UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

SECOND SEMESTER/YEARLY EXAMINATIONS

MAY 2009

PROGRAMME MSc Project Management – Level 1 & 2

MODULE NAME Construction Management

DATE Monday MODULE CODE CIVE6207

4 May 2009

TIME 9:30 – 12:30 Hours DURATION 3 Hours

NO. OF 4 NO. OF 4
QUESTIONS SET QUESTIONS TO BE
ATTEMPTED

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

Answer ALL Questions.

 CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT – CIVE6207

Question 1

(a) Briefly describe the importance of the schedule of Activities on projects.

[4 marks]

(b) The table below lists all the activities on a particular construction project.

ID IPA DURATION (DAYS)

A _ 5
B A 6
C B 4
D C 5
E H 11
F G,E 3
G I,D 2
H C,J 3
I K TBD
J A TBD
K B TBD

TBD: to be determined
IPA: Immediately preceding activities
(i) Determine the durations of activities I,J and K using data given in below;

Activity “I” is screed work and for this particular project the total surface area
to be screed is 12,000 square feet. The team responsible for this Activity has a
production rate of 2000 square feet per day.
[1 mark]
Activity J is subdivided into 3 sub- activities and performed by 3 different
team with the following production rates of 2 days/act.,1 day/act. and 3
days/act. respectively. [2 marks]
Activity K is carried by 2 teams. Team 1 has 10 people and the other one has 2
times more people. Team 2 works at night and team 1 works during the day.
People working during the day are 2 times more productive than those
working at night.
Given that the night production rate is 5 m2/night /person and that the total
area to be covered for Activity K is 2000m2, determine the duration of Activity
K.
[3 marks]
[continued next page]

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 CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT – CIVE6207

Question 1 [continued]

(ii) Draw a Network diagram for the above project.

[7 marks]

(iii) Carry the forward and backward passes. [11 marks]

(iv) Update the Network diagram based on following available data, at the
end of day 14.

(I) Activity K will take 5 more days to be completed

(II) Activity C will take 6 more days to be completed
(III) Activity D and I will now take 2 more days than the original
duration to be completed.
[8 marks]

(c) Based on the above exercise which activities influence the overall project
duration?
[4 marks]

Question 2

(a) Briefly describe the importance of safely measures on construction sites.

[5 marks]

(b) A new 5 storey high apartment building is to be constructed in the centre of

Rose-hill. The site layout proposed by the construction company is as shown
below. On all three sides there exist residential buildings that are two-storey
high.

3 2m
2m

1
Proposed construction
Area

5m 4
5
5m
2

Main Road

[continued next page]

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 CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT – CIVE6207

Question 2 [continued]

Position

1. Proposed location of site office

2. Proposed location of crane
3. Proposed location of site store
4. Proposed place of chute
5. Proposed location for stockpiling ,cut materials and debris

As safety consultant you have been approached to assess the proposed

contractor’s construction site layout. Describe in detail whether you agree or
disagree with the 5 earmarked positions justifying your reasoning.
[10 marks]

(c) List 5 safety measures that you would recommend the contractor to fully
comply to.
[5 marks]
Question 3

(a) Describe in chronological order three types of estimates that estimators come
across during the lifespan of any construction project.
[15 marks]

(b) Do you think that an estimator can come up with a budget just by reading the
client’s brief? Justify your answer.
[5 marks]

Question 4

(a) Differentiate between design-bid-build and design build procurement

methods.
[5 marks]

(b) Describe, with full justifications, which of the two procurement methods
would you recommend a client to adopt on the following two projects;

(i) A bridge linking two towns has just collapse and this is impacting
greatly on the economy of the towns.
[7 marks]

(ii) The client wants to construct a school for handicapped children but
unfortunately, only 30% of the estimated budget is available.
[8 marks]

END OF QUESTION PAPER

sg/

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