The Engineering Construction Stanard
and Economic Benefits
Hong Zhang
School of Economics and Management Engineering,
Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture
Beijing, China
highsky_zh@yahoo.com.cn
Abstract — The engineering construction standard has covered the
whole life cycle of construction projects. The application of the
standard has brought every participant immense economic benefits.
However, systemic researches on relationships between construction
standard and its benefit are rarely seen by now. This paper will
discuss, from the period, quality, and cost, the economic benefits that
the engineering construction standard brings, and finally give some
suggestions on the future development of the engineering
construction standard.
Keywords - the Engineering Construction Standard; Economic
Benefits
I. INTRODUCTION
With the development of construction industry, the
engineering construction standard has a great influence on every
phase and sector of engineering construction and it can be
reflected on every aspect and whole processes, even the whole
life cycle of construction. Now construction technology
standardization system has been formed. As one kind of well
accepted technical documents which are formed on the
agreements among construction departments, the engineering
construction standard not only covers the shortage of building
laws and regulations but also is more easily adopted and
observed by the construction market subjects. It also provides a
powerful guarantee for the healthy development of the
construction industry. In order to do a deeper research on the
engineering construction standard, we should first understand the
functions better and make the definition of economic benefits
clearly, and then based on which, we could present some
978-1-4244-6581-1/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE
Xing fang Li
School of Economics and Management Engineering,
Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture
Beijing, China
lixingfang123456@126.com
reasonable measures to develop the engineering construction
standards.
II. THE ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION STANDARD AND
ITS DEVELOPMENT
In order to complete the construction mission successfully and
regularize construction market order, we set the engineering
construction standard which is one kind of normative documents
about engineering technology, economy and management .At the
same time, the engineering construction standard must be agreed
by the relevant departments and approved by recognized
institutions, Another characteristic is that it can be obeyed and
reused by us. According to certain principles and inherent
property, the engineering construction standard makes the
construction activities simple and unified. With the help of the
engineering construction standard, we will create optimization
effects.
In china, the engineering construction standard has the national
standard, the professional standard, the provincial standard and
the enterprise standard. However, some of them are compulsory
and some are recommended. By now, the items of engineering
construction standard which has been issued and recorded by
MOHORD has reached more than 4,700,it involves in various
construction fields such as housing construction, urban planning,
urban construction, transportation, energy and water conservancy,
aerospace, industrial construction and so on. At the same time, it
covers all phases and sectors from construction survey to
construction dismantled.
The engineering construction standard has been involved in all
aspects of the construction field and it has the characteristic of
the numerous quantity, highly comprehensive contents and
strongly coordination and related. The engineering construction
standard has preliminarily and gradually adapted to general trend
of industrialization, informationization, urbanization,
marketization and internationalization. But we must give a
consideration about the requirements which is scientific, saving,
intensive and safe in the development processes.
In order to promote the development of the engineering
construction standardized more smoothly, we need to mobilize all
initiative such as the central, local, government and enterprise to
find the new problems and know the situations on the
engineering construction standard. Depending on improving laws
and regulations, we should improve the work during the process
of the engineering construction standard formation,
implementation and supervision. Only in this way, can we
promote the engineering construction standardized development
effectively and furthermore gradually forms a kind of standard
system that has Chinese characteristics and meets the need of
Chinese construction projects.
III. ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE ENGINEERING
CONSTRUCTION STANDARD
The role that the engineering construction standard plays in
architecture field is more and more important, which required
more standards formed. It is obvious that their appearances can
thoroughly improve market order. However, they also play a
more important role in improving economic benefits of the
construction industry. So evaluation of the economic benefits
about the engineering construction standard has become one
important part of the construction standard research.
A. Analysis from the construction cost
Because the economic benefits of construction project directly
reflect on construction cost, it is indispensable that evaluate the
construction cost in the engineering construction standard
evaluation. The implementation of the engineering construction
standard has reduced the construction cost from various aspects.
