BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN PROJECT AND FACILITY MANAGEMENT WITH

HONOURS (BPFM)

SEPTEMBER 2020

EBPM 3202

PROJECT SCHEDULING AND CONTROL

NO. MATRIKULASI : 840526146509001

NO. KAD PENGENALAN : 840526146509
NO. TELEFON : 0175101961
E-MEL : adamchandra74@gmail.com
PUSAT PEMBELAJARAN : Shah Alam Learning Center
1.0 INTRODUCTION

The abrupt appearance of Coronavirus illness in 2019 was initially announced in Wuhan city in
China, which is brought about by serious intense respiratory condition (Hui et al., 2020). The
disease is irresistible and has been spreading definitely everywhere on the world and considered
by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pandemic (WHO, 2020). The COVID 19
pandemic has had by a wide margin arriving at exceptionally serious outcomes since it has
spread to all the nations. The economy, as a rule, faces an immediate effect in the mid of COVID
19 episode. Numerous nations face downturn and monetary decline. All the business exercises
have been closed down except if it falls under the fundamental classes as important supplies and
clinical areas, notwithstanding a couple of indispensable activities which are important to help
the wellbeing framework and security of the individuals. Moderately, it has restricted the
business around the globe and organizations have moved to Work-From-Home (WFH) idea
distantly to oblige and maintain the business and administrations.

Due to this contagious pandemic , the construction businesses are extremely affected. All
the laborers and specialized designers include the technical and machinery experts require to
almost deal on site either to perform exercises or to inspect the work is done effectively
(Financial times, 2020). The construction industry is far different from other industries which
typically requires on-site involvement of all the project members. Hence, it is crucial to
appreciate how the construction industry addresses this unforeseen situation.

During the pandemic, the circumstance radically disintegrated by initially deficiency of

construction material availability and supply, which at that point affected the project
development Following the spread of the virus, numerous nations began actualizing a few
measures to reduce movement of people, and that has predominantly blocked the construction
project because it requires on-site work and every project member must be available to work,
check, and monitor all the work activities.
Several studies have attempted to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy
and industrial sectors. The reviews are not yet adequate due to the uncertainty of the current
situation. Of these studies, a study by Fernandes, N. (2020) which addressed the economic
impact of the pandemic outbreak on the economy of 30 countries and the study found that the
gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to be hit by 3-6% or might fall to 15% in some countries.
2.0 PROJECT BACKGROUND

As we understand this pandemic and its impact to the project industry from the introduction in
the previous section. As one of the project manager of KONE Elevator (M) Sdn Bhd, I have been
appointed to prepare a report consisting all the possible impacts mainly on the project scheduling
and control with appropriate solution systematically and proactively. In this section, background
of the selected project will be explained.

Kone Elevator is one of the pioneer elevator company providing elevator installation and
maintenance services in Malaysia. Headquartered in Espoo Helsinki, Finland, KONE Elevator
(M) Sdn Bhd was established in 1985 in Malaysia and situated in Kuala Lumpur, with branch
offices in Johor Bahru, Penang and Sabah. KONE acquired Fuji Lift and Escalator in 2006 and
today, KONE is one of the fastest growing elevator and escalator company in Malaysia.

Several major real estate developments in the Malaysia featuring KONE solutions,
includes the Permodalan Nasional Berhad building , Capital Square, Menara Binjai, Sky
Residence, Volvo office building, and many more. KONE’s vision is to deliver the best People
Flow® experience. This means “we understand that different types of buildings serve different
purposes, which has an impact on the flow of people and on the surrounding environment”. It
also means “we provide Ease, Effectiveness and Experiences to all users and customers, over the
full life cycle of buildings”.

