+

PLANT MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT OF QUANTITY SURVEYING
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

5/20/2023 QSM652
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POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

1) Why we need to used plant & equipment in civil engineering

works? (8 marks)

2) Discuss with the help of sketches 3 types of plants & equipment

used for dradging and reclaimation works (3 marks)

3) Explain on the 3 types of plant acquisition available to be

choose by the builders ( 15 marks)

QSM652 5/20/2023
+ PLANT AND EQUIPMENT: 3

For Building and Civil Engineering Works

Introduction
Plants & equipment for building and civil engineering works are vital,
ranging from small hand power tools to larger pieces of plant such
as mechanical excavators and tower cranes. They usually can be
considered for use for one or more of the following reasons;
i. Increased production
ii. Reduction in overall construction cost and time
iii. Carry out activities which cannot be carried out by the traditional
manual methods in the context of economics.
iv. Eliminate heavy manual work thus reducing fatigue and as a
consequence increasing productivity
v. Replacing labour where there is a shortage of personnel with the
necessary skills.
vi. Maintain high standards required particularly in the context of
structural engineering works.
vii. Determinants to be considered in selecting suitable contractors to
carry out works.
+ PLANT AND EQUIPMENT: 4

For Building and Civil Engineering Works

Different types of plants and equipments can be

used to perform a specific task, e.g. earthmoving,
dredging etc. A skilled operator can select the
equipment best suited for the job conditions.
Knowledge of the correct order of operations makes
an operator a more productive member of the team.
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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building & Civil Engineering Works

Earthmoving
◼a process of digging, loading, hauling &
dumping any material that is needed for
construction or is in the way of construction.
◼ The primary process operations are soil or
rock excavation, backfill & embankment
construction.
◼ Itmay also include the transportation of
materials, stabilization of embankments &
control of groundwater.
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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works
Site excavation (Digging)

Types of plants used for site excavation

i. Scrapers
ii. Excavators
iii. Motor graders
iv. Bulldozers
v. Wheeled and tracked loaders
vi. Backhoe loaders

There are many different types of excavation, each representing its own
challenges such as;
i. Highway / roadway excavations
ii. Several types of bulk excavations
iii. Limited-area vertical excavation
iv. trenching

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A self-propelled machine capable of
digging, loading, hauling, dumping, &
8

spreading materials; used to move earth

by stripping or collecting a layer with a
cutting blade while moving forward,
pushing the earth into a bowl & then
unloading it.

Used to level the surface of ground by

stripping away earth, or by collecting earth
& filling hollow areas.

Scraper
+ Plant & Equipment 9

Scrapers
Consist of a scraper bowl which
is lowered to cut & collect soil
where site stripping &
levelling operations are
required involving large
volume of earth.
When the scraper bowl is full the
apron at the cutting edge is
closed to retain the earth & the
bowl is raised for travelling to
the disposal area.
On arrival the bowl is lowered,
the apron opened & the spoil
pushed out by the tailgate as
the machine moves forwards.
+ 10

Plant & Equipment

Excavators
Used primarily to excavate and load
most types of soil.

Excavating machines come in a wide

variety of designs & sizes but all of
them can be placed within one of
three categories:

i. Universal excavators – this

category covers most forms of
excavators all of which have a
common factor the power unit.
This machines are selected for
high output requirements & are
rope controlled
+ 11

Plant and Equipment

Excavators
ii. Purpose designed
excavators –
to carry out one mode of excavation
they usually have smaller bucket capacities
than universal excavators;
they are hydraulically controlled.

iii. Multi-purpose excavators –

can perform several excavating functions
having both front and rear attachments.
When in operation using the backscatter
bucket the machine is raised off its axles by
rear mounted hydraulic outriggers or jacks
and in some models by placing the front
bucket on the ground.
Most machines can be fitted with a variety of
bucket widths & various attachments such
as bulldozer blades, scarifiers, grab
buckets & post hole auger borers.
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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

For Building and Civil Engineering Works

1. Roadway excavation
◼ a leveling process used in highway construction &
airfield grading.
◼ Ideally, it involves the movement of material from
high ground to low areas.
◼ This is called a balanced job because the soil needed
for fill areas is obtained from cut areas and there is no
need to haul material in from outside the project.
◼ Material moved from borrow area to fill low spot for
embankment construction may also be included.
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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building & Civil Engineering Works

◼ Roadway excavation is normally shallow and the

site is easily accessible.

