site and stored in bulk in metal silos. To convert divide the m3 of cement calculated by 0.033 to give
number of bags, and then divide by 20 to give tonnes (Remember 50 kg of cement is 33 litres or 0.033m3 by
volume)
Bricks In loads of multiples of 1 000 (usually 3 000, 5 000 or 10 000), or in multiples of standard pallet sizes for
smaller quantities (again more expensive)
DPC for walls Different widths (110 mm, 220 mm, 340 mm) in rolls of 40 m
DPC membrane for under floors, In 20 m rolls in widths of 1 m, 2 m, 3 m, 4 m and 6 m. (Remember allowing for side laps and jointing tape in 40
roofs m rolls)
Brick reinforcement In 20 m rolls or strips of 3 m length in widths of 75 mm and 150 mm (strips usually more expensive)
Pre-cast concrete lintels In standard lengths from 900 mm to 6.6 m in increments of 300 mm
Galvanised steel wire (for roof ties) In kg. Standard roll is 50 kg, but can be cut to exact quantity required. 3 mm Wire = approx. 16m/kg; 4 mm =
10m/kg
Fibre cement window cills In lengths corresponding to standard steel window sizes (for example, 533 mm, 1,022 mm, 1,511 mm)
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If windows are ordered from a specialist window manufacturer (recommended), the windows are delivered to
site without furniture (to avoid damage and theft), and “serviced” just before glazing commences when the sup-
plier comes out to site and fits and adjusts the furniture to the frames
Pressed steel door frames In number by size of door and width of frame (for half-brick or one-brick wall). Remember “hands”, “no-screed”
frames
Wooden door frames In number. Remember to order separately hinges, lock striking plates, anchoring lugs and wood primer for the
back
Ceiling boards Gypsum board in 6.4 mm thickness. Boards in 900 mm and 1,200 mm widths, and lengths from 1.8 m to 4.8m
in 300 mm increments. Fibre cement (for kitchens, bathrooms and outside) in 4 mm and 6 mm thickness. Joint-
ing strips and cornices in various lengths, but 3 m is most common
Glass for windows In number stating size of pane, thickness and type according to the window schedule. Remember SABS codes
that require safety glass in glass panel doors and window panes over a certain size
Ironmongery and finishing (door In number. Check what comes with screws, plugs for fixing
locks, toilet paper holders, towel
rails, curtain rails)
Ceramic wall and floor tiles Usually in boxes of 1 m2, 1.5 m2 or 2m2. Remember spacers, tile adhesive in 20 kg pockets (approx. 4m2/pocket
cover rate), tile grout in packets of 1,5 kg or 20 kg
Flooring Carpeting: Tiles of 500x500 mm in boxes of 2 m2 fixed with adhesive, or rolls 2.75 m wide fixed with tack strips
(usually on supply and fit basis by specialist sub-contractors)
Vinyl flooring: Tiles in boxes of 1 m2 or rolls 1 m wide. Remember adhesive, skirtings, stair nosings, edge strips.
Uneven floors need to be made level and smooth first with a self-levelling screed such as “Pavelite”
Plumbing and drainage There are a myriad fittings and bits and pieces to buy, and it is best to sit down with the plumber or the sales/
technical person at the specialist shop to work out quantities. Remember consumables such as hemp, thread
tape, putty, PVC glue, solder, river sand for bedding of sewer pipes, and holder bats for fixing pipes to walls
Electrical installation As plumbing above
External work Fencing (m), paving (m2), pre-cast walling (m), grassing (m2) usually done by supply-and-fit specialists, other-
wise same principles as above apply. Remember concrete for fence-post bases, bitumen paint for underground
portions of steel fence posts, and aluminium paint for above ground
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The latter approach usually requires big buying power and sharp negotiating skills to
be successful. There is also the risk of losing out on special offers and discounts on
selected products that come along from time to time, because one does not take the
time to shop around and keep an eye on the market. Regardless of the approach,
never accept the first price that comes along. Always shop around and negotiate
wherever possible. Remember off-the-shelf prices usually include a general cost
allowance for delivery within a certain radius. If you are collecting the materials
yourself, see if you can negotiate a further discount of around 2.5% to 5%.
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Many contractors make use of computer software packages that link the
generation of purchase orders to the original estimates. Such a programme
will not allow the generation of orders that exceed the estimated or budgeted
quantities and/or prices, unless approved by a senior person with the necessary
powers of authorisation.
The original is sent to the supplier (even if first faxed).
Copies depend on the organisation’s internal administration system, but should
at least include a copy to:
• file (admin office)
• send to the site (usually with prices blanked out because that is confidential
information)
• send to the contract quantity surveyor if not based at head office
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Requested by :
Print name Signature
Authorised by :
Print name Signature
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The off-loading process must be supervised, and the delivery note should only
be signed once this person is satisfied that no further damage occurred during
off-loading.
Signed delivery notes must be carefully looked after on site and sent to the office
for filing and further processing on a daily basis.
5. Before paying
For all materials supplied, the supplier must provide you with the following
paperwork:
• Written quotation (before ordering)
• Delivery note
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Date: Time:
The following items have been received in good condition and order:
Qty on order Qty supplied Description of items and remarks Under/over supply
Materials stored in yard/store room on site.
Materials stored at stand no. receipt of which is signed for by the owner
(By signing for the receipt of these materials the owner accepts the responsibility of safe guarding the materials
against theft or damage)
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Payment is made according to the statement, but before paying, the following
steps must be taken:
• Reconcile all invoices with original quote, and the written purchase orders,
to check that materials of the correct type and quantity, and at the right price
are being charged for as quoted and ordered
• Reconcile all invoices with delivery notes to ensure that the materials charged
have actually been delivered, and pick up any notes on damaged and returned
goods, and short deliveries. Check further delivery notes to see if the shortfalls
were rectified, and if not, adjust the invoices accordingly
• Reconcile the statement with the invoices in the batch, make adjustments
as necessary and check that all agreed settlement and other discounts have
been allowed
First 10 000:
16 Jan 10 000 Promised 17 Jan 17 Jan 6 000 4 000
17 Jan 4 000 Promised 18 Jan 19 Jan 4 000 0
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A total of 3 000 bricks are unaccounted for and the cause of this should be
investigated. A first rough check should be to look around the site to see if there
are unusually large piles of broken bricks and rubble lying around. If observation
and checking reveal no obvious signs of excessive breakage during off-loading, or
wastage on site, then you should keep a closer watch on delivered quantities through
periodic spot counts. Drivers (and transport sub-contractors) often run side operations
where some of the materials intended for your side end up being sold along the way.