Despite the numerous successful project with a good track record obtained by KONE, its
current ongoing project is KL 118 tower or Merdeka 118 project is the greatest achievement as
of today for this organization,. The tender for Elevator installation for KL 118 building won by
KONE. Its objective is to complete the installation of total 118 units of elevator by first quarter
in 2022. Once complete the installation, before the new elevators are handed over, there will be a
try and error session for 2 months of test run taking every necessary measure to ensure that the
delivery of a high-quality solution that will run as it should from day one. This includes testing
the ride quality of every single elevator installed before we hand it over and providing them with
a report detailing the results.
2.1.1 Merdeka 118 Project overview

Merdeka 118 is a 118-storey, 644-metre (2,113-foot) megatall skyscraper currently under

construction in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the tallest building under construction as of May
2020. Upon completion, the structure will become the tallest building in Malaysia and Southeast
Asia, and the second-tallest building in the world. Samsung C&T; UEM Group are the main
contractor for this massive project.

2.1.2 Background

The Merdeka 118 (the whole precinct) development is funded by Permodalan Nasional Berhad
(PNB), with a budget of RM5 billion. When completed in 2021, the tower will be the tallest
building in Malaysia. It will consist of 400,000 square meters (4,300,000 square feet) of
residential, hotel and commercial space.

The building will consist of 100 storeys of rentable space, including 83 storeys of office
space, 12 storeys of hotel rooms, 5 storeys of hotel residences and a retail business center. The
non-rentable space consists of elevators, recreational and maintenance facilities, as well as
parking spaces for up to 8,500 cars. 60 out of the 80 storeys of office space will be reserved for
Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), the developer of the project, and its subsidiaries.

2.1.3 Site

The tower is sited at Petaling Hill, a low-density hill directly southeast of the historic Kuala
Lumpur old town, on the location of the former Merdeka Park (which was subsequently
repurposed into an open-air car park). The site lies within the vicinity of a number of historic
landmarks with little modern development: Independence-era sporting venues including the
Merdeka Stadium, the National Stadium and the Chin Woo Stadium, the pre-war school grounds
of the Methodist Boys' School and Victoria Institution and the stalled Plaza Rakyat project
(across the Ampang Line). The Merdeka 118 development, when completed, will also have
access to the newly built MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line excavated underneath the southern
end of Kuala Lumpur old town.
2.1.4 Design

Using custom services by architectural firms from Australia, Fender Katsalidis Architects who
also built Australia’s 108 landmark in Melbourne. In addition, Fender Katsalidis Architects is
also involved in the construction of luxury housing projects in Taman Duta in Kuala Lumpur.
The tower is designed with a mixture of diamond shaped facets to signify the diversity of
Malaysians. The glass and steel building with its spire is said to resemble the raised hand of
Tunku Abdul Rahman when he proclaimed the independence of Malaysia. It will contain a
shopping complex, offices, and residential areas. The structural engineers are Leslie E.
Robertson Associates and Robert Bird Group. Environmental Design and Engineering firm
Neapoli Group was employed to provide consultancy services towards achieving platinum rating
with three Green Building certification bodies: LEED, Green Building Index and GreenRE. The
four top floors will be used as an observation deck.

2.1.5 Completion

On 25 October 2020, PNB president, Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn, announced that phase 1 and 2 are
expected to be finished in 2022 Q2 instead of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Phase 3 is
expected to be completed in 2024 or 2025. The construction is currently in phase 1 which
focuses on the tower. The tower is 60% completed as of October 2020.
2.1.6 General Information

Former names PNB 118, KL118, Heritage of Independence,

Menara Warisan Merdeka, PNB Headquarters

Alternative names Heritage of Independence, KL118 Tower,

Menara Warisan Merdeka, PNB Headquarters

Type Shopping complex

Office building
Housing Properties Hotel Observation

Status Structurally Topped Out

Location Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Construction started 2014

Estimated completion 2022 (Q2)

Cost RM 3.5 billion

Owner PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn Bhd

Floor Count 118 (+5 below ground)

Floor area 292,000 m2 (3,140,000 sq ft)

Lifts/elevators 87

Architect Fender Katsalidis in association with RSP KL

Structural engineer Leslie E. Robertson Associates, Robert Bird

Group[3]

Main contractor Samsung C&T

UEM Group
3.0 Project scheduling and control

Scheduling in project management is the listing of activities, deliverables, and milestones

within a project. A schedule also usually includes the planned start and finish date, duration, and
resources assigned to each activity. Effective project scheduling is a critical component of
successful time management. In fact, when people discuss the processes for building a schedule,
they are usually referring to the first six processes of time management consisting

(1) Plan schedule management.