◼ Equipment used includes scrapers, bulldozers,

and possibly front-end loaders.

◼ Selection of the specific pieces of equipment will

depend on the size of the job, characteristics of
the materials being moved, and haul distance.

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Roadway excavation

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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works
2. Bulk-pit excavation

◼ the digging of a pit.

◼ It involves digging & loading material of great depth and volume &
then hauling the excavated material to another site.
◼ The type of equipment used at these locations will depend on the
size and accessibility of the site.
◼ Equipment with a large payload is often more efficient and
economical to use, but when the site area is limited, smaller
equipment that is more maneuverable may be used despite higher
costs.

QSM652
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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

For Building and Civil Engineering Works

3. Bulk wide-area excavation

◼ is similar to bulk-pit excavation, but this type of excavation permits access to the area
from many directions, making it easier to access and leave the excavation site.
◼ It is usually shallower in depth but larger in area than bulk-pit excavation.
◼ is used in highway construction, airfield grading, the removal of top layers of soil (as
in quarrying or strip mining), and the building of earth dams.
◼ Equipment for this type of operation usually involves scrappers, bulldozers &
possibly front-end loaders.
◼ Selection of the specific pieces of equipment will depend on the size of the job and
the characteristics of the soil being moved.
◼ Scrapers have difficulty in loading loose, dry sands, rock and even wet sticky
clays.

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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works

4. Channel excavation
excavation of loose,
unconsolidated
materials, of material
lying under water (such
as drainage channel), or
of saturated soils that
prevent the equipment
from travelling over the
excavated area.
usually performed by
equipment standing on
solid ground at the
same level or higher
than the material being
worked.
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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works
5. Limited-area vertical excavation
▪ Some excavation must be done by lifting the material vertically out of the
pit because the sides of the excavation require support with some type of
shoring material.
▪ The type of equipment for this job is often the clamshell.
▪ The clamshell is a bucket –type attachment that is used on a front end
loader or a backhoe. It is versatile but requires close attention by the
operator and is not very efficient in its digging action.
▪ This is because the bucket is on the end of a line and cannot be pushed into
the soil to dig with any force; it can only pick up loose material from the
bottom of the pit.
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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works
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PLANT & EQUIPMENT:
20

For Building & CE Works

6. Trench excavation
◼ A trench is a temporary opening in which something,
such as a pipe or box culvert, is place and covered.
◼ A large scale type of trench excavation is known as
cut and cover. This includes excavating a large and
sometimes deep trench, laying the specified pipe or
culvert, and then covering everything over or
building on top of it.
◼ 3 main classes of equipment are used in trenching:
backhoes, excavators, and trenching machines.

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PLANT & EQUIPMENT:

For Building & CE Works

Concreting Plant
The production of concrete structure involves 3 main stages, namely
mixing, distribution and placing of the concrete.

Method of selection
i. Topography of the site – boundaries, restrictions, noise, contours of
land, soil conditions
ii. The total volume of concrete required
iii. The maximum amount of concrete required at any point one time
iv. Availability of plant
v. Time of year in which concreting is to be carried out
vi. Amount of space available for setting up plant
vii. Quality of concrete required, i.e. specification, varying mixes
viii. Cost of producing concrete by various methods

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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works
Concrete mixing plant: Types

There are 4 main types of mixing plant

i. Tilting drum mixers (T)
ii. Non-tilting drum mixers (NT)
iii. Reverse drum mixers ( R)
iv. Paddle mixers (P)
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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works

Tilting drum mixers; is used

mainly for mixing very small
amounts of material on site. It
consists of a conical drum
rotating on a movable axis.
When the materials are mixed
the drum is then titled to
discharge the mix.
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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works

