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2) drawings;
3) specification;
4. Other judgements
They also have to provide timing for preliminary works, e.g.
construction plant, and mobilization (Peurifoy and Ledbetter, 1985).
This often includes time for remedial works and site clearing after
completing the construction.
Gantt chart simply represents the activity and its duration by a bar. It is
sometimes called Bar chart. Gantt or bar chart can include a great deal of
anticipated and actual information for; 1) cashflow; 2) manpower and/or
manpower by trade; and 3) productivity (Barrie and Paulson, 1992;
Callahan et al., 1992).
In CPM scheduling, a construction project is sub-divided into several
activities. An activity is a single work step that has a recognizable
beginning and finishing or ending (Callahan et al., 1992). In other words,
the activity is a time-consuming task. The basis of CPM is network
diagram, i.e. which needs nodes and arrows. It deals with four aspects:
1) activities identification; 2) logical sequence,; 3) network construction;
and 4) allocation of resources (Barrie and Paulson, 1992). Callahan et
al. (1992) divided the development of CPM schedule into six phases:
1) understanding the project;
4) computerization;
5) refinement; and
6) reproduction.
1. Size of project
Size of the project can be represented in terms of functional or floor
area, i.e. in ft2, or m2. The larger the building size, the more
complex the construction, thus needing longer duration to complete
(Sadashiv, 1979; Ireland, 1985; Ashworth, 1988; Pilcher, 1992;
Nkado, 1992).
2. Function
Function implies type of building and required engineering systems,
e.g. plumbing, fire fighting, and lighting (Ashworth, 1988; Pilcher,
1992). It is an important facet in designing of construction project
(Ashwoth, 1988). Function of a building implies business target that
the building serves. It can be considered as qualitative variables,
e.g. office, retail, and other buildings (Nkado, 1992).
3. Height
Height of building, represented by number of floors (or storeys)
affects the construction duration (Sadashiv, 1979; Ireland, 1985).
The height of building indicates construction technique, major
equipment used, and construction sequence (Sadashiv, 1979;
Callahan et al., 1992).
4. Complexity
Complexity implies unfamiliarity with work (Pilcher, 1992). The
complexity of building impacts the form of construction, i.e. building
frame, foundation, and systems (Ireland, 1985; Ashworth, 1988).
Complexity can be represented in form of construction equipment,
method and sequence (Sadashiv, 1979; Callahan et al., 1992; Chan
and Kumaraswamy, 1995).
5. Quality
Quality can be classified by variables or attributes, i.e. appearance,
strength, stability, materials used, performance finish. Appearance
of the building, e.g. external facing is one aspect of quality
(Ashworth, 1988). Sadashiv (1979) considered number of major
finishing works in duration forecasting instead of a defined quality
index.
6. Location
The location of the building has a significant effect on the
construction duration (Chan and Kumaraswamy (1995). It reflects
restrictions or easements that exist and availability of services
(Burgess and White, 1979). It effects supply of resources, e.g.
materials, and equipment (Sadashiv, 1979). Consequently, it also
effects the use of major equipment (Sadashiv, 1979), and
productivity on site (Callahan et al., 1992).
There are other possible factors affecting the construction duration, e.g.
construction planning (Sadashiv, 1979; Ireland, 1985), design-
construction interface coordination (Ireland, 1985), dispute per unit of
time (Ireland, 1985). Type and/or variation to the contract refers to risk
allocation management structure and payment modalities (Burgess and
White, 1979; Ireland, 1985; Chan and Kumaraswamy, 1995). By
contrast, Walker (1994) concluded that client related factors have more
significant affect on speed of construction, or construction duration, than
the contract type. Callahan et al.(1992) pointed out that quality of
supervision, labour training and motivation, can also be affecting factors.
Al Tabtabai et al. (1997) developed the models for expert judgment in
forecasting construction project completion. The factors are: 1)
performance of management; 2) cash flow situation; 3) material and
equipment availability; 4) labour productivity; 5) weather and
environment influences; 6) rework, extra work, and work difficulty; 7)
percentage of work completed; and 8) trend in schedule variance.
Project Delays and their Causes:
Project duration is normally specified by the owner. The completion and
operation of many buildings are restricted as they are seasonal in nature,
e.g. a school must open in September, a retail outlet must open for
booking in August to meet the Christmas sale season, and an apartment
must open in May to reach the spring market (McNulty, 1982).
Construction duration affects the financial interest to the owner, e.g.
selling price, and on-site management. Then, the contractor is
traditionally responsible for the detailed planning and scheduling to
ensure the completion of the project within the owners time frame.
However, the actual construction duration consist of two parts:
2) delay.
Delay is the time during which some parts of construction project has
been extended or not performed because of unanticipated circumstances
(Barrie and Paulson, 1992). When necessary, the contractor may need to
allocate an additional budget for corrective actions to maintain the
schedule, otherwise, it may cause liquidated damages charges against the
contractor for failure to meet the owners requirements (Fisk, 1982;
McNulty, 1982).
2) extra works;
3) owner or his/her agent; and
However, other possible delays may result from location, weather, site
work conditions, labour productivity, sub-contractor, supply and delivery
of materials (Burgess and White, 1979; Sadashiv, 1979; Callahan et al.,
1992; Chan and Kumaraswamy, 1995).
Relationship between Cost and Time:
There is a relationship between cost and duration (or time). In
construction planning and scheduling, alternative duration and costs for
activities are always considered. For example, when it is necessary to
shorten the duration of activities or project, the cost may increase. This is
called crashing.
Sadashiv (1979) found that some of the independent variables used in
regression model for cost forecasting also have major affects on
construction duration, e.g. height, and types of major equipment.
However, he used the number of major finishing works in his duration
forecasting model instead of the quality index as used in the cost
forecasting model.
Based on the inputs required for scheduling, all the current methods of
scheduling seem to be efficiently applied only when the detailed design is
completed. Normally, the contractor must complete this planning prior to
bidding for the project (Peurifoy and Ledbetter, 1985). Without sufficient
information, the schedule can be prepared based on only the best guess,
i.e. using experience of similar projects in estimating the construction
duration (Pilcher, 1992).
Summary
A variety of methods and techniques for construction planning and
scheduling exist but they are based mainly on the completed design and
details of project, e.g. Gantt chart, CPM, and PERT. Construction schedule
is normally prepared by the contractors at the time they submit bids.
Without sufficient information, the scheduling and forecasting of
construction duration is based on the experience of the planner or
scheduler. A number of researches found strong relationship between
construction duration and cost. This leads to the possibility to build a
model for forecasting the construction duration at pre-design phase. The
model may consist of part of variables as they are used in the cost
forecasting models. The main variables shall consist of building features,
e.g. function, structural system, height, foundation, exterior and interior
finishing. Adjustment of the construction duration by means of indices is
not necessary.