Fortunately, reliable suppliers these days often keep track of the movements of their
delivery vehicles through tight control of driver logs or even satellite tracking.
• In the tables below, the actual quantity used is the total of the opening stock
and deliveries for the month minus the closing stock, and the shrinkage is the
difference between the actual quantity used, and the theoretical quantity that
should have been used as per the measurement (there is already some cement
on site when brickwork starts – left over from concrete work).
Month 1:
Monthly reconciliation of materials stocks: Date: 25 March
Quantity used per Deliveries Closing Actual quantity
Material Opening stock % Waste
measurement during month stock used
Plaster bricks
60 000 0 80 000 14 000 66 000 10%
(number)
Cement
360 200 200 20 380 5.5%
(number)
Building sand m3 42 0 60 15 45 7.1%
Month 2:
Monthly reconciliation of materials stocks: Date: 25 April
Quantity used per Deliveries Closing Actual quantity
Material Opening stock % Waste
measurement during month stock used
Plaster bricks 20 000 14 000 10 000 2 000 22 000 10%
Cement 120 20 200 90 130 8.3%
Building sand
14 15 18 18 15 7.1%
m3
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Month 3:
Monthly reconciliation of materials stocks: Date: 25 May
Quantity used per Deliveries Closing Actual
Material Opening stock % Waste
Measurement uring month stock quantity used
Plaster bricks 20 000 2 000 20 000 1 000 21 000 5%
Cement 120 90 200 160 130 8.3%
Building sand m3 14 18 0 3 15 7.1%
A running tally of the above would show the total cumulative usage and waste
figures at the end of each month, as well as upon completion of brickwork at the
end of Month 3, for example:
Management of labour
There are basically four types of labour on a construction site:
1. Permanently employed registered workers who receive a regular wage or salary,
and a range of benefits such as leave, medical aid, UIF registration, insurances,
bonuses and trade union membership
2. Contract workers who are employed for a specific period of time, or for the
duration of a contract
3. Task-based (“piece work”) workers who are employed to perform a certain piece of
work (for example, excavate the foundations for one house) for an agreed and set
amount of pay
4. “Casual” workers who are hired on a daily or weekly basis, and usually receive no
other benefits than their agreed daily wage. Casuals are recruited by putting up signs
advertising work at the site, or by driving to spots in the city where they are known
to congregate in the hope of getting picked up (usually near large building supply
stores in areas where a lot of new development and construction is taking place)
The issue of casual labour is a contentious one because exploitation and insecurity are
rife in the construction industry. This is due to the fluctuating demand for labour on
construction projects, and the fact that there are people desperate for employment.
If employing casual labour is unavoidable, it is up to the conscience of the individual
entity acting as employer of such labour to treat workers as fairly as possible
Not being an ongoing contracting business in the conventional sense, the entity will
work almost exclusively with sub-contractors and temporary construction teams,
and will have very few if any individual workers in its employ. It may wish, however,
to assist its sub-contractors in good labour management, through advice, training,
and setting contract conditions for the treatment of workers.
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If the entity has its own core team of workers doing basic jobs such as digging and
concreting foundations, it will need its own equipment, such as:
• Picks and shovels
• Wheelbarrows
• Straight-edges, hammers, levelling pegs and spirit levels (for levelling concrete)
• Pliers, screw-drivers, saws, and spanners and wrenches
• Trowels and floats
• A power drill and angle grinder
• Profiles and gauging rods, building lines
• A surveying tool such as a “dumpy level”
• A good quality water hose (say 20 mm x 30 m)
Some of the above can be sold off to workers or sub-contractors and/or used by
maintenance departments after completion of construction activities.
All tools and equipment owned by the entity must be listed on a register, and a stock
count held regularly (especially after completion of each contract). A separate daily
register of tools booked out and received back must be held for each site. The registers
must also note the condition of equipment when booked out, and when booked back
in again.
In addition, maintenance and servicing plans and schedules, and service logs, should
be kept for larger pieces of equipment and all tools and plant that are operated
mechanically.
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Date: Time:
The following items have been received by the sub-contractor, in good condition and working order, specifically on
loan for a limited time period. Ownership of these goods remains that of the entity:
Qty Description Condition Due return date
Any damage (excluding fair ware and tear) or non return of these goods will be for the account of the
contractor, who hereby agrees that the cost of repair/replacement will be deducted from any payment due to
him by the entity.
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Skilled workers and artisans such as bricklayers, plasterers, carpenters, tilers and
plumbers (including sub-contractors) should have their own personal tools. This will
ensure they will look after these expensive pieces of equipment.
Unless the entity is going to be building continuously for some time, it is usually
more cost-effective and less troublesome to hire larger items of plant as and when
needed, rather than to own them. However, if you are going to do a lot of building
it is practical to invest in items such as:
• A small concrete mixer that can be easily moved around on site, or between
sites on the back of a bakkie
• Hand-held pneumatic compactors (for example, a Wacker) or a small mechanical
roller or plate compactor (for example, a Bomag)
• A basic set of scaffolding frames and boards, and props
• A brick cutter
• Control sheet for issuing tools and equipment on loan to sub-contractors
Managing sub-contractors
General
When planning the execution of the works, a resource allocation is done in
conjunction with a complete list of activities or operations on the project. During
this process it is decided which work will be carried out by sub-contractors,
including planning of the requirements (numbers and skills levels, labour-only or
supply-and-fit).
Sub-contractors can be identified and invited to tender (or negotiate) through word
of mouth, newspaper advertising, billboards at the site, or through the appropriate
local community structures.
Unless you have checked their track record and references (including physical visits
to projects completed by them), try out new sub-contractors on a probation system.
Give them a small part of the work to start with, and monitor their performance and
capability from the start. They might struggle with small aspects of the work that can
easily be rectified on the spot with guidance and training from the site supervisor.