Non-tilting drum; is suitable

for larger outputs, say 10 m3
per hour. It consists of a
circular drum with a side
outlet for loading (usually by
means by hopper), and an
outlet of the opposite side for
discharge, which occurs
when the chute is inclined
into the drum. The concrete
falls on to the chute from the
top of the drum. During
mixing the chute is inclined
to face the bottom of the
drum thus preventing
concrete from spilling out.
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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works

Reverse drum; is similar to the

non-tilting mixer but it mixes
when rotating in one direction
and discharges in the reverse
direction. Special baffles
retain the concrete until the
drum is reversed.
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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works

Paddle mixers; consists of

a stationary pan with
rotating paddle. This
form of mixing unit gives
very consistent mixes
and is used for high-
grade concrete.
Since this type of mixer is
not as portable as the
others it tends to be used
at a central mixing point
or at locations where
precast units are made.
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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works
Selection of suitable plant for mixing will depends on:

i. Amount of concrete required at any one time

ii. Quality of mix required

iii. Availability of plant

iv. Amount of room for setting-up plant

v. Type of distribution plant.

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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works
In certain cases, ready mix may be more economic to supplement the site
output due to;

i. Congested city site sites make it difficult to set-up mixing plant

ii. High strength concrete is easily obtained thereby reducing expenditure

on sophisticated mixing plant

iii. Small quantities can be obtained

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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works

Disadvantages of ready mix;

◼ Delivery time are unreliable, due to traffic problem
◼ Prices are considerably higher than the cost of site mixing
◼ Large loads create difficulties in handling so much bulk quickly on the
site
◼ Access to site must be fit to carry the combines loads of delivery – vehicle
and concrete

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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works
Ready mix concrete can be delivered in 3 different forms;

i. Dry-batch; in which water is added at the site and then mixed

ii. Partially-mixed; during transit the drum revolves very slowly and
the materials are completely remixed on arrival at site

iii. Fully-mixed at the depot and agitated during transit

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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building & Civil Engineering Works

Concrete distribution plant

There are many ways in which concrete can be distributed on site,
& the most common are;
i. Tipping borrow
ii. Dumpers
iii. Mono-rail
iv. Hoist
v. Pumps
vi. Placer units
vii. Cranes with skips
viii. Cableways
ix. Conveyers
x. Tremie pipe, elephant trunking and chute
+ Placing of concrete by pumping 32
+ Placing of concrete by tremie pipe 33
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PLANT & EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works
Dredging
◼ Dredging consists of the excavation of material
from a sea, river or lake bed, and the relocation
of the excavated material elsewhere.
◼ It is commonly used to improve the navigable
depths in ports, harbours and shipping
channels, or to win minerals from underwater
deposits.
◼ It may be also used to improve drainage,
reclaim land, improve sea defense or clean up
the environment.
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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works
Types of Dredging
i. Capital dredging works
involves the creation of new or improved facilities such as a
harbour basin, a deeper navigation channel, or an area of
reclaimed land for industrial or residential purposes.
ii. Maintenance dredging works
involves the removal of siltation from channel beds, which
generally occurs naturally, in order to maintain the design
depth of navigation channels and ports.
iii. Remedial dredging works
It is carried out in an effort by society to correct past actions
which have in some cases, resulted in heavily contaminated
sediments.
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PLANT & EQUIPMENT:

For Building & Civil Engineering Works

Types of Plant and Equipments

for Dredging

i. Hydraulic dredgers
a. Suction dredger
b. Cutter suction dredger
c. Trailing suction hopper
dredger

ii. Mechanical dredger

a. Bucket ladder dredger
b. Backhoe dredger
c. Grab dredger

iii. Hydrodynamic dredger

a. Water injection dredger
b. Underwater plough

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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

Grab Dredging
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Bucket dredging
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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works

Output and cycle times

◼ Allitems of plant have optimum output and
cycle times which can be used as a basis for
estimating anticipated productivity taking into
account the task involved, task efficiency of the
machine, operator’s efficiency and in the case
of excavators the type of soil.
◼ Datafor the factors to be taken into
consideration obtained from timed
observations, feedback information or
published tables contained in manufacturer’s
catalogue or reliable textbooks.
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PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works
Typical example;

