PROPRAC 3 - May - 20
PROPRAC 3 - May - 20
PROPRAC 3 - May - 20
Course Code:
ARCH 30383
Subject:
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 3
Global practice for the 21st century
Professor:
AR. Maynard M. Muhi
Student:
Arce, Zendrick Merville B.
Date Submitted:
May 20, 2023
Republic of the Philippines
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
College of Architecture and Build Environment
Department of Architecture
If not properly managed, it will eventually lead to going over budget and
blowing past the scheduled date for substantial completion. Going over
budget eats into the contractor’s profit in addition to being hit with
liquidated damages for every day past the agreed-upon completion date. It
can also impact upcoming projects if a contractor’s workers and equipment
are tied up trying to finish up a failing project.
Here are five reasons construction projects fail and how to prevent it from
happening on your next project:
Inadequate Planning
Poor planning leads to poor execution. The more time and effort put into
planning out the project, the better off you’ll be when work gets underway.
This starts by carefully reviewing and fully understanding the plans,
specifications, scope of work, and client expectations. Good planning
involves working with the client, architect, subcontractors, and suppliers to
establish construction schedules and project milestones.
Failure to Communicate
Good communication is crucial to delivering a successful construction
project. When communication among stakeholders breaks down or is
mishandled, it can lead to delays, accidents, costly rework, and unhappy
clients. Keeping everyone up to date on changes to the work or schedule
goes a long way in preventing major problems from developing that cause
projects to fail.
Change orders are similar in that they involve changes to plans outside of
the original scope. Change orders differ from scope creep because they can
involve both additions and deletions from the original scope. They can also
be initiated by the owner, but GCs and subs can also request change orders
and they don’t always result in additional costs or deadline extensions.
The construction contract should clearly state how any work outside of the
original scope should be requested and documented. No additional work
should commence until a written change order has been executed and
authorized by the client. Additional costs and timeline extensions should be
determined and agreed upon. Don’t forget to work with your subs to
determine how change orders might impact their schedule before signing off
on additional work.
When workers don’t show up, get injured, or goof off on the job, it can lower
your productivity levels, cause delays and throw your schedule out of
whack. This could force you to bring in additional workers or sub out more
work which in turn lowers your profit margins.
Labor shortages and fewer skilled workers have only made the problem of
productivity worse over the past several years. Newer workers don’t have
the skills and confidence to complete tasks at the same speed as
experienced veterans on your crew. Understanding the capabilities of your
workers is vital when determining your project schedule.
These minor issues are often put on the back burner while dealing with
other aspects of the project. All problems should be prioritized and handled
accordingly when they arise. Project managers should be able to analyze
and troubleshoot issues as early as possible to avoid delays. Quick thinking
and good decision-making are what sets great project managers apart from
good ones.
Before the project initiation, all the project’s necessary elements, like the
scope, resources, potential risks, safety, and the environmental impact of
the operations, are considered. The timelines of construction projects are
also typically estimated in advance. Therefore, clients are required to
prepare a design and budget at a very early stage.
Project’s scope
Project work breakdown structure (WBS)
Task dependencies
Project resource schedules
Project risks (Financial/resource)
Project procurement/delivery schedules
Site surveys and logistics.
The use of conventional tools and silos of spreadsheets for project
management often causes inconsistencies as updates are not available in
real-time. Another issue is the alteration in scope or scope creep, which
means that the scope has undergone changes in the scheduled plans.
Miscalculations in work breakdown structure (WBS), and changing market
conditions (e.g., cost of supplies and labor) contribute to a massive loss in
business continuity for the organization.
Here are the ways that poor capacity planning can impact project
deliverables;
Construction is a risky business, and when there are complex projects with
tight schedules, they get even more difficult. There are many risks that
managers can mitigate the best by forming a contingency plan. For
example; Buying insurance plans, and hiring a contingent workforce, etc.
Thus, managers need to aggressively look for potential risks while planning
the project schedule to ensure the projects are delivered on time and within
budget.
Over to You
Construction project failures cannot always be avoided. Scope creep in
projects that cause budget overruns end in the absence of income for the
contractors. After all, there are some things you can’t foresee and plan. But
Republic of the Philippines
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
College of Architecture and Build Environment
Department of Architecture
for all others, using an intuitive tool and paying close attention to planning
and management will help avoid a total breakdown.
To prevent failure, companies must do their due diligence with every aspect
of the construction project before work starts. Make sure you’ve got the
right people with the right skills and experience, that the schedule is
realistic and manageable, and that the budget can handle changes or
delays.
Consider these key findings from the 2015 KPMG Global Construction
Survey:
In the United States, 56% of project owners said they have trouble
recruiting qualified craft labor and 45% reported a lack of planners and
project managers.
Project owners said only 31% of their projects came within 10% of budget
and just 25% within 10% of original deadlines in the past three years.
“As engineering and construction projects get bigger, the complexity grows
exponentially. The improvements by owners in planning and risk
management have been significant, yet there is further work to be done to
reduce the number of project failures and bring more projects in on time
and on budget.” Geno Armstrong, KPMG’s global chair of engineering and
construction.
Subsequent KPMG surveys in 2017 and 2018 underscored the need for
construction companies and leaders to act. This meant addressing the
underlying issues that cause construction project failure and looking for
new ways to improve how people, budgets, and time are managed,
supported, and encouraged.
Think about how these seven project performance factors and how they can
be applied to your construction project:
To get this right, you need to do the work before the project starts and
remain committed to consistent communication, oversight, and review
during the project. These project management processes can help prevent
failure and identify any barriers to success.