Sometimes the sub-contractors may show potential and willingness to learn, but will
require more guidance, training and/or mentoring. You will be able to see if they
have potential; if not, you will have to let them go.
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With more specialised types of work, it is more practical to allow the sub-contractor
to work out the types and quantities of materials required, and to provide it – this is
done by supply-and-fit sub-contractors. Many of these sub-contractors carry small
stocks of the most commonly used fittings, fasteners and consumables used in their
trade. The work in this category includes:
• Plumbing
• Electrical work
• Glazing
• Ceilings
• Fencing
• Paving
• Formwork
• Reinforcing steel
• Kitchen cupboards and built-in cupboards or wardrobes
• Curtain tracks
• Access control and security systems
• Lifts for multi-storey tower blocks
Depending on the entity’s technical expertise, its willingness to take on the supply
of more specialised materials, and the availability and skill of local labour-only sub-
contractors, most of the above could also be done on a labour-only basis. This places
a heavy burden of risk and co-ordination on the entity as contractor, and requires
a high level of capacity and skills (in-house and/or outsourced).
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Some of the issues that need decisions and management in labour-only sub-con-
tracting, are:
• Agreeing who provides what tools and equipment – it is customary for the sub-
contractor to provide the personal tools used by artisans such as trowels and
floats, spirit levels, building lines, hammers, chisels and bolsters, saws, tile cutters,
paint brushes and rollers
• Agreeing on how to deal with excessive waste, and damage in handling of
materials supplied by the main contractor – it is a good idea to agree on
reasonable figures for consumption and waste beforehand, and to make the
sub-contractor responsible for consumption and waste in excess of the agreed
figures
• Agreeing on how to deal with loss through theft – it is usual to insure against
this, but to make the sub-contractor responsible for any excesses payable on
materials lost while in their direct care
• Agreeing on how to deal with defective work. Sub-contractors must be held
liable for the cost of repairing defective work. The problem is that while they
may be able to re-do the work without extra compensation, they can often not
afford to replace materials that are wasted in the process, and some kind of
compromise is usually negotiated
An agreement can be made with labour-only sub-contractors (or for that matter, with
community-based labour teams that intend setting themselves up as sub-contractors),
where the entity purchases tools and equipment at the beginning of a project, and
then sells it to the workers on the basis that the cost is recovered through instalments
deducted from each progress payment to the worker/s, so that by the end of the
project they own the equipment.
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Schedule of tools/equipment:
Qty Description of tools/equipment Rand value
Schedule of payment:
Payment No Due date Amount
Any damage (excluding fair wear and tear) or non-return of these goods will be for the account of the contractor, who hereby
agrees that cost of repair/replacement will be deducted from any payment due to him by the entity.
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Quality control
Quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) is a “science” in its own right,
and many large manufacturing and construction companies have instituted
comprehensive Total Quality Management (TQM) systems in their enterprises.
Quality construction starts with correct design, detailing and specification; selecting
(and training, if needed) the right contractor or sub-contractors; followed by diligent
monitoring and supervision. The contractor should strive to establish, through a
combination of training, incentives and discipline, a “culture” of quality where
everyone is part of the QA team (as occurs in Japanese factories).
Maintaining quality on site is the responsibility of the contractor doing the work. The
following persons, institutions and legal and other guidelines assist in what should
be a total team effort to ensure acceptable quality:
• The professional team – project manager, architect, consulting engineers
• Inspectors from the Provincial Housing Department, local municipality, the
NHBRC and financial institutions
• The clerk of works (c.o.w.) and/or resident engineer (RE) if one is employed
• The National Building Regulations (NBR) authority
• Guidelines, standards and codes of practice laid down by the SABS and the
NHBRC
• Agrément and MANTAG certification of non-conventional building products and
systems by Agrément SA
For the entity acting as part-time contractor, quality on site can be promoted by
following a set of simple steps, including:
1. Proper selection, handling and storage of materials on site to avoid damage to
components and articles, spoiling of cement and timber products by water, and
contamination of aggregates
2. Calling for samples of materials from suppliers and inspecting them for quality
before ordering
3. Regular testing of compaction of filling, and concrete crushing strength, by
making and submitting concrete test cubes to the nearest laboratories
4. Getting bricklayers and plasterers to build samples of work to set an agreed and
acceptable standard before the main work starts
In addition, site supervisors must observe the following precautions during the
execution of the work:
• Compaction of filling under floors
Common practice when excavating trenches is to dump the excavated material on
the inside of the future room, and roughly level and compact the total depth in one
operation once the foundation walls are built up to surface bed level. This means
only the top portion is properly consolidated, and subsidence and cracking of floors
can occur later. The proper method is to place the filling in layers not exceeding 150
mm to 200mm thick, dampening and compacting each layer thoroughly before the
next layer is placed.
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• Remember to allow mortar in foundation brickwork to set for at least three days
before using mechanical compactors, as the vibrations may crack the joints and
loosen bricks.
• Proper curing of concrete and plastering
Large exposed concrete surfaces such as surface beds and slabs must be cured for
at least seven days after placing to avoid cracking, by wetting with a fine spray or
covering with plastic sheeting or wet sacking as soon as the concrete has set (within
one to two hours), and then keeping it covered or wetting with a hose three or four
times a day. Special care must be taken on very hot and very dry, windy days.
Plastering of walls should be done when the building has been roofed, but even
then, plastering should be cured by dampening with a fine spray, as for concrete.
• Proper surface preparations to receive subsequent work
Excavated surfaces of foundation trenches and filling under floors must be
compacted and dampened before concrete is placed against it to avoid rapid
absorption of water from, and subsequent loss of strength of the concrete.
Brick and concrete surfaces must be thoroughly clean, dry and free of loose bits
or dust before applying plastering or screeds. Smooth concrete surfaces must
be roughened by chipping (and then cleaning again), or by applying a cement
slurry coat or patent plaster key before plastering. Give brickwork, and especially
concrete, some time before plastering, to allow for the structure to complete its
drying shrinkage and settlement processes.
Surfaces to be painted or waterproofed must be cleaned and prepared according
to manufacturers’ instructions before painting, and the correct paint systems used
(bonding liquid, knotting, primer, undercoats and finishing coats). Do not paint
concrete or plastered surfaces too soon after they have been put in place.
