In the fields of
architecture and
civil engineering,
construction is a process that consists of the
building or assembling of
infrastructure. Far from being a single
activity, large scale construction is a
feat of
multitasking. Normally
the job is managed by the
project
manager and supervised by the
construction manager,
design engineer,
construction engineer or
project architect.
For the successful
execution
of a
project, effective
planning is essential. Those involved with the
design and execution of the infrastructure in question must
consider the
environmental
impact of the job, the successful scheduling,
budgeting,
site
safety, availability of
materials, logistics,
inconvenience to the public caused by
construction delays,
preparing tender documents, etc.
Types of construction projects
In general, there are three types of construction:
- Building construction
- Heavy/civil construction
- Industrial construction
Each type of construction project requires a unique team to plan,
design, construct, and maintain the project.
Building construction
Building construction is the process of adding structure to
real property. The vast majority of
building construction projects are small renovations, such as
addition of a room, or renovation of a bathroom. Often, the owner
of the property acts as laborer, paymaster, and design team for the
entire project. However, all building construction projects include
some elements in common - design, financial, and legal
considerations. Many projects of varying sizes reach undesirable
end results, such as structural collapse, cost overruns, and/or
litigation reason, those with experience in the field make detailed
plans and maintain careful oversight during the project to ensure a
positive outcome.
Building construction is procured privately or publicly utilizing
various delivery methodologies, including hard bid, negotiated
price, traditional, management contracting, construction
management-at-risk, design & build and design-build
bridging.
Residential construction practices, technologies, and resources
must conform to local building authority regulations and codes of
practice. Materials readily available in the area generally dictate
the construction materials used (e.g. brick versus stone, versus
timber). Cost of construction on a per square metre (or per square
foot) basis for houses can vary dramatically based on site
conditions, local regulations, economies of scale (custom designed
homes are always more expensive to build) and the availability of
skilled tradespeople. As residential (as well as all other types of
construction) can generate a lot of
waste, careful planning
again is needed here.
The most popular method of residential construction in the United
States is wood framed construction. As efficiency codes have come
into effect in recent years, new construction technologies and
methods have emerged. University Construction Management
departments are on the cutting edge of the newest methods of
construction intended to improve efficiency, performance and reduce
construction waste.
Industrial construction
Industrial construction, though a relatively small part of the
entire construction industry, is a very important component. Owners
of these projects are usually large, for-profit, industrial
corporations. These corporations can be found in such industries as
medicine, petroleum, chemical, power generation, manufacturing,
etc. Processes in these industries require highly specialized
expertise in planning, design, and construction. As in building and
heavy/highway construction, this type of construction requires a
team of individuals to ensure a successful project.
Construction processes
Design team
In the modern industrialized world, construction usually involves
the translation of
paper or
computer based designs into reality. A formal
design team may be assembled to plan the physical proceedings, and
to integrate those proceedings with the other parts. The design
usually consists of
drawings and
specifications, usually prepared by a design
team including the client
architects,
interior designers,
surveyors,
civil
engineers, cost engineers (or
quantity surveyors),
mechanical engineers,
electrical engineers,
structural engineers, and
fire protection engineers. The
design team is most commonly employed by (i.e. in contract with)
the property owner. Under this system, once the design is completed
by the design team, a number of construction companies or
construction management companies may then be asked to make a bid
for the work, either based directly on the design, or on the basis
of drawings and a
bill of
quantities provided by a
quantity
surveyor. Following evaluation of bids, the owner will
typically award a contract to the lowest responsible bidder.
The modern trend in design is toward integration of previously
separated specialties, especially among large firms. In the past,
architects, interior designers, engineers, developers, construction
managers, and general contractors were more likely to be entirely
separate companies, even in the larger firms. Presently, a firm
that is nominally an "architecture" or "construction management"
firm may have experts from all related fields as employees, or to
have an associated company that provides each necessary skill.
Thus, each such firm may offer itself as "one-stop shopping" for a
construction project, from beginning to end. This is designated as
a "design Build" contract where the contractor is given a
performance specification, and must undertake the project from
design to construction, while adhering to the performance
specifications.
Construction of a pre-fabricated
house
Several project structures can assist the owner in this
integration, including design-build, partnering, and construction
management. In general, each of these project structures allows the
owner to integrate the services of architects, interior designers,
engineers, and constructors throughout design and construction. In
response, many companies are growing beyond traditional offerings
of design or construction services alone, and are placing more
emphasis on establishing relationships with other necessary
participants through the design-build process.
