9/5/2020

Dr. Ramya Kumanayake

Project Planning: Why?

 To set a realistic time frame
 To establish realistic standards
 To help control during project
 To monitor performance in terms of output,
time & money
 To review progress & take action when
necessary

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 2

1
 9/5/2020

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 3

Construction Programs
 Prepared at various stages of projects for different
purposes.
Planning stage Type of program
Design Project master program
Tender Pre-tender program
Pre-contract Master program
Target program
Sub contractors’ program
Procurement program
Contract Stage program
Short-term program
As-built programme

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 4

2
 9/5/2020

Levels of planning

Level Responsibility
Project planning Client/Project Manager
Pre-tender planning Tendering contractors
Pre-contract planning Main contractor
Contract planning Main contractor & Sub-
contractors

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 5

Project Planning
 Starts when project master program is being prepared by
client team. This set out broad project framework.
 Purpose:
 To establish a realistic project master program
 To identify key dates of critical project stages
 To facilitate control of design & tendering process
 To identify potential risks to progress
 To facilitate arrangement of client cash funding
 To establish realistic time period for construction
 To monitor actual progress & take corrective actions

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 6

3
 9/5/2020

Project Master Program

 At very early stages of project, it is essential for client
team to have a program to aid control based on
realistic estimate of how long the design, tendering &
construction phases of a project should take.

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 7

Project Master Program

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 8

4
 9/5/2020

Features of project master program

 Time line in years or months, rather than in weeks
 Key dates for project start & finish
 Key dates for project phases
 Use of ‘negative time’ to indicate pre-construction period
 Inclusion of holidays
 Use of milestones to indicate key events (eg. handover)
 Focus on client team activities necessary to plan design &
tender stages
 Construction phase demoted by a single bar line
 Intermittent activities shown with a dotted line

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 9

Pre-tender planning
 Pre-tender program is prepared by contractor to aid
tendering process.
 Purpose:
 To establish realistic contract period on which tender
will be based on
 To identify construction methods
 To assess method related items which affect bid price
 To aid to build up of contract preliminaries & plant
expenditure
 To aid tendering process

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 10

5
 9/5/2020

Pre-contract planning
 Take place during the period between contract award &
commencement of work on site.
 Contractor develops contract master program showing main
construction operations to be carried out.
 Master Program is what the client team sees, but many
contractors produce an internal program for their own use to
save time & money, which is called a Target Program.
 To help the contractor organize & manage site activities at
operational level, target program is developed in more details.
Most of the time bars in target program represent the main
work packages to be carried out by various sub contractors.
 To ensure work packages start & finish on time, contractor can
produce a Procurement Program for each sub contractor.

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 11

Why pre-contract planning?

 To provide a broad outline plan for projects.
 To comply with contract conditions.
 To establish a construction sequence on which the
master program can be based on.
 To identify key project dates.
 To highlight key information requirements.
 To enable assessment of contract budgets &
cumulative value forecasts.
 To schedule key dates related to key material & sub
contractor requirements.

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 12

6
 9/5/2020

Contract planning
 During contract stage, the master program is further
developed.
 Done by main contractor to maintain control & ensure
that project is completed on time & within cost limits
established at tender stage.
 A Stage Program can be prepared showing a part of the
master program in more detail.
 Alternatively the contractor can produce a series of
Short-term Programs at weekly or fortnightly
intervals to plan day- to- day work in detail.

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 13

As-built Programs
 As contract progresses, program change from its
original form due to delays, work disruptions due to
design changes & unforeseen events.
 These changes are recorded in a revised program,
which can be constantly updated throughout the
project. These programs are referred as As-built
Programs.

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 14

7
 9/5/2020

Why contract planning?

 To monitor the master program.

 To plan site operations in detail in short term.
 To optimize & review resources.
 To keep project under review & report on
variances.

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 15

Planning a project
Requires a logical approach involving various steps.
1. Getting a feel for the project
2. Establishing key project data
3. Establishing key activities/events
4. Assessing activity durations
5. Establishing sequence
6. Deciding which programing technique to use

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 16

8
 9/5/2020

1. Getting a feel for the project

 Study drawings & project documentation
 Visit site
 Assess the scale & scope of project
 Consider the rate of expenditure (relationship
between value & time)

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 17

2. Establish project dates

 Project start & finish dates

 Sectional or phased completion dates
 Holiday periods
 Commissioning or handover

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 18

9
 9/5/2020

3. Establishing key activities

Design stage Tender stage
 Brief design team  Prepare tender document
 Make professional  Complete pre-construction
appointments health & safety
 Start health & safety file information
 Obtain planning  Period for tendering
permission  Evaluate tenders
 Apply for building  Compile contract
regulation approval documentation
 Pre-qualify contractors
 Appoint contractor
MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 19

Pre-contract stage Construction stage

 Appoint project staff  Set up site
 Develop construction health  Groundwork/sub-structure
& safety plan  Frame/external envelope
 Prepare requirement  Floors
schedules  Roof structure & cladding
 Pre-start meeting  Waterproofing
 Check construction stage  Mechanical, electrical &
health & safety plan ventilation installations
 Permit start of construction  Finishes
work
 External works & drainage
 Completion of work
 Clear site
MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 20

10
 9/5/2020

4. Assessing activity durations

 In early stages of project when little detailed
information is available, judgement & experience are
required in assessing durations.
 Later, when information are available, calculations can
be done.
Quantity = Hours
Output per hour
Hours = Days
No. of hours per day (8)
Days = Weeks
No. of days per week (5)

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 21

5. Establishing sequence

 Identifying & establishing sequence of activities &

inter-relationships.

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 22

11
 9/5/2020

5. Decide programing technique to be used

 Depends on size & complexity of project, personal
preferences & contractual stipulations.
 Programming techniques
 Bar charts (Gantt chart)
 Linked bar charts
 Arrow diagrams (AOA networks)
 Precedence diagrams (AON networks)
 Line-of-balance (LOB) diagrams

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 23

Bar charts (Gantt charts)

 Introduced by Henry Gantt in early 1990s for ship
building projects.
 Graphical presentation of work vs. time.
 Timescale along the top axis, list of activities down the
left hand side.
 Time required for each activity by horizontal line (bar)
 Length of line indicates activity duration’
 Bar charts do not show activity logic.

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 24

12
 9/5/2020

Bar chart

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 25

Exercise 1:
For the project outlined in the following table,
prepare a bar chart. What is the total duration of
the project?
Task Follow task(s) Duration (weeks)
A Start 6
B Start 5
C Start 5
D A 3
E A,B 6
F C,D,E 1

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 26

13
 9/5/2020

Exercise 2:
Task Task Description Duration Follows
(Days) task(s)
A Clear site 4 Start
B Obtain timber & other basic materials 3 Start

C Obtain other materials & components 4 Start

D Prefabricate wall panels 7 B
E Prefabricate roof trusses 4 B
F Form & pour footings & floor slab 3 A,B
G Erect wall panels 3 D,F
H Erect roof trusses 2 E,G
J Complete roof 3 C,H
K Finish interior 4 J
L Finish exterior 5 J
M Clean up site 3 L
N Final inspection & approval 2 K,M

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 27

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 28

14
 9/5/2020

Linked bar charts

 Linked bar charts show the logical links between activities.

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 29

Advantages of bar charts & linked bar charts

 Simple format, easily understood at all levels of management.
 Applicable at all stages of planning.
 Easily updated at weekly or monthly intervals.
 Resources can be shown on bar chart.
 Facilitate production of resource histograms, value-time
forecasts, labour/plant forecasts so that actual progress &
planned progress can be compared.
 Can be used as basis for financial forecasting for client &
contractor.
 Used by computer software for project planning (Linked bar
charts) which facilitate preparation of management reports.

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 30

15
 9/5/2020

Limitations
 Bar chart does not show dependencies clearly.
 Linked bar charts use logical links to overcome this
problem, but these can be difficult to interpret in
projects with a large number of activities.
 Complex inter-relationships cannot be clearly shown.

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 31

Computer software for developing bar charts

(MS Project, Primavera etc.)

MSc- Civil & Structural Eng 32

16