• Instal lintels over windows and openings correctly
Lintels on their own, or with only a few courses of brick or block work over
them, do not function properly as “beams”, and will sag. There should be at
least five or six courses of brickwork (preferably reinforced with “brickforce”)
over lintels to bond with the lintel into a deep beam. Lintels must have adequate
bearing surfaces supporting them on either side of the opening. When a lintel is
placed over an opening, give it positive camber (slight upward bending) with a
temporary support in the centre. When the brick work over the lintel has dried
and settled after a few days, the support can be removed and the lintel will sag
slightly as it takes the full load, and end up straight rather than slightly sagging.
• Mixing and using concrete and mortar on site
• Use clean and well-graded aggregates
• Use clean water
• Do not be tempted to add too much water to get better workability
• Use “fresh” cement (discard if older than six weeks, or if showing signs of
moisture or hardening in the pockets)
• Use mixed concrete or mortar before setting is complete (within two hours
of mixing, sooner on dry, hot or windy days)
• Do not re-use mortar or concrete that has lost its plasticity by mixing in
water again
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Inspections
As the work proceeds, regular inspections are held by various parties. There are
basically three types of inspections:
1. Internal inspections by the main contractor to check on sub-contractors’ work
2. Inspections by the professional team employed on the contract
3. Inspections by third parties who have an interest, for example, the provincial
and local governments, municipality and financial institutions
These internal inspections are done before the inspections by external parties such
as the engineer or municipal inspectors.
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Sub-contractor/team no.:
The setting out of unit and foundation on the site, according to the site plan, was inspected
on (date) by (name), and was found to be:
Set out incorrectly to the site plan, and the site instruction number
has been issued to the sub-contractor t ocorrect the error
Set out in a manner that is not squre and true, and the site instruction number
has been issued to the sub-contractor t ocorrect the error
Set out incorrectly to the site plan, however due to the following reasons,
Important remarks
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The quantity surveyor should also be called to measure up on site the actual
quantities of provisionally measured work such as foundation depths, and plumbing
and drainage before the work is covered up.
It is usual to call out the inspector the day before an inspection is due, either by
telephone, or by placing an inspection request slip in a designated box at the
municipal building office.
If there is an engineer working on the project, many municipalities will forego some
of the inspections above, and rely on his professional responsibility of ensuring the
building complies with safety requirements.
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In addition, where a project is registered with the National Home Builders Registration
Council (NHBRC), that organisation will also send out inspectors at regular intervals
to monitor the quality and correctness of work.
Anyone acting as a building contractor should obtain and study a copy of OHSA and its
regulations. The Act lays down guidelines and prescriptions for, among other things:
• Direct duties owed by employers to workers such as:
• Training
• Taking adequate precautionary measures to prevent accidents and to promote
safety
• Co-operative duties, such as:
• Worker representation with regard to health and safety matters – written
appointment of a democratically elected safety representative where more
than 20 persons are employed, and committees where more than one
representative is appointed
• Employer/employee co-operation and self-regulation
• Obligation of the employer to comply with procedures that form part of
independent policing function of the Department of Labour
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• Ensure temporary support works, such as scaffolding and props, are secure and
not overloaded. Scaffolding next to multi-storey structures must be securely tied
back to the permanent structure
• Storage and handling of toxic and hazardous substances – providing training in
how to handle them, and providing responsible supervision
• Placement of signage to alert all to possible danger, hazardous substances etc.
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Security
Site security is an important aspect of risk management on building sites. Security
is required to prevent theft and vandalism, and to keep unauthorised persons off
the site. It can be quite a costly item, and measures must be constantly monitored
for both functional effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. The
usual measures are a combination of the following (minimum
requirements are highlighted in bold):
Contract administration
The process
After the signing of the building contract, the contractor takes possession of the
site for the duration of the contract. This is done formally through a site hand-over
meeting. At this meeting times and agendas for future meetings are usually agreed
on, boundary pegs and datum level benchmarks are pointed out to the contractor
(after which he takes responsibility for their maintenance and protection), and
samples of brickwork, etc. are asked for to set acceptable standards.
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In some cases, the role of the professional team is limited to design only, and per-
haps limited supervision. In such cases, the entity acting as main contractor will take
on much of the contract administration. Most of the guidelines and prescriptions
referring to the architect below will apply to the contractor, and references to the
contractor will apply mainly to sub-contractors working for the entity. In summary,
the following aspects are managed:
• Site hand-over to contractor
• Regular progress and other project meetings
• Regular monitoring of:
• Quality
• Progress
• Contractor’s resources on site (personnel and plant)
• Daily activities and incidents (site diary kept by contractor)
• Record of rainfall and bad weather conditions
• Management of:
• Instructions (especially site instructions vs. variations)
• Contractor’s claims (extras and delays)
• Interim, Practical, Works and Final Completion procedures (inspections, hand-
overs, a defects list, etc.)
• Documentation management
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Project close-out
Apart from the contract procedures above, the following should happen at the end
of a building project:
• The contractor and/or architect obtains certificates of electrical compliance
and occupation, respectively, from the municipality and hands them to the
employer
• The design consultants prepare and hand to the employer “as built” drawings
for future use in maintenance, etc.
• All material and component warranties and guarantees obtained from suppliers
and sub-contractors by the main contractor are ceded and handed to the
employer
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The purpose of this period is to “test” the facilities and services under operational
conditions and to afford the client and consultants the opportunity to detect further
patent or visual deficiencies. Any deficiencies in supplied equipment, systems,
services, materials, workmanship, etc. (in terms of the contractual prescriptions and
specifications) which become apparent during this period must be repaired/replaced
by the contractor(s) at the contractor’s cost. Critical systems must be repaired as
break-downs occur, to ensure smooth continuous operations by the client. Non-
critical items are noted for repair/replacement at the end of this period.
It is important that all visual or reasonably detectable items (by an averagely qualified
person in that field) are identified during this period. Contractor(s) are, after this period,
only responsible for latent (hidden) defects, i.e. defects which could not be detected
by a reasonable inspection by a reasonable person at the time. This responsibility is
extended to a period of five years after final completion by contracts such as the JBCC,
and NHBRC enrolment.
