Project Management in the Construction Industry
Description
Reader friendly guide to construction project management through the lens of PMI's PMBOK¯® Guide, with management and leadership soft skills
Comprehensive, up-to-date, and reader friendly, Project Management in the Construction Industry offers a construction-specific project management approach. This book focuses on project management in the construction industry, not just construction management--from project conception through to completion and even beyond. It includes guidance on project initiation in the private and public sector, real estate development, construction in the international environment, and key management and leadership soft skills for construction project management students entering the workforce.
This book offers practical examples and exercises by chapter using a step-by-step approach and includes real-world case studies to further aid in practical application. The author's well-known logical approach to the content allows readers to easily follow along and engage with the material. Instructors have access to an Instructor's Manual with solutions to all exercises, sample quizzes and exams, and PowerPoint lecture slides through the book companion website.
Written by a longtime professional and author with diversified and international experience in academia and industry, Project Management in the Construction Industry covers sample topics such as:
* Project life cycle and organization, covering why and how projects are initiated and pure project versus functional management
* Scope management, covering the decision making process, scope creep versus progressive elaboration, and cost of change versus time
* The planning phase, covering delivery methods and contract types, priorities, feasibility studies, and the "go" decision
* Project budgeting, financing, and cost management, covering direct versus indirect cost, classes and purposes of estimates, bonds and insurance, and the CSI MasterFormat
Using a project management approach customized to fit the construction industry specifically, Project Management in the Construction Industry is an essential learning resource on the subject for all students in project management courses and related programs of study.
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Person
Saleh Mubarak, PhD, is an independent consultant in the field of construction project management based in Tampa, Florida, focusing on training, writing, public speaking, and consulting. He is a former professor at a number of universities, an adjunct professor at the University of South Florida, and an active member of AACE International. He served on the PMI committee that created the first professional scheduler certification exam, PSP. He has more than 34 years of diversified and international experience including academia and industry.
Content
Special Request xvii
Introduction xix
About the Companion Website xxi
1 Introduction to Construction Project Management 1
Introduction 1
Basic Definitions 2
Why and How Projects Are Initiated 6
Project Lifecycle 7
Project Management 8
The Construction Industry 10
Professional Organizations Related to the Construction Industry 13
Project Manager's Qualifications 15
Project Manager's Team 17
The Project Management Office, PMO 18
Training, Continuing Education, and Certification 19
Project Participants and Stakeholders 21
Exercises 23
2 Architecture, Engineering, and Construction 25
Introduction 25
Designers and Field Operations 30
Exercises 31
3 Contracts and Contracting 33
Introduction 33
What is a Contract? 33
Types of Contracting Approaches (Procuring Contractors) 34
Bid Documents 36
To Bid or Not to Bid? 40
Contract Ethics 53
Exercises 54
4 The Planning Phase 57
Introduction 57
The Project Management Plan 58
Planning for Different Project Parties 59
Planning for a Project Owner 59
Planning for a Contractor 61
How Far Does the Contractor's Planning Go? 61
The Relationship Between the Owner, the Designer, and the Contractor 65
Exercises 69
5 Scope Management 71
Introduction 71
Scope Management 71
Exercises 80
6 Project Budgeting/Cost Management 83
Introduction 83
Cost Definitions 84
Types of Cost Estimates from Accuracy Perspective 87
The CSI MasterFormat 93
The CSI UniFormat 94
Direct versus Indirect Costs 95
Labor Cost 95
Equipment Cost 96
Materials Cost 97
Sales Taxes 105
Profit 105
Contingency Allowance 107
Sources of Cost Estimating Databases 109
Bonds and Insurance 110
Performance Bond 111
Payment Bond 112
Insurance 113
Bonds versus Insurance 115
Inflation/Escalation Allowance 116
Crew Productivity 117
Adjusting Estimates 118
Putting the Estimate Together 119
Cost Estimating Software Programs 120
Repricing Estimates 120
Exercises 122
7 Time Management 127
Introduction 127
Basic Definitions 127
History of Scheduling 128
Bar Charts 129
Logic Networks 131
The Creation of the Project Schedule 133
The Critical Path Method 142
Exercises 179
8 Project Controls 185
Introduction 185
The Baselines 185
Schedule Updating 186
Repercussions of Wrong/Inaccurate Remaining Duration 189
Project Control 191
Discussion on Measuring Work Progress and Percent Complete 199
Earned Value Management, EVM 199
Control Level 203
Exercises 204
9 Risk Management 209
Introduction 209
What is a Risk? 209
Risk Management 210
The Risk Management Plan 210
The Risk Register 211
Conclusion 219
Exercises 219
10 Managing the Contractor's Cash Flow 223
Introduction 223
What is Cash Flow? 223
11 Project Quality Management 241
Introduction 241
What is Quality? 241
Total Quality Management (TQM) 243