The increasing complexity of construction projects creates the need
for design professionals trained in all phases of the project's
life-cycle and develop an appreciation of the building as an
advanced technological system requiring close integration of many
sub-systems and their individual components, including
sustainability.
Building
engineering is an emerging discipline that attempts to
meet this new challenge.
Financial advisors
Many construction projects suffer from preventable financial
problems.
Underbids ask for too little money to
complete the project.
Cash flow problems
exist when the present amount of funding cannot cover the current
costs for labour and materials, and because they are a matter of
having sufficient funds at a specific time, can arise even when the
overall total is enough.
Fraud is a problem in
many fields, but is notoriously prevalent in the construction
field. Financial planning for the project is intended to ensure
that a solid plan, with adequate safeguards and contingency plans,
is in place before the project is started, and is required to
ensure that the plan is properly executed over the life of the
project.
Mortgage bankers,
accountants, and cost engineers are likely
participants in creating an overall plan for the financial
management of the building construction project. The presence of
the mortgage
banker is highly likely even in
relatively small projects, since the owner's equity in the property
is the most obvious source of funding for a building project.
Accountants act to study the expected
monetary flow over the life of the project, and to monitor the
payouts throughout the process. Cost
engineers apply expertise to relate the work and
materials involved to a proper valuation. Cost overruns with
government projects have occurred when the contractor was able to
identify change orders or changes in the project resulting in large
increases in cost, which are not subject to competition by other
firm as they have already been eliminated from consideration after
the initial bid.
Large projects can involve highly complex financial plans. As
portions of a project are completed, they may be sold, supplanting
one lender or owner for another, while the logistical requirements
of having the right trades and materials available for each stage
of the building construction project carries forward. In many
English speaking countries, but not the United States, projects
typically use quantity surveyors.
Legal considerations
A construction project must fit into the legal framework governing
the property. These include governmental regulations on the use of
property, and obligations that are created in the process of
construction.
The project must adhere to
zoning and
building code requirements.
Constructing a project that fails to adhere to codes will not
benefit the owner. Some legal requirements come from
malum in se considerations, or the desire to
prevent things that are indisputably bad - bridge collapses or
explosions. Other legal requirements come from
malum prohibitum considerations, or things
that are a matter of custom or expectation, such as isolating
businesses to a business district and residences to a residential
district. An attorney may seek changes or exemptions in the law
governing the land where the building will be built, either by
arguing that a rule is inapplicable (the bridge design won't
collapse), or that the custom is no longer needed (acceptance of
live-work spaces has grown in the community).
A construction project is a complex net of contracts and other
legal obligations, each of which must be carefully considered. A
contract is the exchange of a set of obligations between two or
more parties, but it is not so simple a matter as trying to get the
other side to agree to as much as possible in exchange for as
little as possible. The time element in construction means that a
delay costs money, and in cases of bottlenecks, the delay can be
extremely expensive. Thus, the contracts must be designed to ensure
that each side is capable of performing the obligations set out.
Contracts that set out clear expectations and clear paths to
accomplishing those expectations are far more likely to result in
the project flowing smoothly, whereas poorly drafted contracts lead
to confusion and collapse.
Legal advisors in the beginning of a construction project seek to
identify ambiguities and other potential sources of trouble in the
contract structure, and to present options for preventing problems.
Throughout the process of the project, they work to avoid and
resolve conflicts that arise. In each case, the lawyer facilitates
an exchange of obligations that matches the reality of the
project.
Interaction of expertise
Design, finance, and legal aspects overlap and interrelate. The
design must be not only structurally sound and appropriate for the
use and location, but must also be financially possible to build,
and legal to use. The financial structure must accommodate the need
for building the design provided, and must pay amounts that are
legally owed. The legal structure must integrate the design into
the surrounding legal framework, and enforces the financial
consequences of the construction process.
Procurement
Procurement describes the merging of activities
undertaken by the client to obtain a building. There are many
different methods of construction procurement; however the three
most common types of procurement are:
- Traditional (Design-bid-build)
- Design and Build
- Management Contracting
Traditional
This the most common method of construction procurement and is well
established and recognized. In this arrangement, the
architect or
engineer acts
as the project coordinator. His or her role is to design the works,
prepare the specifications and produce construction drawings,
administer the contract,
tender the works,
and manage the works from inception to completion. There are direct
contractual links between the architect's client and the main
contractor. Any subcontractor will have a direct contractual
relationship with the main contractor.