Clients should be made aware that damage they cause during this period (for example,
when moving in furniture or equipment or operations) does not qualify for free repair
by the contractors.
Conclusion
The above is only a brief summary of the activities during the execution/construction
phase of a project. The key factors for project success remain leadership, co-operation
and trust between persons and parties. Without these, no project will be completed
successfully, even when the most sophisticated techniques are used.
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Cost budgeting
Cost budgeting involves allocating the overall cost estimates to individual work
items, in order to establish a cost baseline for measuring project cost performance.
Cost budgeting usually includes cash-flow projections to enable the planning and
monitoring of expenditures over time.
Cost control
Cost control is concerned with (a) influencing the factors that create changes to the cost
baseline to ensure that changes are beneficial, (b) determining that the cost baseline
reflects changes, and (c) managing the actual changes when and as they occur.
Cost control includes searching out the reasons for both positive and negative
variances. It must be thoroughly integrated with the other control processes (schedule
control, quality control, etc.). For example, inappropriate responses to cost variances
can cause quality or schedule problems, or produce an unacceptable level of risk
later in the project.
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The initial contract price of a building project is hardly ever the final cost to the
employer. All building contracts are based on the principle that if the execution of
the contract involves the contractor incurring additional costs or expenses which
could not reasonably have been foreseen at the time of tender, he/she must be
compensated fairly for such additional costs or expenses.
The initial tender or contract price is based on the pricing of quantities of work taken
off the drawings by the contractor himself in the case of a lump sum, or without
quantities, type of contract; and by the client or his quantity surveyor in the case of
a quantities-type contract. These quantities form part of a tender document which,
in the latter case, would be a bill of quantities.
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A building contract price (based on accepted tender) may change during the course of
the contract due to any of the following:
• Re-measurement on site of provisionally measured quantities
• Changes in design and/or specification (“variation orders” or VOs)
• Adjustment of provisional sums and prime cost amounts (“PC amounts”) when more
accurate information (for example, tender prices) become available
• Delays and extensions of time, due to change in scope of work, lack of information,
etc.
• Omission of allowances for contingencies
• Inflationary or negotiated fluctuations in the cost of labour, materials, etc. (“Contract
Price Adjustments”)
Important criteria for determining who is liable for and must absorb cost changes:
• The type of contract (“With Quantities” or “Without Quantities”/Lump sum)
determines who will accept responsibility for the accuracy of quantities used to
determine the tender price.
• Whose responsibility was it, in terms of the contract and good common practice, to
avoid the circumstances that gave rise to the additional costs and expenses?
The final account is a document, usually prepared by the quantity surveyor, which sets
out in detail, and then summarises, all legitimate and accepted changes to the original
contract price during the course of the contract. The final statement is a summary of
all the calculations involved in preparing the final account, which reflects all the cost
changes that occurred on a building project.
The amount required varies according to the nature of the project, sub-contract payment
terms, credit facilities with suppliers, arrangements with funders for release of funds
(and their administrative ability to stick to those arrangements), and internal ability
to manage cash flow. Experience shows, however, that a minimum of 10% to 20% of
turnover (contract value) is usually needed as an overall reserve in the form of cash
and/or overdraft facility.
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If there is no “mark-up” on costs, meaning that, in theory, income is always exactly equal
to expenditure. This leaves no buffer for covering errors in estimating or measuring for
payment, or for shortfalls created when funders hold back retention monies.
Cash-flow forecasting
In order to prepare for temporary shortfalls between income and expenditure, and to
have adequate cash and/or overdraft facilities in place to bridge those shortfalls, the
entity must draw up cash-flow forecasts or projections as accurately as possible. This
is usually done by allocating monetary values for expenditures (from cost estimates)
to activities reflected on the building programme. Income is forecast in accordance
with agreed payment milestones, or valuation methods, allowing for the time it takes
to process payment applications.
In the case of the entity building with mark-ups on cost, or agreed contract fees,
expenditure flows will be forecast by linking cost estimates to building programmes,
but projections of income flows will be based on the “selling rates” for completed
work. Hopefully, estimating, pricing and on-site cost control will have been done in
such a way that project income at any given time of measurement for payment will
exceed the expenditure incurred. The problem of discrepancy between the date
income is realised, and the dates on which expenditures are due remain, however,
and bridging finance and/or cash reserves may still be needed.
For private contractors, the usual source of such bridging finance is a combination of
cash reserves (savings) and bank overdraft. Private contractors also tend to minimise
the requirement for cash by trying to negotiate extended payment periods for
materials bought on credit, and by “juggling” payments to larger sub-contractors.
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Some commercial banks also have divisions that deal with small and emerging
contractors, and are able to provide special working finance packages.
The best ways to go about identifying and selecting the most appropriate option(s)
are to:
1. Contact all the above organisations and obtain information on the products they
offer, and the criteria for qualification
2. Get an accountant to help you assess your working-capital needs in conjunction
with estimators and contracts managers, and to prepare applications
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c
Co-operative community-based
construction
Reasons for community involvement in
development projects
The rationale for community involvement in projects that directly or indirectly affect the
lives and living environments of those in the community usually includes factors such as:
• “Buy-in” through participation
• More effective need-satisfaction/more choice
• Empowerment/autonomy
• Capacity building
• Local income generation
Participation should ideally take place at all levels of project planning and
implementation, especially with regard to issues such as site selection, layout
planning/urban design, unit design and specifications for housing, participation in
construction activities, etc.
In community-based projects, members of the community can also become involved in:
• The operation of stores and facilities
• The support provided to local contractors by involvement in administration,
monitoring of progress, etc.
• The transport of materials to local labour-only contractors
• The manufacture of certain materials
• The supply of minor materials
• The security of the site
Contractor development within a community will not take place without professional
support and the acquisition of external resources. The “development team” approach
can provide emerging contractors with the support that they require and, at the
same time, allow the community to retain ownership of the project and afford its
members opportunities for employment.
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Although it is wiser to keep to standard forms, there are some instances where
purpose-made contracts may work better, especially where labour-only contractors,
or community-based construction teams are being managed by the employer without
a main contractor.
