CONSTRUCTION PROJECT OBSTACLES

CONSTRUCTION PROJECT OBSTACLES

The construction projects are facing lot of hurdles in every stage. We can complete the projects successfully, only if we have proper plans to overcome the hurdles and risks. Here is the List of Obstacles, everyone facing in Construction Projects.

• Change of Goals

• Undefined Goals

• Poor Project Definition 

• Unrealistic Expectations (in time and Cost)

• Lack of Communication

• Inadequate Risk Management

• Inadequate Funding

• General Economic Conditions

• Materials Supply Problems

• Supplier Quality Obstacles

• Supplier Availability Difficulties

• Procurement Bottlenecks

• Hiring Barriers

• Difficulty in Meeting Performance Objectives

• Expectations Exceed Reality

• Poor Specifications

• Second Guessing Decisions

• Missing the Market Window

• Changes in Priorities

• Missing Performance Goals

• Personnel Diverted to Other Projects

• Lack of Management Support

• Lack of Customer Support

• Personality Conflicts

• Political Issues

• Intense Competition

• Committing to an Unproven Technology

• Personnel turnover

• Effects of Alternate Technologies

BASIC STEPS FOR EFFECTIVE CONSTRUCTION PLANNING

 EFFECTIVE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLANNING PROCESS

The basic steps in the management planning process involve creating a road map that outlines each task the company must accomplish to meet its overall objectives.

1. Establish Goals. ...

2. Gathering necessary Information

3. Identify Resources. ...

4. Establish Goal-Related Tasks. ...

5. Prioritize Goals and Tasks. ...

6. Create Assignments and Timelines. ...

7. Establish Evaluation Methods.

8. Identify Alternative Courses of Action:

• Even the best-laid plans can sometimes be thrown off track by unanticipated events. A management plan should include a contingency plan if certain aspects of the master plan prove to be unattainable. Alternative courses of action can be incorporated into each segment of the planning process, or for the plan in its entirety.

9. Implementation of Plans: 

     The last and major step in planning process is the implementation part. The planning should be put into action so that business objectives may be achieved. The implementation will require establishment of policies, procedures, standards and budgets. Look for 

 •      Automation Opportunities
• Material Handling
• Duplication
• Redundancy
• Decisions
• Delays
• Rework Loops
• Non-Value Added Steps vs. Value-Added Steps

PROCESS MAPPING FOR PLANNING

RESOURCE PLANNING

• MATERIALS

• MANPOWER

• TOOLS & MACHINERY

MANPOWER

 ORGANISING THE PROJECT EXECUTION TEAM

a. Appointing Project head & technical team (HR & management)

b. Project head will form the rest of the team

c. Project head will allocate the responsibilities of staff

d. Submitting RR of staff to management

 LABOUR CONTRACTORS

a. Execution team will find out the suitable labour contractors

b. Getting quotations from labour contractors

c. Submitting quotations of contractors and get approval from management

d. Work orders with detailed specifications and rates will be prepared

e. Releasing of work order and starting the work

 SPECIALISED AGENCIES (FOR WORKS LIKE PILING, STP, ETC.)

a. Identifying the specialized works in the Project

b. Finding out the agencies, contractors or people who are doing that works

c. Getting quotation for the works

d. Submitting quotations of contractors and get approval from management

e. Work orders with detailed specifications and rates will be prepared

f. Releasing of work order and starting the work

MATERIALS

• Site infrastructure – Barrication, site office, stores, cement godown, steel yard, labour sheds, borewells, power supply, logistics, shuttering materials storage

• Cement & steel

• Bulk materials- sand, aggregates, M-sand, quarry dust, hollow blocks, bricks, stones

• Doors & Windows

• Flooring materials and wall tiles

• Painting materials

• Water proofing materials and admixtures

• Electrical & Plumbing materials

• Amenities like lift, play area materials

TOOLS & MACHINERY

 Concrete mixture machines

 Vibrators, Earth Rammers, Bar cutting machines

 Grinding, Chipping, drilling, demolishing tools

 Props and spans

 Shuttering sheets

 Scaffolding materials

 Lab Equipment

 Safety materials

 Vehicles

SCHEDULING   - Types of Schedules reqd.