(2) Define project activities.

(3) Sequence activites.

(4) Estimates ressources.

(5) Estimates durations.

(6) Develop the project schedule.

On the other hand, project control is overseeing project activities to ensure that project
activities are completed. Managers will find themselves in one of two managerial roles with
regards to projects:

(1) monitoring and reporting activities; or

(2) assigning, monitoring, and controlling activities.

When managers simply report the status of project activities, this is not a control function.
It is simply an observation of what is happening and reporting of status. Control in project
management is defined as having a means of measurement and initiating adjustments in the
course of an activity to address unwanted changes to cost, schedule, quality, or risk elements that
have influenced the activity.
3.1 Impacts and solutions to encounter the project scheduling and control.

As the impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continue to expand, KONE
project movements are struggling both to adjust to new ways of life and to grasp what this will
likely mean for their operations, and especially their project for KL 118, and cap-ex programs
due to their multi-faceted components. There will be delays, loss of efficiencies, and cost
impacts because of COVID-19 and related regulatory responses, and there is little to no
precedent to help company to understand what the potential future impacts may be or when
restrictions may end. Therefor it is important actions need to consider to improve control of this
project and efforts now in order to be better positioned when the pandemic subsides. In this
section, the forecasted impacts and a contingency plan to overcome this current issue will be
explained. The following table shows schedule details phase by phase for the said project.

Phase Milestone General & Technical details Completion Date

Contract
1 preparation & Explain lift specification, design and completion milestone phase by phase. Yes May-14
signing

Lift shaft
1 Ensure efficient and hassle free during lift installation into the shaft Yes Nov-16
construction

Wheelblocks will be fitted to the shaft columns and bolted to the carriage uprights accordingly.
2 Adding the Carriage Yes May-17
Lift chains are installed and connected to the wheelblocks.

 Raising the Drive

drive base will be lifted into place on top of the columns. When the motor drive is fitted
2 Base for Mechanical Yes Aug-19
correctly, the drivebase will be bolted in place and later, welded to the supports.
Lift Installation

2 Drive installation Drive installation Pending (Jan 20)

Wiring the
3 Electrical To ensure that the lift is easily operated at the flick of a switch and can be operated safely Pending (Sep 20)
Components

3 Final Check The last step in a successful lift installation involves a thorough inspection of the unit Pending (Jan 21)

Comprehensive Testing by KONE engineers to confirm the equipment is safe to use and liaise with Department
3 Pending (Dec 21)
Testing Of Occupational Safety And Health Malaysia compliance.

4 Final Test Run Equipment to be test run to ensure its reliability with passengers occupancy Pending (Feb 22)

4 Handover Project completion , handover to client Pending (Mar 22)

Table 3.1.1: Project schedule .

In general, a project life cycle consists of four major stages: project initiation, planning,
execution and closure (Frimpong & Oluwoye, 2018). According to the project schedule table,
KONE’s project delivery was stagnant in phase 2 quarter 1.During this period, the novel
coronavirus has begun to implicate the impacts to this project due to materials shortage
unshipped. In this manner, as a project manager, 5 other predicated impact on its schedule and
control with appropriate solution will be forecasted in the following section.

During this unprecedented time, it is inevitable that KONE’s project schedules will be impacted
due to supply chain disruption, reduced workforce, material shortages, new safety protocols,
reduced productivity, and other snowball effects.

A six-step recovery road map for evaluating potential approaches to mitigate schedule and
control impacts:

CONTRACT
RENEW

COMMUNICATE PROJECT
PLAN IMPACT

SCHEDULE AND
CONTROL

UPDATE RISK
EXECUTE PLAN
REGISTER

DEVELOP PLAN

3.2 Contract Review

Review and identify contract clauses to understand what provisions and relief entitlements are
eligible for claim based on the current pandemic. The purpose of a force majeure provision is to
protect a contractor from unavoidable events beyond its control that cannot be anticipated.
Clauses that are quiet on pandemics or lack any description of viral outbreaks might not be
adequate to defend COVID-19 as a force majeure claim. It is important to evaluate the provisions
in the contract to determine whether COVID-19 can be classified as a force majeure event. In
case the provision is not available, then a discussion needs to take place between the owner and
the contractor to develop the project approach for the current pandemic.

