handbook of construction management pdf | Construction has a history of several thousand years. The first shelters were built from stone or mud and the materials were collected from the forests to provide protection against cold, wind, rain, and snow. These buildings were constructed primarily for residential purposes, although some might have commercial utility.
In the first half of the twentieth century, the construction industry became an important sector throughout the world, employing many workers. During this period, skyscrapers, long-span dams, shells, and bridges were developed to meet new requirements and marked the continuing progress of construction techniques.
The provision of services such as heating, air-conditioning, electrical lighting, water supply, and elevators to buildings became common. The twentieth century also saw the transformation of the construction and building industry into a major economic sector.
During the second half of the twentieth century, the construction industry began to industrialize because of the introduction of mechanization, prefabrication, and system building. The design of building services systems changed considerably in the last 20 years of the twentieth century. It became the responsibility of the designer to follow health, safety, and environmental regulations while designing any building.
Construction projects are mainly capital investment projects. They are executed based on a predetermined set of goals and objectives. They are customized and non repetitive in nature. Construction projects have become more complex and technical, and the relationships and the contractual grouping of those who are involved are also more complex and contractually varied.
In addition, the requirements of construction clients are increasing and, as a result, construction products (buildings) must meet various performance standards (climate, rate of deterioration, maintenance, etc.).
Therefore, to achieve the adequacy of client brief, which addresses numerous complex needs of client/end user, it is necessary to evaluate the requirements in terms of manageable activities and their functional relationships and establish construction management procedures and practices.
These processes and practices are implemented and followed towards all the work areas of the project to make the project successful to the satisfaction of the owner/end user and to meet needs of the owner.
A construction project involves many participants comprising the owner, designer, contractor, and many other professionals from the construction-related industries. These participants are both influenced by and depend on one another and also on “other players” involved in the construction process.
Therefore, the construction projects have become more complex and technical, and extensive efforts are required to reduce the rework and costs associated with time, materials, and engineering.
There are mainly three key attributes in a construction project that the construction/project manager has to manage effectively and efficiently to achieve a successful project:
- Scope
- Time (schedule)
- Cost (budget)
From the quality perspective, these three elements are known as “quality trilogy,” whereas when considered from project/construction management perspective, these are known as “triple constraints.”
For successful management of the project, the construction/project manager should have all the related information about construction management principles, tools, processes, techniques, and methods. A construction/project manager should also have the professional knowledge of management functions, management processes, and project phases (technical processes), and the skills and expertise to manage the project in a systematic manner at every stage of the project.
Construction management is a framework for the construction/project manager to evaluate and balance these competing demands. To balance these attributes at each stage of project execution, the project phases and their subdivisions into various elements/activities/subsystems having functional relationships should be developed by taking into consideration various management functions, management processes, and interaction, and/or a combination of some or all of these activities/elements.
Construction management process is a systematic approach to manage a construction project from its inception to completion and handover to the client/end user. Construction management is an application of professional processes, skills, and effective tools and techniques to manage project planning, design, and construction from project inception through to the issuance of the completion certificate. Some of these techniques are tailored to the specific requirements that are unique to the construction projects.
The main objective of construction management is to ensure that the client/end user is satisfied with the quality of project delivery. In order to achieve project performance goals and objectives, it is required to set performance measures that define what the contractor is going to achieve under the contract.
Therefore, to achieve the adequacy of client brief, which addresses the numerous complex needs of client/end user, it is necessary to evaluate the requirements in terms of activities and their functional relationships and establish construction management procedures and practices to be implemented and followed toward all the work areas of the project to make the project successful to the satisfaction of the owner/end user and to meet the owner’s needs.
This book provides significant information and guidelines to construction and project management professionals (owners, designers, consultants, construction managers, project managers, supervisors, and many others from construction-related industry) involved in construction projects (mainly civil construction projects and commercial-A/E projects) and construction-related industries.
It covers the importance of construction management principles, procedures, concepts, methods, and tools and their applications to various activities/components/subsystems of different phases of the life cycle of a construction project to improve construction process in order to conveniently manage the project and make the project most qualitative, competitive, and economical.
