SITE OBSERVATION - ROLE OF ARCHITECT OR ENGINEER DURING CONSTRUCTION BASICS AND TUTORIALS

SITE OBSERVATION - ROLE OF ARCHITECT OR ENGINEER DURING CONSTRUCTION BASIC
Site Observation Role Of Architect Or Civil Engineer During Civil Projects


Site Observation
As part of their ongoing services during construction, and depending on the scale and complexity of the project, architects and engineers may make periodic site visits or maintain full-time representation on site during a portion or all of the construction period.

The professional’s role is to expedite day-to-day communication and decision making by having on-site personnel available to respond to required drawing and specification clarifications.

Site-observation requirements for the project should be discussed with the client at the onset of the project and be outlined in the architect-client agreement. Many clients prefer periodic or regularly scheduled site visits by the design professional.

A provision for additional or full-time on-site representation, however, can be addressed in the agreement, and compensation for this additional service can be outlined in the agreement for discussion with the client later in the development process or during the construction phase.

The client and the architect and engineer should agree on the appropriate amount of site visitation provided in the architect’s basic services to allow adequate site-observation services based on specific project conditions.

If periodic site observations are made, the architect should report such observations to the client in written form. This should call attention to items observed that do not meet the intent of the construction documents.

It is normally left to the client to reject or replace work unless such defective work involves life safety, health, or welfare of the building occupants or is a defect involving structural integrity.

If the architect provides full-time site observation services, daily or weekly reports should be issued to the client outlining items observed that are not in accordance with the construction documents or design intent.

TYPES OF SPECIFICATION IN CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECTS BASIC AND TUTORIALS

SPECIFICATION TYPES IN CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECTS BASIC INFORMATION
What Are The Types Of Specification In Civil Engineering Projects?

Technical requirements may be specified in different ways, depending on what best meets the client’s requirements. One or more of the following types of technical specifications may be used for a building project.


Descriptive Specifications. These describe the components of a product and how they are assembled. The specification writer specifies the physical and chemical properties of the materials, size of each member, size and spacing of fastening devices, exact relationship of moving parts, sequence of assembly, and many other requirements.

The contractor has the responsibility of constructing the work in accordance with this description. The architect or engineer assumes total responsibility for the function and performance of the end product. Usually, architects and engineers do not have the resources, laboratory, or technical staff capable of conducting research on the specified materials or products.

Therefore, unless the specification writer is very sure the assembled product will function properly, descriptive specifications should not be used.

Reference Specifications. These employ standards of recognized authorities to specify quality. Among these authorities are ASTM, American National Standards Institute, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., American Institute of Steel Construction, American Concrete Institute, and American Institute of Timber Construction.

An example of a reference specification is: Cement shall be portland cement conforming to ASTM C150, ‘‘Specification for Portland Cement,’’ using Type 1 or Type 11 for general concrete construction. Reputable companies state in their literature that their products conform to specific recognized standards and furnish independent laboratory reports supporting their claims.

The buyer is assured that the products conform to minimum requirements and that the buyer will be able to use them consistently and expect the same end result. Reference specifications generally are used in conjunction with one or more of the other types of specifications.

Proprietary Specifications. These specify materials, equipment, and other products by trade name, model number, and manufacturer. This type of specification simplifies the specification writer’s task, because commercially available products set the standard of quality acceptable to the architect or engineer.

Sometimes proprietary specifications can cause complications because manufacturers reserve the right to change their products without notice, and the product incorporated in the project may not be what the specifier believed would be installed. Another disadvantage of proprietary specifications is that they may permit use of alternative products that are not equal in every respect.

Therefore, the specifier should be familiar with the products and their past performance under similar use and should know whether they have had a history of satisfactory service. The specifier should also take into consideration the reputation of the manufacturers or subcontractors for giving service and their attitude toward repair or replacement of defective or inferior work.

Under a proprietary specification, the architect or engineer is responsible to the client for the performance of the material or product specified and for checking the installation to see that it conforms with the specification. The manufacturer of the product specified by the model number has the responsibility of providing the performance promised in its literature.

In general, the specification writer has the responsibility of maintaining competition between manufacturers and subcontractors to help keep costs in line. Naming only one supplier may result in a high price. Two or more names are normally supplied for each product to enhance competition.