Design and build
This approach has become more common in recent years and includes
an entire completed package, including fixtures, fittings and
equipment where necessary, to produce a completed fully functional
building. In some cases, the Design and Build (D & B) package
can also include finding the site, arranging funding and applying
for all necessary statutory consents.
The owner produces a list of requirements for a project, giving an
overall view of the project's goals. Several D&B contractors
present different ideas about how to accomplish these goals. The
owner selects the ideas he likes best and hires the appropriate
contractor. Often, it is not just one contractor, but a consortium
of several contractors working together. Once a contractor (or a
consortium/consortia) has been hired, they begin building the first
phase of the project. As they build phase 1, they design phase 2.
This is in contrast to a design-bid-build contract, where the
project is completely designed by the owner, then bid on, then
completed.
Kent Hansen, director of engineering for the National Asphalt
Pavement Association (NAPA), pointed out that state
departments of transportation
(DOTs) usually use design build contracts as a way of getting
projects done when states don't have the resources. In DOTs, design
build contracts are usually used for very large projects.
Management procurement systems
In this arrangement the client plays an active role in the
procurement system by entering into separate contracts with the
designer (
architect or
engineer), the
construction manager, and individual
trade contractors. The client
takes on the contractual role, while the construction or project
manager provides the active role of managing the separate trade
contracts, and ensuring that they all work smoothly and effectively
together.
Management procurement systems are often used to speed up the
procurement processes, allow the client greater flexibility in
design variation throughout the contract, the ability to appoint
individual work contractors, separate contractual responsibility on
each individual throughout the contract, and to provide greater
client control.
Authority having jurisdiction
In construction, the
authority having jurisdiction
(AHJ) is the governmental agency or sub-agency which regulates the
construction process. In most cases, this is the
municipality in which the building is located.
However, construction performed for supra-municipal authorities are
usually regulated directly by the owning authority, which becomes
the AHJ.
During the planning of a building, the
zoning
and
planning boards of the AHJ will review
the overall compliance of the proposed building with the municipal
General Plan and zoning regulations.
Once the proposed building has been approved, detailed civil,
architectural, and structural plans must be submitted to the
municipal
building department (and sometimes the
public works department) to determine compliance with the
building code and sometimes for fit with
existing infrastructure. Often, the municipal fire department will
review the plans for compliance with fire-safety ordinances and
regulations.
Before the foundation can be dug, contractors are typically
required to notify utility companies, either directly or through a
company such as
Dig Safe to ensure that
underground utility lines can be marked. This lessens the
likelihood of damage to the existing electrical, water, sewage,
phone, and cable facilities, which could cause outages and
potentially hazardous situations. During the construction of a
building, the municipal building inspector inspects the building
periodically to ensure that the construction adheres to the
approved plans and the local
building code. Once construction is
complete and a final inspection has been passed, an
occupancy permit may be
issued.
An operating building must remain in compliance with the
fire code. The fire code
is enforced by the local fire department.
Changes made to a building that affect safety, including its use,
expansion, structural integrity, and
fire protection items, usually require
approval of the AHJ for review concerning the building code.
Construction careers
are many routes to the different
careers
within the construction industry which vary by country. However,
there are three main tiers of careers based on educational
background which are common internationally:
- Unskilled and Semi-Skilled - General site labour with little or
no construction qualifications.
- Skilled - On-site managers whom possess extensive knowledge and
experience in their craft or profession.
- Technical and Management - Personnel with the greatest
educational qualifications, usually graduate degrees, trained to design, manage
and instruct the construction process.
Skilled
occupations in the UK
require Further
Education qualifications, often in vocational subject areas. These
qualifications are either obtained directly after the completion of
compulsory education or through
"on the job"
apprenticeship training.
In the UK, 8500 construction-related apprenticeships were commenced
in 2007.
Technical and specialised occupations require more training as a
greater technical knowledge is required. These professions also
hold more legal responsibility. A short list of the main careers
with an outline of the educational requirements are given below:
History
The first buildings were
hut and
shelters, constructed by hand or with simple tools. As
cities grew during the
bronze
age, a class of professional
craftsmen
like
bricklayers and
carpenters appeared. Occasionally,
slaves were used for construction work. In the
middle ages, these were organized into
guilds. In the 19th century, steam-powered
machinery appeared, and later diesel- and electric powered vehicles
such as
crane,
excavators and
bulldozers.
See also
References
- School districts increasingly seek alternate
financing : North County Times - Californian
-
http://www.cskills.org/workinconstr/routesintoconstruction/apprenticeships/index.aspx
-
http://careersadvice.direct.gov.uk/helpwithyourcareer/jobprofiles/category11/
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