CONTRACT PLANNING 41, Pre-tender Planning + Professionals point of view * Contractors’ make inquiries of materials by quotations. * Come up with outline programmes for the works ‘+ Inquire on prices of materials Pricing + Visit site and take notes on site and surrounding environment 2. Pre-contract Planning sThis.s the mobilization stage Labour camps are established as well as site layout. « Possession of site is done during this stage. * Renovations can take 1 week while building works take between 2 weeks and 6 months. Methods of Pre-contract planning (Programming Techniques) 1 Bar (Gantt) Chart The bar chart, which is also known as a Gantt chart as a programme and progression technique, is the most commonly used chart on site. It is adopted because most site supervisors find it easier to understand compared with other charts available to the construction industry e.g rnetworks-critical path diagrams, precedence diagrams and line of balance charts. The bar chart is best drawn up on tracing paper to enable extra copies to be produced later using dyeline photocopying process. Information required before preparation of Gantt Charts |. Relevant construction drawings ii, Method statements for major and intricate operations ii, A schedule of bulk quantities in operation form. iv, Anticipated performance rates (by estimate or from historical records)¥. Notification of any time restrictions e.g when key labour resources or materials will become available. The operation numbers, operations, gang/plant size and durations are next copied from the calculation sheet before attempting the lining in of the duration bars. Any adjustments to the sequence of operations should be made finally made at this stage (remembering also to correct, the method statement if alterations are made). When the duration bars are finally included on the programme they should, as far as possible, follow in close succession so as to provide continuity of operations; following from the top left- hand corner of the chart, and concluding at the bottom right-hand corner. Method Statement This document is prepared first which arranges one’s ideas of how a contract would best be executed with the minimum of cost, and with the optimum of resources to give a suitable level of production flow. Therefore, the usual details included in a method statement relate to the following: 1, The key operations- a complete breakdown of the contract. 2, The method and sequence of carrying out operations. 3. The plant required to carry out each operation. 4, The labour necessary to undertake each operation. 5, The operations to be undertaken by ordinary labour only, and nominated subcontractors, This method statement is next used to assist in preparation of a calculation sheet which is a preparation to the draughting out of a contract programme (bar chart). Later, a copy of the statement is issued as an additional contro! document to the site supervisor with the other essential contract document issued by the architect i.e. 1. Production drawings 2. Bills of quantities 3, Specifications 4. Schedules 5. Agreement and Conditions of Contract for building works (JBC).eae; as AeA rshneadatenenentnneran nes yor U ape pe THETHOD STATEMENT GRIME lata Skorecn sweetno ye one Ir BE 8 Abartom PREPRMDS 0 main Pa] oreranon © MEINODANO SEQUENCE punt Jusour] nares fae oot sebum mtna eas il Le “ene set of doaile rest urtagtonitaedeal mS eee agen ba ttt tH fe foam mf coed fn wh ce y 99 ” Geta imnchaly ofr to lod etal cs ttre |rama | the 16 a, ayy es Ua ely me nt ted Concetta on han Sok bot ett Mash fark and tonaeabe by whale callerHowever, most programmers directly prepare a bar chart due to time and resources constraints. Calculation Sheet When the operations, plant and gang sizes are determined and included in the method statement, the calculation sheet is used to arrive at suitable and acceptable duration for each Key operation. To do this it is necessary to extract quantities for each operation from the bills of quantities, or measuring directly from drawings. Mf the average rate per hour column of the calculation sheet rates are included which are ‘obtained from past personal records. These are next divided into the quantities to give total hours for key operative or plant. The duration, in hours is established by dividing the number of key trade or other operatives into the total hours, e.g Substructure 618m2 cavity brick work- Average rate or output per hour of 1 brick layer is, say, O5m2. Therefore, 618m? = 1236 hours osm? So, for 1 bricklayer there is 1236 hours of work. ‘Then, for 8 bricklayers there would be 1236 = 154 ¥; hours of work which is 19 ¥ days 8 {fa duration for an operation appears to be excessive the programmer could reduce the duration by allowing a bigger gang size, or by introducing an extra piece of plant. The next stage is to prepare a contract programme using the information extracted from the calculation sheet, Contents of a Bar Chart tt should have the following:- i. Project Title ii, Author ii Date Wy. Breakdown of activities - Accepted limit of activities is 15 to 25. v. Sequence of activities in the operational ordervi. Duration of activities to be determined on a method statement. 100m, should be excavated in 5 days ¢.g.1. Excavations. 