Levels of contract
As construction develops, the role of the construction manager and materials manager
diminishes and the nature of the support that is required changes. To accommodate
developing contractors within a community at any stage of development or level
competence, different levels of contract with increasing responsibility being placed
on the contractor is required.
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The range of contracts is very wide, and only one example of a contract designed to
cater for various stages of contractor development or “sophistication” is discussed.
The main features of this contract are as follows:
• It is specifically designed to “… foster local contractor development and promote
overall social, technical and developmental community goals such as local
employment creation, fair labour practice, and capacity building within the
community institutions”
• It provides for five stages of contractor development from labour-only, to limited
plant and materials supply, to fully-fledged main contractor. The tenderer indicates
his/her level of development and this is checked through a skills and capacity
assessment. This means the contract can be broken up into many parts allocated
to different contractors. This broadens the scope for local participation, but also
increases the risk and the management input from agents and consultants
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• It spells out, in clear detail, the responsibilities of the contractor and employer
respectively for each stage of contractor development
• It guarantees retention penalties for late completion, and insurances are treated
in accordance with level of contractor development and ability to provide
• Offer and acceptance are contained in one complete document
• It contains comprehensive guidelines and instructions on how to use the
document
• It contains a description of the works and guidelines to the contractor on how
to carry out the works
• It contains a simple milestone-based payment system graphically explained to
contractor
• It makes provision for employment of a principal agent and other consultants
It is a complex document that requires that contractors are assisted by the employer
and/or his agents to interpret and complete it before the tender stage. However, it
has been used with success.
The above is, however, unavoidable based on the types of situation the contract is
intended to be used in.
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t
Training
Training objectives
The main objective of training is to equip existing and aspiring small contractors
and/or sub-contractors with the practical know-how and skills needed to develop
their endeavours into profitable enterprises as quickly and effectively as possible,
while maintaining a high level of quality and professionalism, by:
• Familiarising participants with sound construction principles and methods
• Enabling them to plan, organise, lead and control construction site activity
• Enabling the conversion of information contained on drawings and in
specifications into a format for pricing and ordering of materials
• Training participants in the skills of obtaining access to credit and finance
• Explaining contract administration systems and procedures by means of a
practical manual
• Developing capabilities for the efficient and sustainable management of their
own concerns
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Pre-construction training
Before moving on to site, training should take place on basic aspects of good
construction practice – site organisation and work planning, resource analysis and
allocation, care and maintenance of tools and equipment, health and safety on
site, controlling waste, simple programming and monitoring of progress, and quality
assurance.
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t
The experiences of some entities
acting as “main contractors”
There have been many cases of small-scale home building through community-based
or mutual self-help initiatives in both rural and urban areas of South Africa. In some,
unaided collective effort saw the initiatives through, while in others, NGOs such as
affiliates of the Urban Sector Network, Habitat for Humanity; and organisations such
as The South African Homeless People’s Federation and its allies People’s Dialogue
and Utshani Fund played a role in setting up home-building co-operatives, and
assisting with funding, planning and implementation of construction activities. Many
of these experiences have been documented, and organisations can be contacted
through their websites to learn more about their activities and experiences.
A few cases have been selected in which the actual construction process was
executed in a formal manner and the process was reasonably well documented
or observed.
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w
Wattville/Tamboville – low- to medium-
density housing and community
facilities projects
In the early 1990s, a local civic organisation, the Wattville Concerned Residents
Committee (WCRC), with financial, organisational and technical support from
NGOs Planact (South Africa) and CRIAA (France), and the Dutch Social Housing
Movement, embarked on a construction programme for the development of housing
and community facilities in Wattville Township near Benoni, Ekurhuleni. The WCRC
carried out the construction works under the designation of the Wattville Housing
Association (WHA).
The project did, nevertheless, provide valuable experience in how to plan and
execute construction projects in co-operative style, especially with regard to:
• Setting up the appropriate structures and procedures
• Bringing together widely divergent expectations, and focusing all the parties on
the mutual co-operative effort
• Marrying community development objectives with practical and efficient
construction practice
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Construction was carried out with community-based construction teams and local
sub-contractors, and was organised as follows:
• Actual construction work by teams of eight people, with members drawn from the
local community (including beneficiaries), and led by a local person with certain
recognised skills such as bricklaying. Initially each team was given “contracts”
of four houses at a time, allowing them eight weeks to complete each set of
four houses. Local sub-contractors were employed for glazing, plumbing and
electrical work. Giving a team more than one house at a time gave them valuable
experience in planning, programming and resource (time) management
• The “client”, WHA, provided materials, and initially all plant and tools. Some
tools and equipment were purchased from the WHA by the teams and individuals
and paid off during the course of the contracts
• Initially, for the day-to-day management and supervision of the teams, a local person
with some business and contracting experience was employed on a contract basis
“without risk”. He was also assigned the daily administration of materials and tools
management. Later on, he set himself up as a managing contractor, and assumed
full risk for managing the teams and sub-contractors, materials and equipment
• Overall construction management, training and mentoring was provided by a
professional Construction Management Agent (CMA) employed by the WHA,
as were town planning, architectural and engineering services
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Training before and during construction was provided mainly by the CMA in the
form of short workshops lasting from half a day to five days, and encompassed basic
contract administration and site management. On-site mentoring was continuously
provided by the CMA and the supervisor, who later became a managing contractor
for the teams and sub-contractors. Teams and sub-contractors signed formal contracts
with the WHA. Contracts were workshopped and agreed with teams beforehand,
and spelt out clearly in understandable language. They contained the following:
• Roles and responsibilities of parties, particularly regarding what was to be
provided by the client (materials, plant and constructional aids such as scaffolding,
temporary services and facilities), and the teams (labour, self-organisation under
supervision of site supervisor/managing contractor, responsibility for looking after
materials and equipment) respectively.
• Agreed and fixed contract amounts per four-house contract (for example, R3
000 per house for providing all labour - skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled - for
the construction of foundations, floor, walls, roofs, and the hanging of doors)
• Payment milestones
• Penalties for late completion
• Agreed rates of pay for team members
• Dispute-resolution procedures
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The fixed agreed contract amounts, as well as allowances for wastage on materials
and wear and tear on tools and equipment were arrived at by negotiating a fair
balance between widely accepted industry norms and pay levels, and the actual
experiences of teams in building the materials depot. It was made clear to teams that
the budget for each house was fixed, and that no additional funds were available
to pay for cost over-runs. (The total cost per house, including serviced stand, was
around R35 000, including about R22 000 for a 42 m2 house with full bathroom
and electricity).