Elements of Quality Management in Construction 245
Quality Assurance versus Quality Assurance 245
Who Sets Quality Standards? 246
Kaizen (Continuous Improvement) 248
Lean Construction 249
Quality Records 252
Review of Shop Drawings 252
Cost of Quality 255
Is Quality Expensive? 256
Quality Improvement 258
Quality Management and Project Success 259
Exercises 259
12 Project Health, Safety, and the Environment (HSE) Management 261
Introduction 261
Definitions 261
Safety 262
Project HSE Management 264
Safety is Everyone's Responsibility 265
Preparing a Safety (or HSE) Management Plan 270
Cost of Safety Violations and Accidents 271
Environmental Preservation 272
Site Planning and Security 274
Exercises 276
13 Project Claims and Other Dispute Management 279
Introduction 279
Claims 279
Conclusion 290
Exercises 290
14 Project Completion, Close-Out, and Beyond 293
Introduction 293
The Termination of the Construction Project 293
The Transition Back to the Main (Home) Office 295
Crew Productivity 297
Project Success 302
Exercises 307
15 Project Administration and Corporate Management 311
Introduction 311
What does Project Administration Cover? 311
The Main Office and Projects Management 313
Multi-Project Management 314
Managing the Starting and Closing of Projects 315
Main Office and Regional Offices 317
Exercises 317
16 Soft Skills for Construction Project Management 321
Introduction 321
What are Soft Skills? 322
Time Management 324
Change Management 329
Leadership and Teambuilding 337
Conflict Management 342
Emotional Intelligence 347
Professionalism and Ethics 352
Exercises 356
17 Construction in the International Environment 361
Introduction 361
English is not English! 364
The "Background Paradigm" Syndrome 367
After the Completion of the Project 368
Exercises 368
18 Construction and Evolving Technology 371
Introduction 371
How Technology Impacted Projects' Design and Construction 372
Risk and Cost of Technology 375
Exercises 389
19 Management of Remodeling, Renovation, Restoration, Expansion, and Demolition Projects 391
Introduction 391
The General Challenges in These Projects 392
Demolition 392
Remodeling, Renovation, and Restoration Projects 395
Expansion and Retrofitting 397
Construction in Disaster Areas 397
Specialty Construction: 399
Exercises 399
20 Real Estate Development 401
Introduction 401
Why Real Estate Development? 401
The Business Side of Real Estate Development 402
Who is Involved in Real Estate Development? 402
Phases of Real Estate Development 403
Exercises 405
21 Construction Management from Owner/Client Perspective 407
Introduction 407
Project Cost to an Owner 407
Planning and the Decision-Making Process 410
The Owner's Organization - PMO's 410
Public Projects 411
Choosing the Contract Type and Delivery Method 412
Requiring and Approving a CPM Schedule 413
The Owner's Involvement During the Design and Construction Processes 413
General Recommendations for the Owner: 419
Exercises 420
Index 423
1
Introduction to Construction Project Management
Introduction
Management has been defined as the process of dealing with or controlling things or people1; however, the term management itself is widely understood and used in almost every facet of our personal and professional lives, for example:
- - Managing one's work duties.
- - Managing personal and family tasks.
- - Managing an organization for those who own or manage their businesses.
- - Managing personal finances.
- - For students, managing school duties.
- - For an administrator of an organization, managing the department under their responsibility.
This means that the person in charge (the manager) has to deal with all the human, financial, and other resources under his/her jurisdiction to achieve the set objectives.
What we manage ranges from simple tasks such as preparing a sandwich or a meal, to a complicated mega-project or program such as building a skyscraper or manufacturing a commercial jet. This takes us to the classification of these "pieces of work." Depending on size and complexity of this piece of work, we give each a different name, although this matter is somewhat subjective. In project management, we may call the small components an activity. In general, an activity (also called task) can be independent, such as making coffee or brushing one's teeth, or it can be part of a bigger and more complex scope of work, such as baking a cake for a birthday or wedding party or trimming a tree as part of garden maintenance.
In the management hierarchy, the higher the manager is, the greater his/her responsibility, authority, and jurisdiction get. In addition, especially in larger organizations, management is divided horizontally by specialty: Finance, IT, human resources, and so on.
Basic Definitions
In project management, a project is defined as a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result2. There are two keywords in the definition: temporary and unique:
- - Temporary because it has a start point and a finish point, and terminates in a deliverable: product (building, road, or refinery), service (repair, remodel, or demolish), or result (improve efficiency or reduce cost).
- - Unique because there are no two projects that are identical. Many people think of the project only from a design perspective (how it looks after completion), but the project in this context is the process that ends with the finished product. There are similar projects but not identical. They may differ in soil conditions, weather (at time of construction), labor productivity, cost, type and quality of materials, equipment used, site conditions, and circumstances (e.g., accidents).
