CIV-420 NOTES ON MANAGEMENT OF PROJECTS.

RELATIONSHIPS AND RESPONSIBILITIES, FROM BOTH THE CLIENTS AND CONTRACTORS PERSPECTIVE, Construction Management: Construction Project Management is the overall planning, coordination and control of a project from inception to completion aimed at meeting a clients requirements in order to produce a functionally and financially viable project. (CPM) is project management that applies to the construction sector.

The functions of construction project management typically include the following : 1. Specifying project objectives and plans including delineation of scope, budgeting, scheduling, setting performance requirements, and selecting project participants. 2. Maximizing resource efficiency through procurement of labor, materials and equipment. 3. Implementing various operations through proper coordination and control of planning, design, estimating, contracting and construction in the entire process. 4. Developing effective communications and mechanisms for resolving conflicts Models of construction management This function can be provided either internally or externally. DC: Document Control - A key function of a Project Manager. FBOT: finance build operate transfer BOT: build operate transfer DBOT: design build operate transfer BOO: build own operate EPC: engineering procurement construction PFI: private finance initiative GC: general contractor GMP: Guaranteed maximum price MPC: multiple prime contracts: UK: one contractor takes responsibility for the development (package deal) USA: a client may have 5 or 6 prime contractors

Business models for procurement of services

Typically the construction industry includes three parties: an owner, a designer (architect or engineer), the builder (usually called the general contractor). Traditionally, there are two contracts between these parties as they work together to plan, design, and construct the project. The first contract is the owner-designer contract, which involves planning, design, and construction administration. The second contract is the owner-contractor contract, which involves construction. An indirect third-party relationship exist between the designer and the contractor due to these two contracts. An alternate contract or business model replaces the two traditional contracts with three contracts: owner-designer, owner-construction project manager, and owner-builder. The construction project management company becomes an additional party engaged in the project to act as an advisor to the owner, to which they are contractually tied. The construction manager's role is to provide construction advice to the designer, on the owner's behalf, design advice to the constructor, again on the owner's behalf, and other advice as necessary.
Roles and Responsibilities Engineer

Work inspection Change orders Review payments Materials and samples Issuing drawings Settle disputes Clarify issues about contract documents Monitor progress

Construction Manager

The construction manager offers advice, uncolored by any conflicting interest, on matters such as:

Optimum use of available funds; Control of the scope of the work; Project scheduling; Optimum use of design and construction firms' skills and talents; Avoidance of delays, changes and disputes; Enhancing project design and construction quality; Optimum flexibility in contracting and procurement. Cash flow Management.

Comprehensive management of every stage of the project, beginning with the original concept and project definition, yields the greatest possible benefit to owners from Construction

Management. As time progresses beyond the pre-design phase, the CM's ability to effect cost savings diminishes.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing, and managing resources to achieve specific goals. A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or deliverables), undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast with business as usual (or operations), which are repetitive, permanent, or semi-permanent functional activities to produce products or services. In practice, the management of these two systems is often quite different, and as such requires the development of distinct technical skills and management strategies. The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and objectives while honoring the preconceived constraints. Typical constraints are scope, time, and budget. The secondaryand more ambitiouschallenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and integrate them to meet pre-defined objectives.

Processes

The project development stages Traditionally, project management includes a number of elements: four to five process groups, and a control system. Regardless of the methodology or terminology used, the same basic project management processes will be used. Major process groups generally include:

Initiation/(scoping) planning or development

production or execution (launching) monitoring and controlling closing

In project environments with a significant exploratory element (e.g., research and development), these stages may be supplemented with decision points (go/no go decisions) at which the project's continuation is debated and decided. An example is the stage-gate model.
INITIATING The initiating processes determine the nature and scope of the project. If this stage is not performed well, it is unlikely that the project will be successful in meeting the business needs. The key project controls needed here are an understanding of the business environment and making sure that all necessary controls are incorporated into the project. Any deficiencies should be reported and a recommendation should be made to fix them.

Planning and design

After the initiation stage, the project is planned to an appropriate level of detail (The main purpose is to plan time, cost and resources adequately to estimate the work needed and to effectively manage risk during project execution. As with the Initiation process group, a failure to adequately plan greatly reduces the project's chances of successfully accomplishing its goals. EXECUTING
Executing consists of the processes used to complete the work defined in the project plan to accomplish the project's requirements. Execution process involves coordinating people and resources, as well as integrating and performing the activities of the project in accordance with the project management plan. The deliverables are produced as outputs from the processes performed as defined in the project management plan and other frameworks that might be applicable to the type of project at hand. MONITORING AND CONTROL Monitoring and controlling consists of those processes performed to observe project execution so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective action can be taken, when necessary, to control the execution of the project. The key benefit is that project performance is observed and measured regularly to identify variances from the project management plan. CLOSING

Closing includes the formal acceptance of the project and the ending thereof. Administrative activities include the archiving of the files and documenting lessons learned. This phase consists of:

Project close: Finalize all activities across all of the process groups to formally close the project or a project phase Contract closure: Complete and settle each contract (including the resolution of any open items) and close each contract applicable to the project or project phase.