Penalties for late completion were included as a form of discipline, and were diligently
applied even though it took some tough negotiation to get them accepted when a
few teams defaulted early on, and felt the consequences in their pay packets. As a
result, the responsibility for proper programming, planning and monitoring of tasks
and outputs was quickly understood and absorbed by the teams, and there were
few problems in this regard in subsequent contracts.
The negotiations themselves, where teams had to substantiate reasons for being
granted time extensions, were a useful learning experience. Penalty amounts were
carefully set (at around 1% of contract value per day) to make the teams treat
them with respect, while at the same not causing unreasonable hardship for small
infringements among the team members.
Because of the spread-out nature of the site, and the lack of motorised on-site
transportation for materials, it was not practical to have centralised stockpiles and
sheds for the storage of materials. Bulk materials (building blocks and aggregates)
were delivered to stockpiles central to each group of four houses in a contract, and
other materials were delivered to each individual house.
This presented a security challenge. This, and other problems such as excessive waste,
was solved by getting the intended beneficiaries to inhabit their properties in shacks
before the start of construction. Beneficiaries were then assigned responsibility for
such materials. They kept the materials with them and a well-managed system of
issue-and-receipt was maintained between them and the construction teams, which
often included a member of the beneficiary household anyway. (Some beneficiaries
even took large items such as window frames into the shacks with them and slept
on top of them.)
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Foundation
Filling
Foundation
Stage 3
Stage 4 House complete House Complete R3 600
4th payment 1. Bagging outside walls Roof (R900 per house)
Wall plate
Rooftiles Less 10%
2. Plastering inside walls Retention =
3. Painting all walls R3 240
Windows Door frames Walls
4. Hanging doors (R810 per house)
Walls Glass plastered &
5. Painting doors and win- painted
dows Door
Foundation Floor slab Foundation
6. Cleaning house and site Walls Wall
Foundation
Filling
Foundation
Stage 4
Final Retention work done R1 200
payment 1. All work on final completion Home-owner (R300 per house)
list done to satisfaction of
WHA and the homeowner.
(Final completion certificate
and “happy letter” signed)
Wattville Housing Association
Construction Team Certificate
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Contract Details:
Certificate Details:
VALUATION:
Stand no. Completed stage Previous This stage Total due to date
this valuation cumulative value
value
12 3 R 1 300 R 800 R 2 100
13 3 R 1 300 R 800 R 2 100
14 2 R 700 R 600 R 1 300
15 1 R - R 700 R 700
Total R 3 300 R 2 900 R 6 200
CERTIFICATE:
Total certified to date R 6 200.00
R 120.00
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I, the undersigned Petrus Radebe request the Wattville Housing Association (WHA) to purchase, on my
behalf, the following equipment under the conditions set out below:
Description Cost
One pair of steel trestles R 360.00
4 Scaffold planks: 50 x 228 mm x 3 m long R 120.00
TOTAL R 480.00
CONDITIONS
1. REPAYMENT
I undertake to repay the WHA the total amount as reflected above in the following manner:
1.3 Deduct R___________ from each of my stage payments and R___________ from my retention or,
2. RESPONSIBILITIES
2.1 I undertake to be responsible for the above-mentioned equipment from date of delivery.
2.2 I will keep the equipment in good condition and use it for the purpose and in the way it is intended to be used.
2.3 I accept that I am responsible for the security and safe-keeping of the equipment at all times.
2.4 I accept responsibility for any damage, loss or breakage, except where a manufacturing defect can be shown.
3. OWNERSHIP
3.1 The equipment and/or material remains the property of the WHA until all outstanding payments relating to
said equipment and/or material has been paid.
3.2 Once all moneys owing on the equipment and/or materials have been received by the WHA, then
ownership of the said equipment passes to: Petrus Radebe
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The community centre and resource centre were built using the same approach as
for the housing component. The crèche was a bigger undertaking, and also received
funding from the provincial government as a pilot of its Community Based Public
Works Programme, meaning that empowerment and local economic development
objectives were formalised in the funding agreement. The stated objective was to
provide employment for women and youth from the community, and provide them
with formally accredited training.
For the crèche a labour resource plan was compiled jointly by the civic, its technical
advisors and the CMA. This indicated total number of workers required, as well as
the minimum with critical skills to form the core of the team. The civic carried out
a formal skills audit and recruitment programme in the community, and a team of
around 30 was set up for the construction work. Funding was obtained from the
Department of Manpower to have all team members undergo formal accredited
training in various trades such as bricklaying and plastering (9 weeks full-time in
training centre, followed by 9 weeks working an “apprenticeship” on site under
periodic supervision of the trainers).
The workforce was again divided up into teams, but this time by trade i.e. bricklaying
team, plastering team, and so on. A local person with business and contracting
experience was once again appointed as managing contractor, and employed the
teams “with risk”. During the course of the construction some of the teams established
themselves as sub-contractors, and some even left for more lucrative sub-contracting
to mainstream builders elsewhere.
Créche
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Lessons learnt:
• It is important to work closely with legitimate and representative CBOs
when conducting skills audits, and setting criteria for, and recruiting
people for, employment on the construction teams. At the same time
though, be aware of personal agendas and avoid nepotism
• In training, teams must not simply be shown what to do, without further
explanation of why things are done in a particular way. Maintaining
progress and quality becomes much easier when construction teams
understand the underlying motivations, and the consequences of
non-compliance
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m
Masisizane Women’s Housing
Co-operative, Midrand, Gauteng
Introduction
The co-operative was established in 1999 (and later registered under the Co-
operatives Act) by a group of women in Ivory Park Township who lost their shacks
in a flash flood, and decided they could not wait for government to provide them
with houses. They founded a savings club, and in the first five years, provided over
100 self-built houses for members without the aid of government subsidy or other
assistance, adding rooms to the houses each time it was the respective member’s
turn to receive the collective savings.