Use of ‘‘or equal’’ should be avoided. It is not fully satisfactory in controlling quality of materials and equipment, though it saves time in preparing the specification. Only one or two products need to be investigated and research time needed to review other products is postponed.

Base-Bid Specifications. These establish acceptable materials and equipment by naming one or more (often three) manufacturers and fabricators. The bidder is required to prepare a proposal with prices submitted from these suppliers. Usually, base-bid specifications permit the bidder to submit substitutions or alternatives for the specified products.

When this is done, the bidder should state in the proposal the price to be added to, or deducted from, the base bid and include the name, type, manufacturer, and descriptive data for the substitutions. Final selection rests with the client. Base-bid specifications often provide the greatest control of quality of materials and equipment, but there are many pros and cons for the various types of specifications, and there are many variations of them.

PROJECT ESTIMATOR ROLE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECT GUIDE AND TUTORIALS

PROJECT ESTIMATOR ROLE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECT
What Is The Role Of Project Estimator In Civil Engineering Project?


The estimator for the project will be involved with putting together conceptual budgets, design development budgets, and progress construction document estimates, and preparing the project budgets including subcontractor trade costs, general conditions costs, contingencies, fees, insurances, and analysis of the subcontractors bids.

The estimator must have a full understanding of all aspects of the construction process, the delineation of the work among the subcontractor trades and jurisdictions, cost of construction materials, cost of construction personnel, and appropriate mark ups in order to put together meaningful estimates and budgets for the project.

During the preconstruction phase, the estimator will play a key role in working with the project team to define the project scope, design intent, architectural finishes, engineering systems, specialty items, long lead items, appropriate inflation, and contingency factors to develop a meaningful estimate for the project.

If the estimate is too high or too low, it can significantly affect the feasibility and scope of the project and cause a creditability problem for the CM/GC. The estimator must have a sixth sense and a magic scale to weigh and assess matters to come up with a meaningful estimate for the project, even when there is little documentation from the design team on which to base it.

Estimates during the preconstruction phase of the project are often done on an order of magnitude basis or by cost per square foot, cost per Btu of cooling or heating, and cost per kilowatt of electrical load. Often, allowances may be made where sufficient definition of the exact scope of certain items, such as the lobby, plaza, roof garden, and signage is not available.

In these cases, a target allowance is helpful for the entire project team to manage the design and engineering of the area or system. The estimator will usually work out of the home office during this phase of the project.

During the bid and award process, the estimator will be involved with developing the list of perspective bidders, screening and finalizing the list of bidders, developing bid packages, receiving bids, analyzing and leveling bids, recommending award of subcontracts, and reviewing the bid for completeness, qualification and exclusions, and unit prices.

This is a very important and critical task; if the subcontractor is not scoped out properly and is awarded without a complete project purchase, the amount of change orders and claims thereafter can be significant and have a negative impact on the project. The estimator will usually work out of the on-site project office for all phases of the project.

During the construction phase, the estimator will be involved with pricing change orders for bulletins, sketches, field information memos (FIMs), requests for information (RFIs), and reviewing subcontractor’s claims for extra work as it relates to their contracts.

All allowances that may have been included in a subcontract need to be accounted for and reconciled as the final scope of work and project is defined.

During the project close-out phase, the estimator will be finalizing all subcontractor final contract amounts, including all base contract amounts, approved change orders, adjustment of allowances, back charges, etc. to determine the final contract price for each subcontractor.

You want to be a project estimator? Give us your thoughts and leave a comment. :)

CIVIL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT COST CONTROL BASIC AND TUTORIALS

CIVIL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT COST CONTROL BASIC INFORMATION
How To Control  Civil Construction Project Cost?


It is during the design stage that measures to keep the cost of a project within a budget figure are most effective. All possible savings in design need to be sought, not only because this is manifestly in the interests of the employer, but because there are sure to be some unforeseen extra costs that need to be offset by any savings that can be made.

Alternative designs of layout or of parts of the works have often to be studied before the most economic solution is found; hence completion of all design before starting construction makes a major contribution to controlling project cost.