1) Enterprise cost
As the largest share in construction costs, enterprise cost is
one of costs that most developers want to reduce. And the
gradually increasing of the engineering construction standard
could reduce this cost to some extent. As we all know, more and
more engineering Construction standards are forming. And then
Construction industrialization will appear. From the recently
housing industrialization we can make a conclusion that the
engineering construction standard has reduce the construction cost
largely. There are two reasons. On the one hand, Standard can
improve the professional level and reduce the construction costs.
Owing to the characteristics of Simplization, standardization and
versatility, Standard can make the similar component, technology
and service get together, and then make construction production
specialization, reduce working procedures, get rid of quantity
production restriction, and finally form component production and
management standardization. On the other hand, The standard can
expand production scale and improve the construction efficiency.
The engineering construction standard will produce “scale
economies of demanders”. Once an advanced technical standard is
at the leading position in the construction areas, others people are
willing to buy this standard. So it will come to increasing returns
to scale, which makes us expand our economic scales. As a result,
the departments that are specialized for these standards appear and
component production and management standardization will have
a deeply development, thus improving construction efficiency.
2) Social cost
The standard can decrease the social cost reducing building
pollution and save energy. It is an important project to invest in
preventing pollution and energy saving. When it refer to
architecture field, the investment will be more important. Through
establishing standard system, it can form a new building mode
which is different from that of tradition and effectively reduce the
construction rubbish, building noise and so on, which reduce
social investment. At the same time, In the process of construction
standards promoting, we can increase the application of building
energy-saving technical standards. Through the promotion of
building energy-saving standards, it can certainly drive the
development of building energy saving technology and
accomplish various tasks for saving energy such as green
construction and low carbon building. So it saves large amount of
recessive investment for the society.
3) Consumers cost
Consumer is the ultimate beneficiary of construction products,
so the cost of consumers is also one of important costs. As
follows, it will prove the standard advantages in reducing the cost
of Consumers through the example of residential architecture.
Firstly, it can cut down architectural maintenance charge. Because
of Standardization construction, the buildings usually are built in
high quality. Therefore it lessens the consumers cost. Secondly,
the use of the engineering construction standard can also be good
for the daily expenditure. Through the standardized energy-saving
design, it can greatly reduce the daily expenses in heating, lighting
and so on. As a result, the implementation of engineering
construction standard can also get consumers' support.
B. Analysis from the construction quality
It is obvious that high quality corresponds to high investment. If
we reasonably draft the engineering construction standard, we can
improve not only the construction quality but also its economic
benefits. Furtherly speaking, doing well about the relationship
among quality, standard and economic benefit will be helpful for
the construction better development.
1) The standard is the bottom line of quality and economic
benefit
If the construction products want to go through engineering
quality checking &accepting and get the economic benefits, we
must meet the minimum acceptance criteria. The standard has
important foundation which promotes, provides and makes sure
the construction quality, so it goes through the whole life cycle of
construction. In other words, if a building wants to get economic
benefit, we must formulate and implement effective construction
quality standards. Under no circumstance other than coincidence
with the standards can we pursue the economic benefit
maximization.
2) The standard has stimulative effect on quality and economic
benefit
The engineering construction standard and the work about it
have provided an chance for technology to develop and innovate.
The engineering construction standard is refined and promoted
from the accumulation process of construction technology and
engineering management. During these processes, we would have
some new way and gradually they come out as new technology,
new material or new technology. If we put these methods in use,
the construction quality and economic benefit will have a great
improvement.
C. Analysis from the construction progress and construction
safety
Why is construction progress seen as one of factors which
must be controlled firstly, Maybe it has an direct impact on
economic benefit. According to some collected data, net profit can
improve almost from 0.7% to 1% if construction period reduces a
month, which has so large economic benefit that the developers
must take effective control measures. The application of
engineering construction standard can help the developers realized
this purpose in some degrees.
Construction safety has always been an focus issues. It is also
a true that construction accidents have caused huge economic
losses for our country and enterprises. In China, most of labors