1 person per m3 =4 hrs; 100x4 hrs = 50 days 8hrs 5 days employ 50/5 = 10 people 2, Plastering 1 person plasters 2m? an hour Normal room= 3.0mx.3.0mx 2.5m high = 15m? 200m? of plaster No of hours = 200 = 100hr 2 1 person = 8 hours No. of hours per person = 100 hours 8 7. Allocate resources for the activities Il, Network Diagrams Project Network Analysis is a generic term that covers all network techniques used for planning, scheduling and controlling of projects. The three commonly used techniques are the Crit Path Method (CPM), the Programme Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and the Precedence Network Analysis (PNA). CPM and PERT are also known as Activity- on ~Arrow. Diagramming Method (ADM). The Precedence Network Analysis (PNA) technique goes by various names such as Precedence Diagramming Method (POM) and Activity - on - Node Method. The common features of these techniques are that:-« They make use of the network model for depicting the time plan ofthe project. «© They apply the critical path concept for determining the project duration and identifying the critical activities They employ network analysis techniques for controlling the project time objectives a. Critical Path Network Method (CPM) Bar charts tended to be the only types of control charts used on construction sites until the late 1950s when the critical path network method was introduced for controlling the progress of production in the construction and other industries. The network chart/ diagram was quite a revolutionary system when first introduced. It defines, from all the operations and activities in a project, those which are critical ones, and therefore ‘ones which require careful progressing to prevent delays which would extend a contract duration, so using up a contractor's valuable resources. The critical network diagram graphically shows which jobs (seldom more than 10% of the total) are critical ie will delay the entire project if they are delayed. These are jobs which must be carefully controlled and speeded up if itis necessary to reduce the operation time. The use of this network chart is mainly limited to the more complex construction projects for which the major firms appear to be more successful in tendering. The application, however, is far reaching, and can be applied to the simplest of work, but which, unfortunately, too few ividuals have attempted to apply in areal situation, or even bothered to learn- the attitude being that the bar chart is an easy technique to learn and, and, anyway, most individuals especially those at site level find it simpler to understand. The most cost-conscious managers see the critical path network as a superior control document to that of bar charts, because the effects of a delay in one activity over successive ones can be seen more readily. Instead of relying entirely on the experience of a planner/programmer to arrange the job operations into a suitable sequence which he/she feels will suit the firm, instead, the operations are arranged with logical reasoning upper-most in the mind of the programmer which overcomes the possibility of making wrong assumptions many site supervisors complain about regularly, Allows for a better contro! to be maintained on the operations on site than can be expected from a bar chart especially for most complex jobs. CPM and PERT network analysis techniques can be used for planning short life projects or for developing sub-networks for each sub-project, task group or work package of a major project.Major sub-networks can then be systematically integrated into a project network using the Precedence Network Analysis Technique (PNA). . Programme Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) PERT Is used in projects involving uncertainties. It is an event- oriented technique and is therefore a network of events in which activities are derived by connecting the events. PERT lays stress on measuring the uncertainties in activity time by using the three-time duration estimation method. For computation of the critical path, the PERT three times probabilistic network is converted into a single time deterministic CPM model, When determining the three- time estimate, the most- likely time should be assessed first and then arrive at the optimistic and pessimistic time. It studies the implications of uncertainties on project time scheduling and the slack of events by employing statistical tools. Computing the Critical Path The first step in computing the critical path is to reduce the three - time activity duration estimate into a single expected time estimate. The rest of the procedure for computing the critical path of a PERT network is exactly the same as that of CPM network. The steps are as follows:- i, Estimate the expected activity duration using the three-time activity duration estimation formula. ii, Convert the PERT network into a deterministic model. This is done by changing the three- time activity durations in the PERT to the one- time expected estimate as follows:- Let a be the optimistic time which an activity takes for its performance ‘ Let b be the pessimistic time which an activity takes for its performance Let mbe the most likely time assessed by the planners Deterministic time= atdm+b 6 ili, Determine the critical path by analyzing the one-time deterministic model. iv, Transfer the deterministic model into the PERT network. This is done by replacing the one- time estimate with the original three-time activity estimates and marking the Illustrate this procedure using network diagrams.1. If more than one critical path is discovered during the analysis, then the path having the ‘maximum level of uncertainty is termed as the critical path 2, Dummy activities must also be time analyzed to determine float. Differences between CPM and PERT ‘CPM uses single-time estimate while PERT uses a three-time estimate ‘CPM emphasizes on activities and their related cost whereas PERT has information that enables calculation ofthe probability of meeting a given schedule. ¢ The aim of CPM is to control the time factor rather than the resources, ‘©CPM is activity oriented while PERT is event oriented. c. Precedence Network Analysis (PNA) The precedence diagram is an extension and, perhaps an improvement on the CPM network and is most suited to complex building and engineering work. A critical path can still be highlighted on such a chart and earliest and latest start and finish times are calculated in a similar manner to those of the CPM network. Also, total floats and free floats can be determined as a check on how long activities/ operations can be delayed before they become critical to a project, because critical operations, if delayed, may extend the finishing time and thereby incur additional expenditure for the contractors. The client would also be dissatisfied. Of all the programming charts the precedence diagram is the one which contains the most control information. itis a better control document for repetitive construction jobs, such as housing estates, or a multi-storey block where each floor level is almost identical. A site supervisor needs to be able to interpret the many meanings, symbols and details contained thereon. ‘Once one understands the preparation of a CPM network diagram then it becomes easy to prepare a precedence network diagram. It is important to understand how these charts are prepared and it is therefore necessary to understand how the work isto be done, which is best achieved by draughting out a method statement. The basic information as required by all other programming methods is needed. This information can be extracted from the calculation sheet. The actual draughting out of the is by the use of logic, whereby one considers the earliest each operation could start ‘and the latest it could finish if the correct level of resources were available.‘one never considers when itis most convenient for the firm to do the work as one does in bar chart programming. In precedence network diagrams, activities are represented by boxes {nodes) unlike in CPM networks where arrows are used. ‘The arrows have no time value but serve indicate the sequence and relationships of operations. in case there is need to show a delay eg after completion of the glazing the putty should be allowed to harden a litle before painting commences (lag tart), then a duration may be shown ituation. in Procedure of preparing Precedence Network Diagrams When draughting out the network of the precedence diagram the arrows can be applied in 8 variety of ways to indicate clearly when activities should start and finish. Earliest and Latest start and finish time are next calculated after the network is finalized and the activity, activity number and duration has been inserted in the appropriate box representing each operation. This is done by starting at the first activity at the beginning of day 1, which is zero, and the earliest finish is day zero, The second activity’ earliest start is the same day as the earliest finish of the previous activity. This calculation is also known as the forward pass whereby the longest time is used after adding the duration to the earliest start time to get the earliest finish time, where two or more paths exist. The Latest start and Finish time is then calculated, the calculation commencing from the last activity. This is known as backward pass whereby the shortest times are used In case there are more paths after subtracting the duration from the Latest Finish time of the last activity. The critical path is usually shown by encircling activity rectangles in red and drawing the arrows. This route follows activities whose earliest and latest star and finish times are the same hence resulting in zero floats. Summary 41.The project is divided into activities which are allocated numbers in a logical manner. These activities are obtained from drawings, bills of quantities and specifications. 2. A method statement could be prepared to give some indication of the sequence of construction of the project. The labour and plant may also be determined at this stage. 3. Compile details for use on a calculation sheet, quantities being extracted from the scale drawings and bills of quantities. The durations for each activity are then determined. ‘4, Network diagram is drawn (using information obtained from the CPM). 5, Insert all durations and other particulars on to the network. 6. Calculate Earliest Start and Finish Times and enter in the appropriate boxes.1 The Earliest Start Time for activity 1is normally given the figure zero. «Earliest Finish Time for the activites is obtained by adding the duration to the Earliest Start Time ke Earliest Finish Time =Earliest Start Time + Duration © THE Earliest Finish Time for the terminal (lat) activity is normally equal to the Latest Finish Time. «The Backward Pass will be used in obtaining the Latest Finish Time for the other activities in the Network. ‘© Likewise the Latest Start Time will be obtained by deducting the durations from LFT (using the Backward Pass). 7. Calculate total floats and free floats ‘© Float can be obtained by either subtracting Earliest Finish Time (EFT) from Latest Finish Time {UFT) or Earliest Start Time(EST) from Latest Start Time (LST) Le Total Float = Latest Finish Time(LFT) — Earliest Finish Time (EFT) Or Latest Start Time(LST)- Earliest Start Time (EST) Critical activities occur where the float is zero and when these activities are joined by a network diagram then the path that this network follows is the Critical Path. 8 Prepare a calendar of working days. 9. Show holiday periods and other relevant information. Draw a Precedence Network Diagram1. Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERT) GERT was frst described In 1966 by Dr, Allan B. Pritske of Purdue University. itis a network analysis technique used In project management that allows probabilistic treatment of both network loge and ‘estimation of activity duration. GERT Is mainly used on projects activities that are only performed in part as well as those activities that may be performed more than once (loop). GERT doesn’t have limitations compared to PERT and CPM, but it comes at a cost of more sophisticated diagram. These Limitations are as follows:- ‘There are no alternative paths ~ all activities must be performed, ‘There are no loops:it is not possible to repeat an activity, next similar activity has to be added, ‘There are no decisions in the diagram-no and, or,xor options which help to choose a proper path. ‘There is no ScalingsIt is not possible to replace some detailed group of activities with the one summary task, GERT uses activity -on -arrow notation only. This means that each activity is described on arrow. The ‘nodes are used to connect activities, but also to determine the type and conditions of relationship between them, ‘There are 3 logical operators in GERT which concerns activities incoming to the node; XOR- alternative (only one path possible) ‘OR- alternative (one or more paths can be performed) AND-all paths have to be performed ‘The most common is AND which means that every incoming activity has to happen before the out coming one starts. There are two types of relations that concern activities out coming from the node. a. Deterministic Every out coming activity has probability equal to 1, which means that every one willbe performed, b. Probabilistic Each out coming activity has some probability of appearance. AND 2 Deterministics XOR D Probabilistic SOR Draw a GERT diagram 10wv. tine of Balance Line of balance is a management control process used in construction where the project contains blocks of repetitive work activities such as roads, pipelines, tunnels, railways, high rise buildings, a housing estate or a multi-storey block where each floor level is almost identical. Iti therefore, a better control method for repetitive construction jobs. The line of balance collects, measures and presents Information relating to time, cost and completion and presents it against a specific plan. The line of balance technique was frst created by the good year company in the early 1940s before being adapted and developed by the U.S. Navy in the early 1950s. It was subsequently developed for industrial manufacturing and production control as well as the basic concepts behind planning and scheduling in the construction industry. The line of balance assists project management ‘Comparing a formal objective against actual progress ‘Identifying in advance problematic areas where corrective action may be required ‘Forecasting future performance Aline of balance shows the repetitive project work as a single line on a graph. Unlike the bar chart, which shows the duration of a particular activity, a line of balance chart shows the rate at which the work that makes up all the activities has to be undertaken to stay on schedule. The relationship of one trade or process to the subsequent trade or process is defined by the space between the lines. Advantages of line of balance ‘elt clearly shows the amount of work taking place in a certain area at a specific time of the project. ‘Ease of set up and Its superior presentation and visualization. ‘Easier to modify, update and change the schedule ‘Easier cost and time optimization analysis because of the information available for each activity in the project. ‘Better management of all the various sub-contractors in the project. ‘Visualization of productivity and location of crews. npetals eared for lin: of balance chart 4, list of the main operations/actvties in the building of a house (or floor level when constructing a multi-storey building), 2. Durations forthe completion for each operation. 3, Labour/gang sizes 4, Plant to be used, All the above are extracted from the calculation sheet and method statements. 5. The time buffers between main activities to allow for minimum delays. 6.Total time to build one unit and therefore the first handover stage. 7 Rate of handover for subsequent units after the first unit is completed. All the above depend on how many gangs or machines (resources) are to be used and also the date of completion. ‘When arranging the lines or bars on a line- of balance chart care must be exercised to obtain the best slopes to allow correct handing - over stages of units, and that the buffers (whether stage or activity buffers) are sufficient to allow for: 1. Irregular levels of output of gangs or plant. 2, Delays caused by inclement weather. 3. Delays in delivery of materials. 4.Rest breaks of the operatives. 5. Holiday periods. 6. Illnesses or absenteeism, 7. Disputes, etc, Natural rhythm should be the aim at all times, and where possible the same gang should be given the responsibility to carry out similar operations to each unit, and not be changed from ‘one activity to another different type. By continuing on one type of activity they can increase their bonus earnings by greater output as they leam a process thoroughly. A good bonus 2structure leading to increased earnings creates stability of labour on - site, thereby reducing labour wastage and time spent on recruitment. Unbalanced activity sequences should be avoided where possible, although this is sometimes difficult to achieve in practice. An unbalanced activity is one which when completed by a gang falls at a time when there is no immediate subsequent work, or the start of the following similar activity on the next unit is passed, and if then commenced later than planned a consequence will be to eventually run into the buffer or extension to the contract period will result. Draw line-of-balance chart araseunnnsnurpumaiernl ECE eg