Backacter with 1m3 capacity bucket engaged in normal trench

excavation in a clayey soil and disposal directly into an
attendant haulage vehicle.
Optimum output = 60 bucket per hour (from catalogue)
Task efficiency factor = 0.8 (from tables)
Operator efficiency factor = 75% (typical figure)
Therefore, anticipated output = 60 x 0.8 x 0.75
= 36 bucket x 1 = 36 m3 per hour.
An allowance should be made for the bulking or swell of the solid material
due
to the introduction of air or voids during the excavation process

Therefore, net output allowing for a 30% swell = 36 – (36 x 0.3)

= say, 25m3 per hour
+ 42

PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

For Building and Civil Engineering Works
If the BQ gives a total net excavation of 950m3
Time required = 950/25 = 38 hours

Haulage vehicle required;

Assuming an 8 hour day – ½ hour maintenance time in days = 38/7.5

= say, 5 days
Haulage vehicle required;
= 1 + round trip time of vehicle / loading time of vehicle
If round trip time = 30 minutes and loading time =10min
Therefore, the number of haulage vehicles required
= 1 + 30/10 = 4

This gives a vehicle waiting overlap ensuring excavator is fully utilised which is
economically desirable.
+PLANT ACQUISITION 43

◼ Means of obtaining the plant.

◼ Most firms will purchase small plants but this reflect its lower-valued
items.

◼ Mechanical plants are expensive and contractor need to do wise

decision whether to invest in this capital investment or not.

◼ The decision to acquire specific plant should be based on:

Technical reasons
• The contractor needs to decide what types of plant to
be required, its size (bigger or similar plant), output
capacity, etc.

Economic reasons

• The profitability of the proposal should be evaluated

by calculating the expected rate of return and
compare it with the cost of capital.
+PLANT ACQUISITION OPTIONS 44

◼ Each acquisition method will make special demands on the use of

the company’s capital and resources. The options available to the
contractor are:

HIRE

OWN
• Hire purchase
• Straight purchase OWN & HIRE
• Leasing

PLANT
ACQUISITION
OPTIONS
+PLANT ACQUISITION OPTIONS 45

Plant Costing
Items of plant can be bought or hired or where there are a number of
similar items a combination of buying and hiring could be
considered. The choice will be governed by economic factors
and the possibility of using the plant on future sites thus
enabling the costs to be apportioned over several contracts.

Advantages of hiring plant:

i. Plant can be hired for short periods.
ii. Repairs and replacements are usually the responsibility of the
hire company
iii. Plant is returned to the hire company after use thus relieving the
building contractor of the problem of disposal or finding more
work for the plant to justify its purchase or retention.
iv. Plant can be hired with the operator, fuel and oil included in the
hire rate.
+PLANT ACQUISITION OPTIONS 46

Advantages of buying plant;

i. Plant availability is totally within the control of the

contractor

ii. Hourly cost of plant is generally less than hired plant

iii. Owner has choice of costing method used.

QSM652 5/20/2023
+PLANT ACQUISITION OPTIONS 47

❖ Owning all plant

➢ It is not a requirement for a contractor to own all plants that he requires to carry out the
works.
➢ A big contractor may not have much plant since he can hire the required plants from
plant hiring companies.

The type and quality of services to offer

If the company decided to own and operate the plant, it has 2 types of services to offer.
Either:

To provide plant to service the company’s contract only.

• Example: Provision of plant as service management
• The services are at reasonable rates of hire which compare with those rates
available in open market. (i.e. at market rate to recoup cost and profit)

To operate plant division as separate entity

• As a subsidiary company to parent company. (i.e. independent organization as a

plant rental company which is responsible for generating its own capital and
profit.
• The plant division’s priority is to serve the need of parent company and at the
same time has the freedom to hire plant to clients outside the parent company.
• To maintain high level of plant utilization (i.e. to maximize profit)
+PLANT ACQUISITION OPTIONS 48

◼ Contractor need to consider the advantages and disadvantages of owning a plant

comparing to hiring.

