4 Site Organisation

This chapter examines site personnel, management and planning, site

organisation, site layout, planning and monitoring of activities, re-
source scheduling incentives and productivity, choice and mainten-
ance of plant, and safety aspects.

SITE PERSONNEL, MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING

Contractor's Organisational Arrangements

A civil engineering contractor's organisation is usually subdivided into

two main sections - technical and non-technical. The responsibilities
of the technical section are likely to include the following:

(1) all civil engineering services, including the preparation of designs

for temporary and permanent structures and the planning and
programming of work;
(2) estimating and tendering, preparation of specifications and quanti-
ties, interpretation and application of contract conditions, and
negotiations with the engineer;
(3) supervision of constructional work, monitoring of progress, pre-
paration of reports, liaison with the engineer, purchasing of ma-
terials and equipment, and preparation of monthly valuations;
(4) quality control, research and development, site investigations and
geotechnical processes;
(5) operation of central plant and transport depots with workshops
and repair facilities, routine inspection of plant and equipment,
and purchases and sales of plant; and
(6) staff training.

The non-technical section deals with a wide range of activities in-

cluding:

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I. H. Seeley, Civil Engineering Contract Administration and Control
© Ivor H. Seeley 1993
 Site Organisation 107

(1) secretarial and legal matters;

(2) finance, accounts, audits, payments, cash and payroll checks;
(3) insurance, licences and taxation returns;
(4) orders, monitoring deliveries and checking invoices;
(5) cost records and analyses;
(6) plant and transport records and registers;
(7) general correspondence and records;
(8) labour relations; and
(9) staff training and development. 1

Site Personnel

The contractor should send sufficient experienced technical and cleri-

cal staff to the site at the start of the contract to ensure that all
necessary preparatory work is undertaken on the site. The full comple-
ment of site staff on a large project can be extensive and the principal
members of staff and their main functions are now described.

Agent

An agent, or project manager as he is sometimes called, is normally

appointed to control the contractor's site organisation. He is usually an
experienced engineer and he is generally given wide discretionary
powers by the contractor. In addition to sound engineering and con-
tractual experience, he must possess good qualities of leadership and
integrity. The agent's main duties are to ensure that the works are
administered effectively and that construction is carried out economi-
cally, in accordance with the contract documents and that they satisfy
the requirements of the engineer's representative.

Agent's Staff

The agent is supported by both technical and non-technical staff with

their numbers and duties dependent on the size of the project. For
instance, the personnel might comprise an engineer, general foreman,
plant and transport foreman, cashier, timekeeper and storekeeper.
Larger contracts require proportionately larger staffs. The allocation of
duties will be influenced by many factors, including the locality and
nature of the work, the amount of assistance from,head office and the
experience and capability of the available personnel. The allocation of
duties should seek to ensure smooth and effective communication and
the ability to introduce checks at critical points.
Figure 4.1 illustrates a contractor's typical site organisation based on