Every project must have a starting point, a finishing point, and a deliverable (a product, service, or result).
Many of what we do in life are projects, but we never think of them this way. Think about it and give a few examples.
A typical project has components of different sizes and complexity, including activities, work packages (assemblies), and subprojects. An activity is a component of the project, which serves as a basic unit of work as part of the total project that is easily measured and controlled. It is time and resource consuming. This activity can be small such as stripping a column formwork or plumbing a vertical member, or as large as excavating 50,000 cubic yards of soil. However, for practical purposes, we like to limit the activity size to a reasonable range. This will be discussed later in subsequent chapters, mainly under the scheduling topic. Activities within a project are usually defined by breaking down the project into components we define as activities. This process depends on several factors that will also be discussed later.
Even though we look at the activity as the smallest component in construction project management, sometimes, we can even divide the activity into smaller components called steps. This may be necessary to distribute the cost or resources (called resource loading) over the duration of the activity.
A work package or assembly is simply a collection of related items or activities within a bigger scope of work (usually the project). The work package includes items assembled to form more comprehensive items to facilitate and speed up the construction process. It can be as small as a simple partition assembly or as large and complex as a 3D building component. It can be assembled onsite or delivered pre-assembled to the construction site. Compared to the auto industry, we can look at the finished automobile as the project, and the components such as upholstery, suspension systems, and the engine as assemblies.
A subproject is a smaller portion of the overall project created when a project is subdivided into more manageable components or pieces. It is not a stand-alone piece of work regardless of its size. A project may be divided into subprojects based on specialty, location, phase, or size. The subproject typically is composed of activities and work packages, and sometimes sub-subprojects.
A subproject is usually managed independently; however, it may affect and/or be affected by other subprojects in the overall project. It may even have smaller components, sub-subprojects. In fact, a large/complex project may be divided into subprojects, or it may be considered a program with its components as projects.
The idea of breaking up the project (or large/complex work) into smaller and more manageable and controllable components, is well-known to simplify and facilitate the management of the project.
We are now defining two terms representing a piece of work larger than a project: a program and a portfolio. There are similarities between them but there are traits that make them different.
A subproject cannot be considered a stand-alone project. It has to be a part of a project.
A program is a group of related projects, subsidiary programs, and program activities that are managed in a coordinated manner to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually3. Programs may include elements of related work outside of the scope of the discrete projects in the program.
Programs, such as projects, are temporary (start point and finish point), although many organizations have departments called programs that are continuous/perpetual. For example, a municipal government may have a stormwater program and a road maintenance program. These "programs" usually have an annual budget as well as an annual list of projects that can be performed within that budget. If we imagine a conventional program such as a box with many components inside (projects, activities, and subprograms), the "perpetual program" will then look like a conveyor belt: loading components and budget at its start and unloading finished projects at its end. A one-year snapshot of this conveyor belt will be a conventional program (Figures 1.1 and 1.2).
A portfolio is a collection of projects or programs and other work that are grouped together to facilitate effective management of that work to meet strategic business objectives. The projects or programs in the portfolio may not necessarily be dependent or directly related. An example of a portfolio is a group of projects that have one element in common, serving a strategic goal for the organization. It is like the retirement portfolio for a person: it may contain investment in different types of investments, for the purpose of providing the best and most secure retirement for the person.
Example on a program through a step:
- Program: Summer Olympic 2028 in Los Angeles
- Project: Constructing a new building to house athletes
- Subproject: Electrical work in the building project
- Work package: Foundation or roof assembly
- Activity: One spread footing
- Step: Setting the formwork for the spread footing
- Activity: One spread footing
- Work package: Foundation or roof assembly
- Subproject: Electrical work in the building project
- Project: Constructing a new building to house athletes
Figure 1.1 Programs, portfolios, and projects.
Figure 1.2 Activities, programs, portfolios, and projects.
Relating to the same example, think of a construction company that is contracted to perform part of the infrastructure work for the Summer Olympics in 2028, and the company may have a "City Works portfolio" that includes its portion of the Summer Olympics 2028 program in addition to other projects/works with the city outside the scope of the Summer Olympics. The entire portfolio serves a strategic goal for the company in its relationship with the city government. The city, on the other hand, may also have a portfolio that includes part of the Summer Olympics program as well as other projects/works that serve a strategic goal of "improvement of city infrastructure." In both examples, the portfolio overlaps with the program, but each is defined differently with different components and objectives.
Another example is obtaining a bachelor's degree for a high school senior. Let us assume the student is "good average," meaning he will pass all classes and graduate in 4 years:
- Program: Graduating with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering4
- Project: One semester
- Subproject: One course
- Work package: Homework (for the entire...
- Subproject: One course
- Project: One semester