ADVANTAGES
✓ The contractor has full control over the plant. The plant will be available at all
time and he can use it whenever he requires the plant. On the other hand, plant
may not be available for hire in good time.
✓ Prestige involve to demonstrating the use of own plant. This is considered
important for firm’s reputation in business

DISADVANTAGES
✓ Unless the firm can see sufficient usage for the plant and unless the future net
revenue estimates are adequate, it is not advisable to make a commitment to
purchase. Plant may be under utilization in recession time and it may not be easy
to sell.
✓ The contractor will have to meet the costs of servicing and maintenance, but such
costs remain small in comparison to on-going hiring charges.
+PLANT ACQUISITION OPTIONS 49

❖ Methods of owning plant

1. Straight / outright purchase

➢ This is the payment of the purchase price by the acquiring company to the supplier.
➢ The plant immediately becomes the property of the contractor.
➢ This involves large cash payment as initial by the acquiring company before the plant acquired has
earned any revenue.

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

Plant considered as an asset to the Much capital will

company and can be used in negotiating be locked up in
finance, example, as collateral. the plant items
before the plant
could bring in
any revenue.
Inflation tends to raise the scrap value,
means that the plant can often be resold
after several years with slightly less
than its purchase value.

Financial advantage accrue through tax

saving if any, depending on the
government policy (i.e. tax deducted
from profit on money used to buy plant.
+PLANT ACQUISITION OPTIONS 50

❖ Methods of owning plant

2. Hire Purchase
➢ The acquiring company pays a regular hire charge to the financier, finance company or bank,
and the ownership of the plant will be transferred to him after the settlement of the purchase
amount.
➢ The hire charge normally made in monthly and the agreement normally requires the deposit
payment.
➢ The cash flow consideration is less demanding than the whole purchase. However, the
interest rate is normally high, around 10% p.a. and this makes the outright purchase cheaper
alternative.

3. Lease
➢ The lessee enjoys exclusive use of the plant item for the whole period of the lease and in
return, makes a commitment to pay the agreed lease charges for this period
➢ The ownership of the plant, however, remains the property of the lessor (leasing company).
➢ The lessee normally does not have to pay for the deposit but have to pay for 2 and 3 months
payment in advance, but that depends on the terms and agreements between the two parties.
+PLANT ACQUISITION OPTIONS 51

The advantages & disadvantages of leasing plants are as follows:

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

The monthly leasing charges for plant

will be significantly less than the The contractor is not the owner of the
equivalent hire charges, which must be leased plant and therefore he does not
set to cover the costs of those periods qualify for any tax advantages conveyed
when the plant is not on hire. on the original investors.

The leasing period is considerably long

Normally the lessee may get the chance
to purchase the plant for a nominal rate
at the end of the lease period.
The leasing cost is treated as operating
cost and it will be deducted from the
revenue in arriving at the amount of net
profit on which the firm pays tax.
where the agreement may state the
minimum specified lease period of
several years depending on the type of
plant to be leased. The contractor has to
have sufficient jobs to avoid the plant
from being idling.

Large initial capital investment for the

plant is not required for the use of the
plant. The firm is able to use the leased
plant to generate revenue and to use
these revenue proceeds to pay the
leasing cost.
+PLANT ACQUISITION OPTIONS 52

❖ Categor ies of Lease

1.Finance lease
➢ The leasing is arranged through leasing company who has no particular interest in plant.
➢ The leasing company offers no technical support and merely arrange the lease i.e. providing
finance for the lease
➢ The plant will be provided by the third party, i.e. supplier, manufacturer etc.
➢ The contract will specify the leasing charge to be paid as well as the lease period.
➢ The responsibility for insurance, maintenance, service, repair, etc, to protect the lessor’s plant during
primary period, is normally borne by the lessee.