3.3 Project Impact

If a force majeure claim was granted by the owner, then the contractor must demonstrate the
damages suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic. The impacts to a project can be classified in
five categories:

A) Cost: COVID-19 costs should be tracked separately by assessing the damages and
performance barriers. The cost analysis should be evaluated based on impacted scope of work,
idle equipment, general conditions, and extra preventive measures such as thermal readings,
employee screening and facilities management.

B) Schedule: Evaluate and quantify idle time, incurred cost to date and schedule delays caused
by this event. The contractor should assess the current conditions and update the schedule to
reflect the new late-start and late-finish dates of activities with the updated date for project
completion.

C) Resources: Evaluate the availability of resources due to sickness and social distancing
guidelines.

D) Logistics: Evaluate the impact on critical lead times of materials, shipments and critical
components.

E) Quality: Assess the impact on completion, lack of trade/skilled personnel and limited travel of
skilled resources.

3.4 Update Risk Register

As a result of the pandemic, the owner and the contractor should identify future risks, assign
ownership and determine a mitigation plan to address the risk components for successful
completion of the project. COVID-19 occurred as an unknown risk without having the control
measures in place to mitigate such risk. Now that COVID-19 has landed, the responsible party
has visibility on the current situation and can outline a mitigation plan for recourse for COVID-
19-related risks in order to complete the project. Some key risks to consider include:
 A) Material and labor inflation
B) Availability of resources and social distancing guidelines
C) Number of cases rising due to lack of a vaccine
D) Limited productivity
E) Additional PPE and sanitizing requirements

3.5 Develop Plan

The fourth step is developing a plan with visibility into how the rest of the project activities will
be executed:

A) Evaluating the forecast milestone dates from the impact of COVID-19 to meet the
project’s business objectives
B) Developing contingent requirements for the remaining work
C) Staffing resources and planning deployment
D) Fast-tracking the schedule as an opportunity that may include working some tasks in
parallel to shorten the project’s duration

3.6 Execute Plan

The fifth step is directing and managing the project work by implementing the approved changes
to meet the stakeholders’ demands and achieve the project’s objectives.

3.7 Communicate Plan

Communication is one of the essential elements to ensure stakeholder satisfaction and buy-in on
the approach going forward. In this step, a formal plan for notifications, tiers of notification and
frequency should be established. The objective for a communication plan is to fulfill the
requirements of the developed plan and communicate the effectiveness of execution.

In addition to the recovery road map, health and safety monitoring efforts will further strain
the facility owners with testing and preventive measures to ensure that people working at or
visiting the site are not exposed to any health risk. Some of the immediate accommodations that
are being made are:
 A) Installing hand sanitizer stations
B) Scheduling additional trash collection
C) Mounting CDC posters emphasizing the importance of washing hands and covering faces
with masks
D) Mandating thermal screening for everyone entering and leaving the facility (i.e.,
temperature checks using a digital thermometer)
E) Installing ventilation systems or UV lights for disinfecting

3.8 Five areas for immediate attention

1) Put people first - develop a refreshed digitally-driven procurement operating model and new
ways of working with internal customers, the supplier ecosystem, and external partners.

2) Secure the supply base - manage and mitigate supply uncertainty with suppliers of all sizes –
small, medium and large.

3) Unlock funds intelligently - double-down on responsible interventions to minimize

unnecessary spending and preserve cash for future growth initiatives.

4) Build resilience for the future - update risk management strategies to ensure resilient, purpose-
led procurement decisions.

5) Innovate with purpose - take a purpose-led approach to build greater trust, transparency,
customer centricity, and innovation as economies rebound.

4.0 Conclusion

These are difficult decisions, which we have to make quickly, with little visibility into the future.
I believe the steps explained in the previous section can help: They offer a practical, structured
approach to assess, reprioritize and effectively deliver the project portfolio that KONE needs in a
COVID-19 world. We believe it is critical that a well-managed process be established for the
delivery of our project that meets both our needs and the complexity of the project. At KONE,
we believe in providing our clients benefit through the education and experience of our
personnel and our range of professional project management services. With all the point
discussed, contract renewal, the project impact, to update risk register ,develop, execute and
communicate contingency plan will certainly bring a positive outcome to the project during this
crisis.

