Success or Failure of Any Construction Project - Essay Sample

Abstract

Success or failure of any construction project begins from the planning stage. While project management can be observed to be a growing discipline in the United Kingdom, it is important that periodic assessment of how construction projects are carried out from time to time. The effectiveness of project management depends on the project management technique or tool adopted by the project managers. This research paper focuses on effective project management tools which can be implemented in the small residential construction projects based in the UK. The UK government has expressed interest in building more sustainable residential buildings through the creation of standards and policies. The UK government has introduced Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the construction sector in an aimed to ensure that construction of residential buildings is more sustainable and the process achieves the needs of the client. Results of the study indicate that implementation of BIM in the small construction projects of residential buildings in the UK impacts positively on the design and management of the projects thus ensuring that the residential construction projects are successful. BIM can be considered as an effective and powerful tool in project management rather than a technical tool in the construction industry.

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Preface

The basis for this research originally stemmed from the researcher's passion of effectively managing construction projects to ensure that the client's needs and specifications are achieved. As the world moves further onto the digital world, it is important for construction projects to adopt new and innovative management techniques and tools which ensure that project completion is successful and even more effective. It is my passion to not only learn about the effective project management tools and techniques which can be applied in the construction sector but also determine barriers which hinder the adoption of these management tools in project management.

I thank everybody who assisted and supported me achieve this goal beginning from my parents, friends and supervisor. Thank you all for your unwavering support.

Introduction

Project management practices have recently become a contemporary issue in the construction industry disciplines. However, it is important to note that project management acceptance and incorporation into the construction industry in the developed and developed countries vary. Despite a high adoption of project management in developed countries, acceptance and incorporation in developing countries have been gradual and slow. Many definitions had been given to the project by different authors because the project is a multidisciplinary word that has a different meaning from a different perspective and orientations (Olateju et al., 2011). According to the Project Management Institute (PMI) (2000) cited in Pinto (2007), a project is a temporary activity or endeavour undertaken purposely to create a different output (product or service) within budget, time and standards. According to PMI (2000), Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Project Management (PM) is accomplished through the use of such processes as initiating, planning, executing, controlling and closing (PMI 2000).

Walker (2015), applied project management to the construction industry and defined construction project management as the "planning co-ordination and control of a project from conception to completion (including commissioning) on behalf of a client requiring the identification of the client's objectives in terms of utility, function, quality, time and cost and the establishment of relationships between resources, integrating, monitoring and controlling the contributors to the project and their output and evaluating and selecting alternatives in pursuit of the client's satisfaction with the project outcome" (Walker 2015). The project management deals with principles and processes that tend to be universal across all projects; there are five faces of project management, which include initiation, planning, execution, performance, monitoring and closure (Meijer, Itard & Sunikka-Blank 2009). Other works include breakdown structure, communication plan and risk management plan. England must construct and build 340,000 homes per year until 2031 to meet the demand of the rising population; this figure is significantly higher than the government's target of 300,000 homes annually (Meijer et al. 2009). The number of residential areas in temporary accommodation is on track to reach 100,000 by the year 2020 unless the government takes steps to construct and build more residential areas, while doing this there should be consideration of building affordable housing for the simple individual (Meijer et al. 2009).

Residential construction is the business of building and selling individual and multi-family dwellings. Manufactured housing further divides into mobile homes and pre-built houses. The business varies primarily in the size and scale of the operations (Meijer et al. 2009). In the simple form, a builder buys a piece of land, develops the land by clearing and grading it, and constructing roads, sidewalks, drainage, waste removal, electrical and water supplies (Meijer et al. 2009). Then the builder offers to build either custom homes or pre-designed homes, or pre-manufactured homes, depending on the market he is attempting to serve. In certain instance, the builder may build one or more homes on speculation meaning that he builds the home without having a ready buyer on the hope that once the house is built, a buyer will appear (Meijer et al. 2009).

Residential construction is important to any country; it is an important sector that contributes greatly to the economic growth of any nation. When planning construction projects, there are many uncertainties, weather, supplies and even design issues and labour; all these factors play a role in the success or failure of any construction project. Construction is vital to any economy; there are currently 2.9million construction jobs in the UK, this makes up to 10% in the employment rate, construction helps in redressing the housing shortages, the weak construction industry would mean no new residential areas and not less than thousands of people left homeless (Meijer et al. 2009). The residential construction industry is constantly under the media and government scrutiny only because there are several cases of weak housing or buildings collapsing and these causes harm to the residents involved not mentioning hefty accidents which lead to death (Meijer et al. 2009). There are positive aspects of the construction industry though, construction shapes and impacts any community's health, wealth and welfare, construction ensures people have offices to work in, schools to learn in, hospitals to receive health care and most importantly homes to live in, construction creates employment, and there are currently many jobs offered in the construction industry in the UK (Meijer et al. 2009).

It is important to note that in the UK the most common type of residences include detached houses which are the most common other include terrace and flats among others which are mainly specific in the population of the people in the UK, therefore bringing a whole new idea to the industry might be a major advantage or even a disadvantage per say (Meijer et al. 2009). It is important to figure out strategies before deciding to construct new residences; these strategies, as mentioned above, might also involve engaging in conversation with the residences to know what exactly they'd want to be built (Meijer et al. 2009). Small residential projects should be embraced in the UK because of the constant growth of the population of citizens and non-citizens and for this to happen, there should be enough skilled personnel for the jobs of construction (Meijer et al. 2009). The basic residential construction process in the UK include: initial consultation and site visits to discuss, design, specify, materials and construction methods and evaluation, cost for clients and designers, production of project time tables and schedules, cost for clients and designers, addresses legal, health and safety precautions for the entire process of construction (Meijer et al. 2009).

In many countries, both developing and developed nations around the world, for any construction project to be successful, there are major and minor requirements which enable smoothen the process of construction (Meijer et al. 2009). Commercial and residential buildings in the UK are responsible for almost 50% of the overall homes compared to privately owned homes (Meijer et al. 2009). It is estimated that three million houses both small scale and large scale will be built by 2020 (Meijer et al. 2009). The UK government, through the document "Construction 2025" has set out its vision to position the UK at the vanguard of the global construction in the coming years (Meijer et al. 2009). To achieve this vision, the UK government has formulated strategies which are aimed at improving the construction process. The topics of sustainable design and BIM implementation are contained in this strategy (HM Government, 2013). As to BIM implementation, it is exposed that the BIM strategy has had a good start and that the industry must meet the target to implement BIM in all centrally procured Government contracts from 2016 (HM Government, 2013). It is considered that only with the implementation of BIM will be possible to develop more sustainable buildings, in less time and with more efficiency. Moreover, BIM is seen as crucial in the development of offsite manufacturing (HM Government, 2013).

The UK government has the urge to develop more sustainable housing stock. Therefore, the government has proposed BIM as a method to build more sustainable commercial and residential buildings. Small scale construction projects in the UK are also required to implement BIM (HM Government, 2013). The building information modelling (BIM), which involves the process and practice of practical design of construction throughout its life cycle is becoming a well-known and embraced process of collaboration in the construction industries around the globe (HM Government, 2013). In simpler terms, BIM gives architecture, engineering and construction professionals the insight and tools to more efficiently plan, design, construct and manage buildings and infrastructure (Rokooei 2015). In architecture, BIM is essential to make better decisions to improve building performance and collaborate more effic...