2.Operating lease
➢ The leasing of plant is arranged direct with the manufacturer or the supplier.
➢ This can be a way of marketing their products i.e. a promotion technique.
➢ The leasing charge may be quite different from that of finance lease. The charge may be cheaper
because the lessor may have a different interest in the plant. For examples, the lessor may have use
for the plant itself or that he may have a well-developed second hand leasing market where lots of
plant are readily available or as a method of introducing new plant, etc.
+PLANT ACQUISITION OPTIONS 53

In both categories of lease, leasing period may be divided into 2 parts:

1. Primary Period
➢ The duration of the primary period is dependent on the useful life of the plant which may
range between 2 to 5 years depending on the type of the plant.
➢ The lessor will try to recoup all the cost within the primary period.
➢ Therefore, the payment to be charged by the lessor will include:
❖ Capital cost and interest charges – cost of purchasing the plant
❖ Overhead of lessor – cost of managing the plant
❖ Profit margin – the amount should be reasonable to reflect the market condition

In normal condition of leasing, this is considered a non-cancelable period to prevent lessee

from cancelling agreement during this period.

2. Secondary Period
➢ During this period, the leasing charge is relatively small and normally subject to negotiation
since the lessor has already recovered all his costs including profit during the primary
period.
➢ The lessor may even sell the plant to the lessee at nominal price.
+PLANT ACQUISITION OPTIONS 54

❖ Hiring all plant

➢ Plant can easily be hired from many hiring companies in the market.
➢ The difference between hiring and leasing is time factor. Plant is hired on a relatively short
time basis, whereas leasing normally required the plant to be leased for a fixed period of
time, usually not less than 3 years (longer period for more expensive plant).

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

Plant can be hired for a short period of

The hiring rates depend on the market
time. Smaller items may be hired on daily
basis, larger items may be hired on conditions and normally steeper than that
for leasing
weekly or monthly basis. This is
preferred for equipment that going to be
used for small contract only.
There is less certainty about the instant
availability of plant and its condition
Large initial capital investment for the since the availability is beyond the
plant is not required. The hiring cost is control of the contractor
treated as operating cost and will be
deducted from the revenue in calculating
the amount of tax payable by the
contractor

The hiring company normally provide the

repair and maintenance services
+PLANT ACQUISITION OPTIONS 55

❖ CONCLUSION
◼ No simple guidelines exist with regard to the best methods of acquiring
plant. The optimum decision depends upon:
✓ the financial position of the individual company
✓ general levels of interest rates
✓ the specific levels of plant rental
✓ Leasing charges
✓ External factors such as → changes in corporate taxation and level of
inflation

◼ However, many firms practiced of combination of hiring and owning, i.e.

owning important plant (those normally required on most contracts) and
hiring the rest.
+PLANT MAINTENANCE 56

Construction plant can be expected to breakdown during its working life due to:
➢ Normal wear and tear
➢ Sudden failure of a component

Objectives of maintenance
◼ To reduce the incidence of failure by replacement, repair and servicing in order
to achieve an economical level of utilization during the working life of the
machine
◼ A reduction of plant down-time minimizes:-
i. Costly stoppages on site
ii. Disruptive effect on labour and program of works

Maintenance options

The plant maintenance options available to the contractors are:

➢ Planned maintenance
➢ Unplanned maintenance
➢ Replacement
+PLANT MAINTENANCE 57

MAINTENANCE

Planned Unplanned
Replacement
Maintenance Maintenance

On site
Preventive Corrective Maintenance
breakdown
Maintenance Maintenance in workshop
maintenance

On site On site
Maintenance Maintenance
running breakdown
in workshop in workshop
maintenance maintenance

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+PLANT MAINTENANCE 58

❖ Planned Maintenance
➢ This is a controlled, regular and disciplined maintenance procedure where maintenance
works are organized and carried out with forethought, control and record

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

Improve utilization level of plant i.e. the This is an expensive option. There,
plant could be operated efficiently maximum advantage is where the effects
of breakdown would be extremely
damaging
Maintenance periods can be coordinated
with site production requirements and
therefore, no disruption to work
programmes.