With help from Rooftops Canada, the co-operative later re-structured to use their
acquired skills and experience to provide services to the local Housing Support
Centre, which they helped to establish. They are now recognised by the Gauteng
Provincial Government as a Housing Support Organisation. The co-operative
has become more of a Worker Co-operative, with the emphasis on providing
employment through housing construction and related activities. It is also using its
experience to transfer skills to other organisations, and render services to projects
that are still establishing themselves.
Mazisisane now builds more than 40 houses per month for beneficiaries, making
use of the consolidation subsidy under the People’s Housing Process (PHP), and has
provided employment for more than 100 people from the community. The subsidy
is used to pay direct labour, contractors, sub-contractors and materials suppliers.
A once-off Facilitation Grant from Provincial Government was used to establish
the Housing Support Centre (HSC), fund the business plan, and train a Steering
Committee and beneficiaries; while operational costs are funded by a provincial
Establishment Grant. At current levels of overheads and consulting fees, at least 300
dwellings per year must be built for the HSC to be viable.
Construction methods used are simple and quick to learn, and certain materials such
as bricks are manufactured locally by a brick-making co-operative.
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Labour and sub-contractors are recruited by means of advertising and word of mouth,
and appointed on a trial-and-error basis. Teams sign contracts for fixed prices and
contract periods, but no penalties for late completion are levied. There is no UIF
registration or Workmen’s Compensation insurance, and the legalities, liabilities and
risks around these needs to be investigated.
Materials
Materials are ordered by the HSO, but are issued directly to the beneficiary for his
ownership, and at his risk. Lost materials have to be replaced by the beneficiary. Some
suppliers will not deliver to the individual sites in the township. In such cases, materials
are delivered to the HSC, and the beneficiary must collect them from there. If materials
are lost while on the HSC premises, the cost of replacement is deducted from HSC staff
wages and salaries. Due to costs, and practical issues of insurability, there is no insurance
in place to cover loss or damage of materials. This may pose too big a risk if volumes grow
large, and needs to be taken up with authorities at provincial and/or national level.
It is not clear if reasonable allowances for wastage are agreed upon upfront, and
there is no sign of usage and wastage being formally managed through, for instance,
keeping materials reconciliation records.
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Execution
There are no formal work plans, overall programmes, or daily schedules. Each team
is given its stand numbers, a fixed price and a time within which to complete the
project. Payment is made per completed house.
There is no system in place for written instructions to teams, and all instructions are
verbal. This needs to be rectified.
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Lessons learnt:
• Collective initiatives like Masisizane are good at mobilising membership
and savings, but substantial additional funding and support are needed
to put infrastructure and systems in place for running large-scale
building operations effectively
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g
General Motors SA foundation
– medium-density housing in the
Eastern Cape
Missionvale Community Housing Initiative
and Sakhasonke Village, Port Elizabeth
As in the case of Wattville/Tamboville, these projects were not undertaken as
formal co-operatives, but the delivery approach was strongly based on community
involvement, mobilisation, and collective self-help. Housing subsidies were pooled
to direct spending towards maximum effect.
The projects aimed to use the housing-delivery process as a vehicle for broader
social reconstruction and upliftment through a more integrated, process-driven
and beneficiary-centred approach. Skills audits were conducted in the community,
and members chosen for the construction teams were sent on accredited building
construction courses prior to construction. In Missionvale, the houses were built by
15 working teams consisting of 12 people each. Design was kept simple to facilitate
construction by newly skilled and inexperienced builders.
Costs were saved, and a new housing form for low-income housing was introduced,
by increasing density through smaller plot sizes, semi-detached, row, quad, and
double-storey houses, and shared-service connections.
Lessons learnt:
• Once-off training has limited impact. Refresher courses are
necessary
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b
Badiri House, Hillbrow (high-rise
inner city refurbishment)
The Badiri Housing Association (BHA) was set up by the Hospitality Industry Pension
and Provident Fund (HIPPF) to provide housing for low-income workers belonging
to the fund. Its first project was the purchase and conversion of the former Hotel
Quirinale in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, into 126 family units. The existing building was
some 12 storeys high with a small basement. The building footprint at ground floor
covered the whole of the site right up to the pavement on three sides, with a narrow
alley at the back for deliveries to the basement.
This meant that the contractor had to place his site establishment in the building – partly
in the basement, and partly in a ground floor court yard. The access alley was too
narrow for larger delivery trucks, and bulk materials such as bricks had to be moved
directly from the truck into the building by hand and wheelbarrow.
Initially, an emerging contractor was appointed as main contractor for the work. After
experiencing some difficulties with the emerging contractor (mainly around cash flow
and underestimation), an established refurbishing firm was appointed to provide
logistical, technical and managerial support to the emerging contractor. This did not
work out either, as the managing contractor had no real interest in the job, and because
his contract absolved him from most of the construction performance risk.
In the end, the managing contractor’s services were terminated, and the emerging
contractor was disbanded as a business and became a contract employee, assisting with
supervision of a construction team that was organised along co-operative principles
to complete the work. The employer bought all materials and financed the working
capital requirements. A consultant provided professional construction management.
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Lessons learnt:
• When working in a large multi-storey building with many rooms into
which workers can “disappear”, it is important to have a schedule or
matrix based on the layout of the building that shows clearly who has
been assigned to do what work in which unit(s). Actual performance
must be noted against this matrix daily. This requires well-trained
supervisors, and efficient monitoring and reporting systems and
procedures
• Removal of rubble and waste from this kind of building can be time-
consuming and uneconomical if left to workers, as they will constantly
interrupt their own activities to carry a bucket or push a barrow all
the way outside. It is better to have a small and dedicated rubble
removal team roaming those parts of the building where work is taking
place, on a rotating basis and according to a clear plan. Teams doing
the work simply place rubble on a pile next to their work area for
collection and disposal by the cleaning team, so that work can carry
on uninterrupted. If possible, vertical chutes should be installed for
quick disposal of rubble to the ground rather than carrying out by
bucket or barrow
• Work should start from the top floor down so the upper floors can
be finished and locked, preventing damage caused by workers,
materials and equipment moving past finished floors. This also has
a positive psychological influence on the workforce: distances of
moving themselves and materials and equipment around become
shorter as the project progresses, and when everyone is getting tired
and impatient to finish
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