engaged in the construction industry are come from rural areas,
they are short of professional skills and have little realization for
construction safety. Thus this increases the number of
construction accidents. To solve this problem, we can do as
follows: through the application of engineering construction
standard and the training of workers, make sure that they are
familiar with the professional skills and building codes and
regulations, as well as raise safety awareness. In any case, we
must make them know well about the knowledge and skills of
architecture. After that we can improve the quality, skills of the
workers in the whole architecture field, as a result of which, it
decreases the construction accidents and increases economic
benefit. Another reason is that the engineering construction
standard can make the working process more standardized and
rationalization. At the same time, engineering management tends
to be more strict. All of these are to prevent the construction
accidents happening.
IV. THE MEASURES ON THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF
THE ENGINEERING CONSTRUTION STANDARD
A. promote the engineering construction standard work and
eventually develop it to construction industrialization
In the process of the engineering construction standardization,
the making and modification of the engineering construction
standard must transfer from dispersion to having goals and focus.
We must define the development direction of construction. It can
be seen from the international trend that construction
industrialization is one of development direction for construction
field. The construction industrialization is a result of development
about the national economy, construction technology and However, for improving the enterprise own productivity, the
engineering construction standard. In order to achieve this goal, enterprise should invest most and The government can subsidize
we must own a series of complete technical system, which is part of that. If this standard is accepted by the whole construction
made up of various engineering construction standard. This field, everyone can use it, but the title owns to this enterprise.
system is applied the principle of standardization and gives a
C. Make a better effort on publicity and training to raise the
consideration to the every procedure, so standardization will exist
awareness
in the whole construction field. In my opinion, we should learn
Do more work in the propaganda about engineering
experience from international practice and make the construction
construction standard contents and significance, the result of
industrialization come true as soon as possible. It is known to all
which is improving the cognition of engineering construction
that standardization is the premise of industrialization, so perfect
standard. We should make full use of various channels or organize
standardization system is a focus of the future efforts.
different activities to let workers know about economic benefits
Under the current circumstances, China's construction industry
brought by standards, increasing the investment from different
is faced with new situations and new mission, which is not only a
department. It is no doubt that we must know well the standard
challenge but also a unusual opportunity. We should catch this
before application.
chance, join our hands and work hard to perfect the system of
Through effective training work, the work will have a deep
engineering construction standard through making the standard
understand about the standard and advance the whole professional
more scientific, systematic and forward-looking. If do well, we
qualities as well. Finally, it will form a kind of good atmosphere
will create a new situation in engineering construction standard.
which everyone can create standards, learn standards and using
Meanwhile, it will make more contribution to promoting China's
standards.
sound and fast economic development and social harmony.

B. Integrate various favorable resources to formulate V. THE CONCLUSION

engineering construction standard The economic benefit is one of important factors to evaluate the

Normally, formulations of the standard need various development of construction industry, and it is also the goal

resources, especially the resources about research and pursued by every enterprise. Engineering construction standard

development, so different departments such as government, increase it by improving work efficiency and providing the

enterprise, research institutions or universities can do researches necessary platform for scientific research innovation. Along with

together. The government is mainly responsible for the our country construction industry expanding into international

organization and coordination work, policy making, Objective market, standardization will have a further development. We must

Setting and development plan ; commissioned by government or manage the investment, learning and application well in the

enterprises, research institutions or universities draft or revise purpose of the preparation for the upcoming construction industry.

engineering construction standard to its more formalization and REFERENCES

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For the research funds, we should hold the principle that it is
cases.[M].beijing:Standards Press of China,2007
who benefit who investment. If the standard is for the purpose of
being applied into the whole construction field, the government
should be given the primarily consideration, and they can invite
research institutions, universities and large enterprises to attend.