PLANNING
Step 1: Construction Project Planning
The preparation of a good construction plan is the basis for developing the budget and the schedule for work. It will involve the definition of work tasks and their interactions, as well as the assessment of required resources (plant, material and labour) and expected activity durations. All project plans will be contractually compliant.
On less predictable projects, the scheduling of work activities over time is an important part of the construction planning process. Construction planning techniques like the Critical Path Method (CPM) and Programme Evaluation & Review Technique (PERT) are utilized
In construction project planning, I consider and integrate both cost and scheduling over time, hence the planning, monitoring and record keeping must consider both dimensions.
Costs for each activity will be attributed to each resource, which in turn, provides a total project cost. The project plan will be optimized to achieve an efficient balance between resource usage and project duration. Once the plan has been developed and agreed, the plan becomes will be the baseline against which progress will be measured throughout the project.
The progress is analyzing compared to the baseline ( earned value analysis.) The baseline will be updated on a regular basis to account for project changes such as additional works and variations and to develop mitigation strategies if delay or disruption has occurred (change management)
Using Primavera, robust and dynamic models will be developed which can be used for change management, project monitoring, delay analysis and project forecasting.
.
Step 2: Construction Scheduling
In this stage the timing and sequence of project operations and estimates their intended design, fabrication and assembly times to provide the overall project completion period will be determined. The schedule will reflect the project plan produced before.
The schedule will consists of activities or tasks representing a project plan in a logical order with intended start and finish dates. The construction schedule is the means of communicating the project plan to the team, to control the project and to provide the information required for effective decision making. For complex projects, Critical Path Method (CPM) will be used.
The schedule will enable the work to be organised, sequenced and controlled. Using Primavera a networks will be produced; this will shows the sequence of work, interrelationships and interdependencies between activities. Material, plant and labour resources will be assigned to each activity. This will help the managers to predict completion, based on the resources available, and allows the adjustment of crew sizes, shifts or equipment to accelerate or slow down progress depending on project performance.
A work breakdown structure (WBS) is essential for a properly structured schedules This will defines and organises the total scope of a project, using a hierarchical tree structure. The estimated effort for each task will be identified, as well as the resources required for each task and their availability. Note that if this information is not carefully prepared using trustworthy sources of information, the schedule will be too inaccurate to be used to accurately measure and monitor project progress. The importance in obtaining buy-in from those who will undertake the works and in liaising with people experienced in the particular method of construction cannot be underestimatedt.
The main components used in establishing a project plan are as follows:
1. The required project start date
2. The required project completion date
3. The appropriate project methodology or project life cycle is selected
4. The scope of the project in terms of the phases is determined
5. The project review methods to be used is selected
6. All required milestones are identified
7. The tasks are listed by project phase
8. The resources necessary to accomplish each task are estimated
9. The resource available to accomplish each task are determined
10. The task dependencies are determined
- Which tasks can be done in parallel
- Which tasks require the completion of other tasks
11. The project control and/or review points are established
12. Project cost estimation and cost-benefit analysis are performed