• Drawings Schedule
• Material Schedule
• Staff Schedule
• Labour Schedule
• Special Sub-contractors Schedule
• Plant & Equipment Schedule
• Billing / Invoice Schedule
• Financial Schedules - Working capital, cash inflow and outflow, Direct and indirect costs

FINANCIAL PLANNING

• Preparation of BOQ

• Preparation of requirement of materials in the overall cycle of project

• Preparation of Budgets

• Cash flow throughout Project Cycle

CONSTRUCTION PROJECT QUALITY PLAN (PQP)

The Project Quality Plan (PQP) for construction work is a written plan which serves as the basis for the overall Project Quality Assurance System and identifies the Quality requirements, methods to achieve Project Quality objectives & continual improvements during the work execution.

PQP addresses the management of quality assurance activities such as the following:

1. Management Review Procedure

2. Internal & External Audit

3. Planning & Scheduling procedure

4. Project Progress Reporting Procedure

5. Pre-qualification Documents

6. Nonconformance Procedure/Control of Nonconformities

7. Document & Data Control procedure /Control of documents & data’s, receipts, correspondences, drawings, control of quality records.

8. Procurement Procedure

9. Material Control Procedure

10. Control of Inspection, Measurement & Testing Services

11. Laboratory & Sampling Procedure

12. Procedure for the Management of change

13. Corrective & Preventive Action Procedure

14. Design Measurement & Control Procedure

PQP is a structured document that outlines how you’ll handle quality on a particular construction project. Every Project needs  project quality control plan, organization quality manual, and standard operating procedures for effective Project management.

SAFETY PLAN

A construction safety plan is a document that outlines the procedures, rules, and regulations that are or will be put in place to protect workers over the course of a construction project. The document should not only focus on preventing accidents but also lay out responses to safety incidents, including rescue operations, emergency medical services, and post-incident review processes.

A construction safety plan should at a minimum include the following:

Responsibilities and chains of command: Who is primarily responsible for safety on the site? Who is responsible in their absence? Which members of the on-site team have completed first aid or other types of emergency response training?

Medical response: What medical services or devices are available on-site? How will emergency responders be contacted in the event of an injury, fire, or rescue?

Inspections: How and how often are safety inspections going to be carried out? Who will perform them?

Communication: How will safety protocols, procedures, and other information be communicated to workers? Who will conduct toolbox talks? What tasks will require a brief refresher any time a new employee is assigned to them?

Cleaning and organization: What regular housekeeping tasks are required? Who will be tasked with completing them and who is charged with ensuring that all equipment is properly stored after the work is completed or suspended for the day?

Safety gear: What PPE will be required for which tasks? How often must it be inspected or replaced?

Accident reporting: What are the post-accident procedures? How will incidents be documented?

Contractor management: How will contractor and contractor safety and training be ensured?

✡️ "If you fail to Plan - it is a Plan to fail"

USEFUL GUIDE TO CONSTRUCTION PLANNING

 CONSTRUCTION PLANNING

What is Planning?

Planning is the Process of formulating time based action for coordinating various activities and resources to achieve specific objectives.

Planning - 'What" is going to be done, 'How", 'Where', 'by Whom', and 'When'
                  

Construction Planning is the process of developing construction Project Plan.

Attributes for Construction Planning

• Decision making
• Information gathering
• Identifying / defining activities
• Creativity
• Flexibility
• Inter relationships

Construction Project Planning

1.Design & Drawings Plan

• Conceptual design - Preparing Conceptual sketches and Proposal Analysis
• Schematic design - Approval of Schematic drawings, Preparing cost projections
• Preparing detailed design & drawings, BOQ, specifications, revised cost projections, milestone compleetion schedule
• Preparing drawing schedules, shop drawings and specifications
• Organising the drawings

Preparing Specifications

• Qualitative requirements for the products, materials and workmanship upon which the design is based
• Description in words about the work to be done, the quality of materials and workmanship, the method of construction, the method of testing etc.
• Client's developed standards

2. Time Plan

Time Plan refers the Scheduling - the process of putting the project plan on a Calender time scale.

Benefits of Scheduling

• Schedule simplifies Plan with Barchart, useful in Planning, coordination, Execution and control.

• Schedule Validates time objectives and verifies the accomplishment of tasks on dates imposed for completion of project.

• Schedule aids in the optimization of resources employed and economical use of resources of men, materials and machinery

• Schedule enables forecasting of input resources and earned value in terms of investment, expenditure, output and income

• Scheduling brings out implications of time and resources constraints.

• Monitoring of Projects against the scheduled baseline

Types of Schedules

• Drawings Schedule
• Material Schedule
• Staff Schedule
• Labour Schedule
• Special Sub-contractors Schedule
• Plant & Equipment Schedule
• Invoice Schedule
• Financial Schedules - Working capital, cash inflow and outflow, Direct and indirect costs

3. Resources Plan

• Types of Resources (Labour, Materials and Equipment)
• Total quantities of each resource type
• Roles, responsibilities and skill-sets of all human resources
• Items, purposes and specifications of all equipment resource
• Items and quantities of material resource

A schedule is assembled for each type of resource so that the Project manager can assess the resource allocation of each stage in the projects.

4.Finance Plan

Similar to the Resource plan, a Financial Plan is prepared to identify the quantity of money required for each stage in the project. The total cost of labour, materials and equipment is quantified and an expense schedule is defined which provides the Project manager with an understanding of the forecast spending vs the actual spending throughout the project.

Preparing a detailed Financial Plan is extremely important as the project's success will depend on whether or not it is delivered within the time, cost and quality estimates for this project.

5.Quality assurance Plan

Meeting the quality expectations of the customer is critical to the success of the project. To ensure that the quality expectations are clearly defined and can resonably be achieved, a Quality Plan is documented. The Quality Plan:

• Defines what quality means in terms of the project
• Lists clear and unambiguous quality targets for each deliverable. each quality target provides a set of criteria and standards which must be achieved to meet the expectations of the customer.
• Outlines a plan of activities which will assure the customer that the quality targets will be met.
• Identifies the techniques used to control the actual level of quality of each deliverable as it is built.

Finally, it is important to review the quality not only of the deliverables produced by the project but also of the management processes which produce them.

A summary of each of the management processes undertaken during the execution phase is identified, including Time, Cost, Quality , Change, Risk, issue, procurement, Acceptance and Communication management.

6. Safety Plan

Prepare a detailed Safety Plan which involves every activity of the Project. The safety Plan includes:

• Personal Protective Equipments (PPE) required
• Barrication, safety nets, guard rails and Protective systems required
• Precautionary measured to be taken while each activity (eg. Earth work , Concreting)
• Safety staffs required to manage, based on the size and activities of the project
• House keeping requirements
• Essentials like Lighting, Fire safety
• Any special precaution to activities like electrical, scaffolding, people working in high places

Creating the safer environment to work will improve the success level of the project.

PROJECT PLANNING STEPS

• Define Scope of work, method statement and sequence of work
  
• Generate Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to produce a complete list of activities
• Develop Organisational Breakdown Structure (OBS) and link it with WBS to identify responsibilities
• Determine relationship between activities
• Estimate activities time duration, cost expenditure and resource requirement
• Develop the Project network

FIVE LEVELS OF WBS

1. The entire project
2. Independent areas
3. Physically identifiable section fully contained in  level -2 - reflect construction strategy
4. Desciplines setup schedule
5. Master Schedule activities, quantity and duration

ACTIVITIES

• Function in the project that consumes time, resources and cost

• 3 types of activities
•  - Production Activity, Procurement Activity and Management Activity

A GOOD PROJECT PLAN

• Involves advance thinking as to what is to be done, what are the activities, how it is to be done, when it is to be done, where it is to be done, what is needed to do it and how to ensure that it is done.

• Provides the yardstick for measuring progress and evaluating resources performance

• Provide the basis for coordinating the efforts of clients, consultants, architects, designers, quantity surveyors, specialists, suppliers, contractors and the project staff

• Has build in flexibility in the form of floats, to navigate changes in the planned path for meeting fast changing environments

• Creates healthy environment and make people time, cost and quality conscious

Well conceived Project plan, developed before the commencement of project execution stage 

- making project successful in scope and profit.
- can go long way to  prevent project collapse due to various aspects

✡️ "If you fail to Plan - it is a Plan to fail"