It also discusses the interaction and/or combination among some of the activities/elements of management functions, management processes, and their effective implementation and applications that are essential throughout the life cycle of a project to conveniently manage it.
The construction project life-cycle phases and their activities/elements/subsystems are comprehensively developed taking into consideration Henri Fayol’s management function concept, which was subsequently modified by Koontz and O’Donnel and the management processes knowledge areas described in PMBOK® published by the Project Management Institute (PMI).
This book contains useful material and information for the students who are interested in acquiring the knowledge of construction management activities. It also provides useful information to academics about the practices followed in the construction projects.
The data discussed and derived in this book are from the editor’s/author’s practical and professional experience in the construction field. This book contains many tables and figures to support the editor’s/author’s writings and to enable the reader to easily understand the concepts of construction management. Different types of forms and transmittal that are used to plan, monitor, and control the project at different stages of the project are included for the benefit of readers.
For the sake of better understanding and convenience, this book is divided into nine chapters and each chapter is divided into a number of sections covering construction management related topics that are relevant and important to understand management concepts for construction projects.
For the sake of better understanding and convenience, this book is divided into nine chapters and each chapter is divided into a number of sections covering construction management related topics that are relevant and important to understand management concepts for construction projects.
Chapter 1 is an overview of construction projects. It presents a brief introduction of the types of construction projects, different phases of construction project life cycle, and principles of quality in construction projects.
Chapter 2 is about project delivery systems (PDS). It discusses different types of project delivery systems and the organizational relationships among various project participants and advantages and disadvantages of each of these systems. It also discusses different types of contracting systems based on pricing methods.
Chapter 3 is about construction management delivery systems. It discusses the qualifications of a construction manager and the types of construction management systems (agency CM and CMat- risk). It also discusses the roles of a construction manager at predesign, design, construction, and postconstruction stages (testing, commissioning, and handover).
Chapter 4 is about quality tools. It gives a brief description of various types of quality tools that are in practice, mainly in the construction industry, such as classic tools of quality, management and planning tools, process analysis tools, process improvement tools, innovation and creation tools, Lean tools, cost of quality, quality function deployment, Six Sigma, and Triz. The usage of each of the tools under these categories is supplemented by tables, figures, and charts to enable the reader to easily understand their applications in construction projects.
Chapter 5 is about building information modeling (BIM) in design and construction. This chapter provides brief information about the use of BIM as a collaborative tool in construction projects to manage complex projects, and the BIM execution plan.
Chapter 6 is about construction contract documents. It gives brief information about various types of contract documents used to prepare construction documents
Chapter 7 focuses on construction management practices and discusses in detail the management functions, management processes, and project life-cycle phases (technical processes) pertinent to the construction industry. It covers all the topics/areas and activities related to construction management that can be used by construction professionals to implement the procedures and practices in their day-to-day work to evolve a comprehensive system to conveniently manage the construction. In order to achieve “zero defect” policy during the construction phase, the designer has to develop project documents to ensure:
- Conformance to the owner’s requirements.
- Compliance with the codes and standards.
- Compliance with the regulatory requirements.
- Great accuracy to avoid any disruption/stoppage/delay of work during the construction.
- Completion within the stipulated time.
- Develop project documents without errors and omissions.
Chapter 8 is an introduction to Lean construction. This chapter presents an introduction to Lean construction, brief history of Lean construction, current challenges in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) Industry, Lean construction response, Lean goals and elimination of waste, Lean project delivery system, and Lean tools and techniques.
Chapter 9 is about ISO certification in the construction industry. It covers brief information about the importance of standards and standardization bodies. It presents a case study related to the ISO implementation methodology and discusses in detail implementation of QMS, documentation, and certification. This chapter includes brief information about ISO 14001 and ISO 27001. It also presents a correlation matrix between ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9001:2015, and the quality management system manual for the designer and contractor.
This book, I am certain, will meet the requirements of construction professionals, students, and academics and will satisfy their needs.