References

MAZWIN NIK ANIS. (2010,OCTOBER 19).PM: 100-storey Warisan Merdeka to generate

economic opportunities for all. The Star
https://archive.vn/20131023150206/http://www.thestar.com.my/story.aspx?
file=/2010/10/19/nation/20101019210301#selection-855.1-855.74

Zainul, Intan Farhana. (2015). "PNB confirms RM3.4b Menara KL118 contract awarded". The
Star. https://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2015/11/23/PNB-confirms-Menara-
KL118-contract-awarded/?style=biz

Joakim Persson. (2015). "PAnother big KONE order in Malaysia". ScanAsia.com.

Identifying and Managing Construction Risks During the Coronavirus Pandemic.(2020).

http://www.gouldratner.com/publication/identifying-and-managing-construction-risks-during-
the-coronavirus-pandemic.

Randal Wilson. (2014). Introduction to Project Management Schedule and Cost Control.
https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2194892&seqNum=3#:~:text=Control%20in
%20project%20management%20is,that%20have%20influenced%20the%20activity.

Gamil, Y., Rahman, I. A., Nagapan, S., & Alemad, N. (2017). Qualitative approach on
investigating failure factors of Yemeni Mega Construction Projects. In MATEC web of
conferences (Vol. 103, p. 03002). EDP Sciences.

Sandelowski, M. (2000). Combining qualitative and quantitative sampling, data collection, and
analysis techniques in mixed-method studies. Research in nursing & health, 23(3), pp.246-255.

Sharma, G. (2017). Pros and cons of different sampling techniques. International Journal of
Applied Research, 3(7), pp.749-752.

Enshassi, A., & Al Swaity, E. (2015). Key Stressors Leading to Construction Professionals'
Stress in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, 20(2), P53
Question 2

1.0 Scheduling

Planning and scheduling are two terms that are often thought of as synonymous. However, they
are not. Scheduling is just one part of the planning effort. Scheduling is the determination of the
timing and sequence of operations in the project and their assembly to give the overall
completion time. Scheduling focuses on one part of the planning effort. In fact, scholars have
generally separated planning from scheduling ‘‘CPM separates planning and scheduling, and
once project information is collected and expressed as a network plan and activity time estimates
assigned, CPM calculations can be made. Planning ceases and scheduling starts when the first
computation is performed that shows a project duration. The project duration is then compared
with the desired schedule and scheduling begins.’’ (O’Brien and Plotnick, 2009, p. 417)

2.0 Project Control

Once a project starts, certain aspects can easily deviate or go astray. This deviation can be
overspending, a schedule slippage, a departure from the objective/scope, or something else. It is
of utmost importance to know—at all times—where you stand in relation to where you planned
to be (the baseline). If you find yourself behind schedule or over budget, you must know why
and then take corrective action to get back on track or, at least, minimize the deviation. If the
deviation is positive (i.e., the project is ahead of schedule or under budget), actual performance
was probably better than that expected in the baseline plan. This process exemplifies project
control. Although the concept of project control covers all aspects of the plan (budget, schedule,
quality, etc.), our main focus in this book is on schedule and budget control, which are related.

3.0 Steps required to control and schedule a Project

A) Determine the work activities
Any project, no matter how large or small, must be divided into smaller entities, called activities,
or tasks.
B) Restrict the number of activities for the simplicity of the project schedule
In this case, activities become ‘‘major’’ components. However, there is a practical—and
sometimes contractual—limit on how large an activity may be.
C) Break the project down into small activities
This approach will result in a large number of activities. The main advantage of this approach is
better control of the schedule during execution.

References

Callahan, M. T., D. G. Quackenbush, and J. E. Rowings. 1992. Construction Project Scheduling.

New York: McGraw-Hill.

O’Brien, J. J. and F. L. Plotnick. 2009. CPM in Construction Management. 7th ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill.

Hinze, J. W. 2008. Construction Planning and Scheduling. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall.