COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN CONSTRUCTION
MANAGEMENT:
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT IS THE PROCESS OF PLANNING,
COORDINATING AND PROVIDING MONITORING AND CONTROLLING OF A
CONSTRUCTION PROJECT. THIS STYLE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT IS
DESIGNED FOR THE, AS THE NAME IMPLIES, CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY.
THERE ARE FEW TYPES OF CONSTRUCTION THAT USE CONSTRUCTION
MANAGEMENT; THEY ARE INDUSTRIAL, CIVIL, COMMERCIAL,
ENVIRONMENTAL AND RESIDENTIAL. EACH CATEGORY HAS ITS OWN WAY
OF RUNNING PROJECTS, BUT ALL WILL FOLLOW THE CONSTRUCTION
MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY.
TRADITIONAL METHODS IN CONSTRUCTION LACKING AN ORGANIZED AND
SYSTEMATIC APPROACH ARE INADEQUATE, AND OFTEN LEAD TO
INEFFICIENCY AND WASTE. SOPHISTICATED INFORMATION AND DATA
HANDLING CAPABILITIES OF AN ELECTRONIC COMPUTER OFFER MANY
HELPFUL WAYS TO PRODUCE A BETTER CONTROL IN CONSTRUCTION
MANAGEMENT OF PROJECTS FOR LESS MONEY. COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
IN DESIGN PHASE OF THE PROJECT ARE VERY HELPFUL. DURING
CONSTRUCTION PHASE OF THE PROJECT, COMPUTER SERVES AS A
POWERFUL TOOL IN ORGANIZING THE THREE MAJOR AREAS: LOGISTICS
AND MATERIAL, CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION, AND PROJECT SCHEDULING
AND COST CONTROL. FUTURE PROMISES GREATER RESEARCH IN
BUILDING INFORMATION SYSTEMS.
THE MANAGEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IS HIGHLY DEMANDING
AND INVOLVES A WIDE A RANGE OF TASKS. IT INVOLVES ALL
MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS, FORMS OF ORGANIZATION, TECHNIQUES
AND TOOLS AND THE RANGE OF DUTIES EXPANDS WITH THE COMPLEXITY
OF THE PROJECT, AS DOES THE AMOUNT OF DATA. TOOLS ARE NEEDED
TO STORE AND PROCESS THE VERY LARGE AMOUNTS
OF INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ACCUMULATED AND AS A RESULT
VARIOUS TYPES OF SOFTWARE ARE AVAILABLE FOR
MANAGING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR PROJECT
MANAGEMENT BEGAN WITH THE IDEA THAT MATHEMATICAL,
NETWORK-BASED ANALYSIS OF LARGE-SCALE PROJECTS COULD REDUCE
TIME AND COSTS. IN THE LATE 1950S, TECHNIQUES SUCH
NAME: INSTRUCTOR:
TAMAYO, KARLO D. BSCE VC
PEREZ, QUEENIE D. BSCE VC ENGR. ROMEL N. VINGUA
LOPEZ, MICHELLE MAE G. BSCE VC
AS PERT (PROGRAMME EVALUATION AND REVIEW TECHNIQUE) AND CPM
(CRITICAL PATH METHOD) PROVIDED A BASIS FOR THE
COMPUTER-AIDED MANAGEMENT OF PROJECTS. SINCE
THEN SOFTWARE TOOLS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED WITH GREATER AND
GREATER FUNCTIONALITY.
TODAY, COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT CAN
SUPPORT PROJECT MANAGERS IN ALL OF THEIR TASKS:
COORDINATION:
IT CANNOT BE ASSUMED THAT EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION PROCESS
WILL EXIST IN 'TEMPORARY' CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ORGANIZATIONS.
THE DIVISION OF LABOR AND RESPONSIBILITIES, AS WELL AS THE
EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION AND THE WORKFLOW WITHIN IN
THE PROJECT, MUST BE PLANNED, IMPLEMENTED AND CONTROLLED.
DOCUMENTATION:
THE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS HAS TO BE DOCUMENTED THOROUGHLY AND
IN REAL TIME. ON THE ONE HAND, RECORDS MAY BE REQUIRED
FOR REGULATORY REASONS AND, ON THE OTHER, THEY ARE NEEDED FOR
MONITORING, CONTROLLING AND ACCOUNTING CONSTRUCTION PROCESSES.
CONTROL:
THE IDENTIFICATION OF DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN TARGET AND
ACTUAL PERFORMANCE IS ESSENTIAL TO TARGET-ORIENTED CONTROL.
ALL PROCESSES NEED TO BE MONITORED WITHIN A NARROW TIMEFRAME
TO ENSURE EFFECTIVE CORRECTIVE ACTIONS CAN BE TAKEN, IN
PARTICULAR, CONTROLLING QUALITY, COST AND PROGRAMME.
SCHEDULING SOFTWARE:
CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULING SOFTWARE IS USED TO PLAN, MONITOR AND
CONTROL PROJECT PROGRESS. BUFFERS AND THE
CORRESPONDING CRITICAL PATH CAN BE CALCULATED BASED ON
PROCESS DURATIONS, DEADLINES AND RELATIONSHIPS AND
APPROPRIATE RESOURCES CAN BE ASSIGNED. THE RESULTS ARE
USUALLY DISPLAYED IN THE FORM OF A GANTT CHART,
NETWORK PLAN OR LIST. BY ENTERING CURRENT DATA, THE USER IS
ABLE TO AUTOMATICALLY GENERATE APPROPRIATE TARGET-PERFORMANCE
COMPARISON.
RESEARCH TITLE: SHEET CONTENT:
COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT 10 19