Controlling Construction Project Term-Paper (Term Paper Sample)

Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Management
13th Oct 2013
Controlling Construction Project
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The need to control construction projects cannot be over-stated. Project managers must therefore endeavor to come up with measures to ensure optimum utilization of resources and achieve high quality. Cost and time are important factors that managers should consider. Inefficient managers escalate cost and spend more time in a project that would have cost less. Some of these managers are out rightly incompetent while others are plainly unscrupulous. Over time, construction experts have developed control measures to ensure that resources and time do not go into drain or escalate unnecessarily. Lester, Albert, and Albert Lester itemize these measures as “schedules, budget, inspection, meetings, reports, records, monitoring and evaluation” (54). With advancement in technology, project managers now have personal locators and biometrics at their disposal.
Introduction
Contractors and clients expect project managers to finish their projects in time, within the cost, and attain high quality. Those project managers who are able to do that win accolades, more contracts and higher job profiles. The objective is usually to achieve the best quality with the least cost. It therefore goes that cost control is an important component of project control. Cooke, Brian, and Peter Williams define cost control as “the process where the construction cost of the project is managed through the best methods and techniques so that the contractor does not suffer losses when carrying out the activities of the project” (65). Attaining cost control is rather arduous but possible. Project control should commence from preparation, followed through by proper inspection, supervision and motivation of labor, and sustained by open and meaningful communication. It is the role of project managers to ensure timely completion of projects at low cost while keeping focus on the objectives of the project. This paper will extrapolate several methods for controlling construction projects that managers use and demonstrate that the key to success lies in prudent decision-making.
Control Methods
Project Planning
Meaningful project control begins before the actual construction. Failure to plan makes cost control during construction hard to achieve. Proper preparation involves site inspection, weather forecast, contracting reliable suppliers, acquiring enough and dependable labor and seeking authorization from relevant bodies. Managers prepare budgets at this stage to ensure that once the project commences, it will run the full course without financial hiccups. Sutt argues that project preparation is very important for mangers to ignore, or do poorly, as it often leads to “cost and time overruns, conflicts, and sometimes abandoning projects” (65). Managers can use charts to diminish complexities of construction projects. Charts enable managers to divide tasks to particular individual(s) and thus make the project manageable. Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) charts helps in arranging tasks in order of priority and thus makes it easy for managers to understand what to do first. On the other hand, Gantt charts provide the project’s direction in a systematic way that indicates the time for each task. A combination of PERT and Gantt charts allows project managers to manage financial resources, time, and labor.
Cost Control
Cost control entails allocating resources to specific tasks and following up to ensure optimal utilization. Griffin advises that project managers should be hands-on by appending his/her signature to every purchase and payment (65). He argues that if the manager is to delegate this responsibility, he/she should select “the right man for the right job, the right equipment and tools for the right work and the right quality of materials, in the right quantity, from the right source, at the right price and delivered at the right time” (65). Cost control involves proper supervision so that there is no wastage of materials during the ordering process, construction, and final process. There should be good storage in order to avoid deterioration of materials through exposure to extreme weather conditions. Managers ensure that there is proper security to check against theft. Accounting officers should keep proper records to enhance accountability as a component of cost control.
Wherever possible, managers mechanize activities as a method of cost control. This way, wastage of materials will be minimal and the project cost will not escalate. In cases where human labor is used, managers should supervise and motivate at the same time to avoid labor wastage. Griffin estimate that in developing countries, 30% of the time laborers engage in activities that are not important to the construction project (65). As a cost control measure, project managers should carry out continuous evaluation of workers, compile reports, conduct periodical meetings, inspect workers, and keep proper records.
Schedule Control
Project managers schedule tasks appropriately in order to keep everything within the budget and avoid delays. Sears et.al observes that in a construction project, different tasks are “mutually interdependent because commencement of one task depends on the success of the previous success” (65). One method of schedule control is to set targets, follow them through, and verify that the final product is what the client desired. Similarly, project managers can use external events such as authorization to proceed to the next construction phase to check on progress. However, the best method for schedule control is for the project manager to visit the site regularly so that he r she can note any defect in time and correct it.
Quality and Safety Control
Quality control is very important for construction project managers because, ultimately, clients and the public will judge him or her according to value of the structure. Managers therefore employ proper methods to identify the quality desired, follow up to ensure that the correct quality is procured and lastly ensure that the client get value for money. Defects can lead to loss of money in reconstruction and even loss of life if the building collapses. Managers control quality through statistical methods such as attribute and variable sampling.
Sampling by attributes seeks to classify building materials as either acceptable or deficient. In the process, project managers and their teams take the materials through a series of tests. Using probability, materials are classified as appropriate, or otherwise, for building. The data is then computed using computer applications. This quality control safeguards against using defective building materials that will in future jeopardize lives and escalate cost. Different countries have set different standards of construction materials for different regions, height and purpose of building. Statistical control by variables sets the upper and lower limit for quality of materials. Instead of using samples, the control method subjects the entire lot of building materials to systematic tests against certain variables.
Safety control methods seek to ensure that constructors are safe from any harm in the course of their work. Griffin asserts that the construction sector in the United States accounted for 6% of the total reported injuries (54). This is a big number and construction project managers have to think of ways to reduce injuries in their sites. The best time to put safeguards against injuries is during the planning stage. Managers therefore put up designs that enhance safety, employ technology where possible, and provide protective gears to laborers.
Current Trend in Controlling Construction Projects
Personal Locators and Biometrics
As observed in the discussions above, most of the control methods that managers employ require physical presence. Additionally, there are not tamper proof. While managers can employ security guards to keep off unauthorized persons from the site, it is sometimes impossible to ensure total compliance. For these reasons, project managers are employing technology to monitor their sites and supervise workers. In China for instance, managers are using biometric technology to keep off unauthorized persons from their sites. Technology experts feed workers’ data into computer systems including their biometrics. Once a worker turns up at the site, the machines are able to detect his/her records and verify whether he is authorized into the site. This tamper proof method enhances security, inspect sites, and ensure that laborers spend their time in activities that add value to the project.
Hand Readers biometrics save time taken to inspect workers thus dedicating more time to the core duties. In a matter of seconds, a worker’s identity is verified at the entrance point. Sutt observes that biometrics is efficient since workers cannot forget them at home, they are safe, and can withs...