Project managers A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers can have the responsibility of the planning, execution, and closing of any project, typically relating to construction industry, engineering, architecture, computing, and telecommunications. Many other fields in the production engineering and design engineering and heavy industrial have project managers.

A project manager is the person accountable for accomplishing the stated project objectives. Key project management responsibilities include creating clear and attainable project objectives, building the project requirements, and managing the triple constraint for projects, which is cost, time, and scope. A project manager is often a client representative and has to determine and implement the exact needs of the client, based on knowledge of the firm they are representing. The ability to adapt to the various internal procedures of the contracting party, and to form close links with the nominated representatives, is essential in ensuring that the key issues of cost, time, quality and above all, client satisfaction, can be realized.
Project management triangle

The project management triangle

Like any human undertaking, projects need to be performed and delivered under certain constraints. Traditionally, these constraints have been listed as "scope," "time," and "cost".These are also referred to as the "project management triangle", where each side represents a constraint. One side of the triangle cannot be changed without affecting the others. A further refinement of the constraints separates product "quality" or "performance" from scope, and turns quality into a fourth constraint. The time constraint refers to the amount of time available to complete a project. The cost constraint refers to the budgeted amount available for the project. The scope constraint refers to what must be done to produce the project's end result. These three constraints are often competing constraints: increased scope typically means increased time and increased cost, a tight time constraint could mean increased costs and reduced scope, and a tight budget could mean increased time and reduced scope. The discipline of project management is about providing the tools and techniques that enable the project team (not just the project manager) to organize their work to meet these constraints.

Project start up
Pre-commencement meeting and start-up arrangements Once an award of contract has been made, a meeting is necessary with the selected contractor to make preparations for starting the contract. Such a pre-commencement (pre-construction) meeting will be attended by the employer or his key staff concerned, the engineer and his proposed resident engineer, and the contractors manager and agent. This is to effect introductions and exchange information about the principal initial matters concerning each party. Items which may need to be covered by this meeting are as follows: Exchange of addresses, telephone numbers, etc. and establishing agreed lines of communication.

 Clarifying the resident engineers delegated powers, and advising the contractor of his proposed staffing and supervisory arrangements. The contractors report on the agents experience in the type of work involved, in order that his appointment can be approved by the engineer. Any particular needs for temporary works designs or special methods of construction proposed. Arrangements for provision of sets of contract documents to the contractor and indication of any further drawings that will be supplied (e.g. bar schedules). Progress by the contractor in obtaining bonds and insurance (this is especially important where early access to site is expected since this may not be permitted until bond and insurance are secured). Proposed date for commencement, which, if not agreed, will be set by the engineer after taking the views of the contractor concerning his readiness to mobilize, and of the employer concerning the readiness of the site for occupation. The programme for construction which the contractor is to produce within 21 days of award of contract, and the consequent needs of the contractor in respect of further information and drawings to prevent delay. The contractors health and safety plan and how this will work in conjunction with the employers and engineers responsibilities for safety. Provisions for access to the site the employer may require for his own staff. Other matters which it might be important to consider include the siting of the

resident engineers offices, the services the contractor is to provide him with, and the layout of forms for monthly statements. This may not cover all the matters that may have to be discussed, and a further meeting may be needed to consider certain matters in more detail. The success of this meeting in establishing good working relationships can make an important contribution in setting the tone for subsequent co-operation.

(To be read with pg 268 Clough Project Meetings. This is distinctly different from PRE BID meeting pg 88 Clough)

Compressing the Project Schedule

Compressing or crashing the project schedule refers to the acceleration of the project activities in order to complete the project sooner. The time required to complete a project is determined by the critical path, so to compress a project schedule one must focus on critical path activities. A procedure for determining the optimal project time is to determine the normal completion time for each critical path activity and a crash time. The crash time is the shortest time in which an activity can be completed. The direct costs then are calculated for the normal and crash times of each activity. The slope of each cost versus time trade-off can be determined for each activity as follows: Slope = (Crash cost - Normal cost) / (Normal time - Crash time) The activities having the lowest cost per unit of time reduction should be shortened first. In this way, one can step through the critical path activities and create a graph of the total project cost versus the project time. The indirect, direct, and total project costs then can be calculated for different project durations. The optimal point is the duration resulting in the minimum project cost, as show in the following graph:

Project Cost Versus Duration

Attention should be given to the critical path to make sure that it remains the critical path after the activity time is reduced. If a new critical path emerges, it must considered in subsequent time reductions. To minimize the cost, those activities that are not on the critical path can be extended to minimize their costs without increasing the project completion time.