The most prolific causes of extra cost are:

• not completing the design of the works in all essentials before the contract for construction is let;
• not allowing adequate site investigations to take place;
• encountering unforeseen conditions;
• making changes to the works during construction.

The first two listed above can be avoided by taking the appropriate measures. The third, however, is not avoidable even if the site investigations have been as reasonably extensive as an experienced engineer would recommend.

The last – changes during construction – can be minimized by ensuring designs are complete before construction commences, and that the employer takes time to assure himself that the works as designed are what he wants. But some changes are unavoidable if, during construction, the employer finds changed economic conditions, new requirements or more up-to-date plant, or new legislation forces him to make a change.

The designer should keep aware of possible changes to the employer’s needs and other technical developments, and not so design the works that possible additions or alterations are precluded or made unacceptably expensive.

If tenders are received which exceed the budget estimate by so large a sum that the employer cannot accept any tender, means of reducing the cost may have to be sought. Generally speaking, down-sizing a part or the whole of the works is usually not as successful in reducing costs as omitting a part of the works.

Reducing the output of some works or the size of a structure by 25 per cent, for instance, seldom results in more than 10 per cent saving in cost, and can make restoration at a later date to the full output or size an expensive and uneconomic proposition.

If the employer can find some part of the works which can be omitted, this is a more secure way of reducing the cost of a project, and it should be possible to negotiate such an omission with the preferred tenderer.

LABOR COST ESTIMATING IN CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION PROJECT TUTORIALS

LABOR COST ESTIMATES TUTORIALS ON CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECTS
How To Make Labor Costing Estimates For Civil Engineering Projects?


Cost of Labor
For a detailed estimate, it is imperative that the cost of labor resources be determined with precision. This is accomplished through a three-part process from data in the construction bidding documents that identify the nature of work and the physical quantity of work.

The first step in the process involves identifying the craft that will be assigned the work and determining the hourly cost for that labor resource. This is termed the labor rate.

The second part of the process involves estimation of the expected rate of work accomplishment by the chosen labor resource. This is termed the labor productivity.

The third step involves combining this information by dividing the labor rate by the labor productivity to determine the labor resource cost per physical unit of work. The labor cost can be determined by multiplying the quantity of work by the unit labor resource cost.

Labor Rate — The labor rate is the total hourly expense or cost to the contractor for providing the particular craft or labor resource for the project. This labor rate includes direct costs and indirect costs.

Direct labor costs include all payments made directly to the craftsworkers. The following is a brief listing of direct labor cost components:

1. Wage rate
2. Overtime premium
3. Travel time allowance
4. Subsistence allowance
5. Show-up time allowance
6. Other work or performance premiums

The sum of these direct labor costs is sometimes referred to as the effective wage rate. Indirect labor costs include those costs incurred as a result of use of labor resources but which are not paid directly to the craftsworker. The components of indirect labor cost include the following:


1. Vacation fund contributions
2. Pension fund contributions
3. Group insurance premiums
4. Health and welfare contributions
5. Apprenticeship and training programs
6. Workers’ compensation premiums
7. Unemployment insurance premiums
8. Social security contribution
9. Other voluntary contribution or payroll tax

It is the summation of direct and indirect labor costs that is termed the labor rate — the total hourly cost of providing a particular craft labor resource. Where a collective bargaining agreement is in force, most of these items can be readily determined on an hourly basis.

Others are readily available from insurance companies or from local, state, and federal statutes. Several of the direct cost components must be estimated based on past records to determine the appropriate allowance to be included.

These more difficult items include overtime, show-up time, and performance premiums. A percentage allowance is usually used to estimate the expected cost impact of such items.

Labor Productivity — Of all the cost elements that contribute to the total project construction cost, labor productivity ranks at the top for variability. Because labor costs represent a significant proportion of the total cost of construction, it is vital that good estimates of productivity be made relative to the productivity
that will be experienced on the project.

Productivity assessment is a complex process and not yet fully understood for the construction industry.
The following example illustrates the calculation of a unit price from productivity data.


Example 11
To form 100 square feet of wall requires 6 hours of carpenter time and 5 hours of common laborer time. This assumption is based on standards calculated as averages from historical data. The wage rate with burdens for carpenters is $60.00/h. The wage rate with burdens for common laborers is $22.00/h.

Solution. The unit cost may be calculated as follows:
This labor cost is adjusted for the following conditions:
Carpenter — 6 h at $60.00/h = $360.00
Laborer — 5 h at $22.00/h = $110.00
Total labor cost for 100 ft2 = $470.00
Weather adjustment 1.05
Job complexity 1.04
Crew experience 0.95
Management 1.00
Labor cost per ft2 = $470.00 100 ft2 = $4.70 ft2
Adjusted unit cost = 4 70 ¥ 1 05 ¥ 1 04 ¥ 0 95 ¥ 1 00 =  $4 88/ ft2

CONCEPTUAL ESTIMATING IN CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECTS TUTORIALS

CONCEPTUAL ESTIMATES IN CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECT COST ESTIMATES SAMPLE
What Is Conceptual Estimates In Civil Engineering Construction Projects?


Conceptual Estimates
At the outset of the project, when the scope and definition are in the early stages of development, little information is available, yet there is often a need for some assessment of the potential cost. The owner needs to have a rough or approximate value for the project’s cost for purposes of determining the economic desirability of proceeding with design and construction.

Special quick techniques are usually employed, utilizing minimal available information at this point to prepare a conceptual estimate. Little effort is expended to prepare this type of estimate, which often utilizes only a single project parameter, such as square feet of floor area, span length of a bridge, or barrels per day of output.

Using available, historical cost information and applying like parameters, a quick and simple estimate can be prepared. These types of estimates are valuable in determining the order of magnitude of the cost for very rough comparisons and analysis but are not appropriate for critical decision making and commitment.

Many situations exist that do not warrant or allow expenditure of the time and effort required to produce a detailed estimate. Feasibility studies involve elimination of many alternatives prior to any detailed design work. Obviously, if detailed design were pursued prior to estimating, the cost of the feasibility study would be enormous.

Time constraints may also limit the level of detail that can be employed. If an answer is required in a few minutes or a few hours, then the method must be a conceptual one, even if detailed design information is available.

Conceptual estimates have value, but they have many limitations as well. Care must be exercised to choose the appropriate method for conceptual estimating based on the available information. The estimator must be aware of the limitations of his estimate and communicate these limitations so that the estimate is not misused. Conceptual estimating relies heavily on past cost data, which is adjusted to reflect current trends and actual project economic conditions.

The accuracy of an estimate is a function of time spent in its preparation, the quantity of design data utilized in the evaluation, and the accuracy of the information used. In general, more effort and more money produce a better estimate, one in which the estimator has more confidence regarding the accuracy of his or her prediction.

To achieve significant improvement in accuracy requires a larger-than-proportional increase in effort. Each of the three conceptual levels of estimating has several methods that are utilized, depending on the project type and the availability of time and information.

THE NATURE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING WORKS

CIVIL ENGINEERING WORKS BASICS AND TUTORIALS
Civil Engineering Tutorials

Virtually all civil engineering structures are unique. They have to be designed for some specific purpose at some specific location before they can be constructed and put to use. Consequently the completion of any civil engineering project involves five stages of activity which comprise the following:

1. Defining the location and nature of the proposed works and the quality and magnitude of the service they are to provide.

2. Obtaining any powers and permissions necessary to construct the works.

3. Designing the works and estimating their probable cost.

4. Constructing the works.

5. Testing the works as constructed and putting them into operation.

There are inherent risks arising in this process because the design, and therefore the estimated cost of the works, is based on assumptions that may later have to be altered.

The cost can be affected by the weather during construction and the nature of the ground or groundwater conditions encountered.

Also the promoter may need to alter the works design to include the latest technical evelopments, or meet the latest changes in his requirements, so that he does not get works that are already out-of-date when completed.

All these risks and unforeseen requirements that may have to be met can involve additional expenditure; so the problem that arises is – who is to shoulder such additional costs?

Clearly if the promoter of the project undertakes the design and construction of the works himself (or uses his own staff) he has to meet any extra cost arising and all the risks involved.

But if, as in most cases, the promoter engages a civil engineering contractor to construct the works, the contract must set out which party to the contract is to bear the cost of which type of extra work required. The risks involved must also be identified and allocated to one or the other party.