Spare parts can be obtained in good time

and stock maintained at adequate levels

Regular work schedule for maintenance

personnel can be programmed, facilitating
fitters and mechanic to be allocated to plant
items requiring specialist skills and
experience

The overall result enhances the awareness

and importance of maintenance in well
being of the company
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+PLANT MAINTENANCE 59

The planned maintenance could be divided into 2 categories:

Planned Preventive Maintenance
- This method requires the implementation of planned regular procedures directed towards ensuring the
efficient use of the plant item.
- The maintenance actions required are:
➢ Daily servicing and superficial inspection on site. The machine operator normally allows ½ hour before
and after normal working hours to carry out the task.
➢ Regular full maintenance and inspection according to the manufacturer’s recommendation. This
includes also periodic overhaul and to be carried out in the workshop.
➢ Replacement and repair of components parts within a working period based on expected duties and
conditions.
- This option very comprehensive service and can be operated only by those firms with extensive holding of
plant where:
➢ Down time can be avoided by substituting other plants
➢ Workshop facilities are available on site

Planned Corrective Maintenance

- This is not a regular full maintenance. Adequate maintenance is performed to enable the plant to operate
whilst on site i.e. on site breakdown maintenance.
- Major overhaul in workshop should be undertaken after its duties are complete
- Maintenance procedures are not very comprehensive and less systematic compared with preventive
maintenance.
- Components are usually replaced only:
➢ During full inspection and servicing period in workshop, or
➢ When a breakdown occurs or anticipated on site
- This option does not ensure highest safety standard and often favored by firms, which hold few items of plant
where:
➢ Full maintenance resources and personnel are available only at central workshop
➢ Opportunities for carrying out effective inspection and overhaul only after that work completed i.e. can
not afford stoppages on sites.
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❖ Unplanned Maintenance
➢ Maintenance work in only necessitated by unforeseen breakdown or damage. This method is
normally adopted:
✓ When the costs of regular maintenance become too expensive and are likely to exceed
the cost of complete replacement of the plant item, or
✓ Not economically justifiable to carry out maintenance until the machine either breaks
down or the operating efficiency becomes unacceptable.
➢ This maintenance option is appropriate only for plant which are not essential to the
production process and whose failure:
✓ Do not cause considerable disruption to the work program
✓ Do not constitute a safety hazard to the workers
➢ This option is rarely appropriate for construction plant with the exception for small tools, etc.
➢ In practice however, many firms adopt this policy for major plant items and with disastrous
consequences for production efficiency.
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❖ Replacement

✓ Most plant items have a life exceeding a point when a major overhaul is required i.e. exceeding
its economic life.

✓ Replacement may be a better option:

➢ When the cost of maintenance exceeds the benefits of operating the items i.e. uneconomic
➢ The state of second-hand market is good, for example, sometimes it provides a profitable
opportunity for selling a machine before its planned replacement period
➢ Superior equipment may become available to outweigh the advantages of holding outdated
machinery

❖ STRATEGY FOR PLANT MAINTENANCE

✓ The strategy required to keep the plant in working order demands the implementation technical
and administrative procedures, which inevitably incur cost.

✓ For any organization, depending upon its maintenance efficiency, there is an optimum level of
maintenance provision i.e. at some level the cost of providing the maintenance service will
exceed the cost of plant down-time.
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62

TOTAL COST (MAINTENANCE &

BREAKDOWN)

COST OF MAINTENANCE

COST
OPTIMUM LEVEL OF
MAINTENACE

COST OF BREAKDOWN (DOWN TIME)

LEVEL OF MAINTENANCE
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❖ Optimum Maintenance Provision

✓ It is not only important to install the correct maintenance procedures, but costs must also be maintained
and controlled. The costs can be divided into 2:

DIRECT COST
✓ The maintenance budget is prepared based on the needs of the plant holding and any items to be
added during the life of the budget. Reference should be made to historical records of:
i. Breakdown maintenance labour costs
ii. Planned maintenance labour costs
iii. Material costs and fuel consumption
iv. Spares cost
v. Administrative, technical, equipment and other overhead costs
✓ The budget provides the basis for monitoring the trend in overall maintenance effectiveness.

INDIRECT COST
✓ When plant breaks down there is a loss of production while waiting for repair and during the repair
itself.
✓ For a plant hire firm, it may cause a reduction of the budgeted utilization period and a loss in
revenue, but for owner-contractor the idle time of the construction work force must also be
considered.
✓ It is also important to consider these costs when preparing an overall for owning and operating the
plant, including the cost of maintenance.
✓ Clearly, it is essential to decide upon realistic levels of utilization time over, say, a yearly budget.
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❖ Fa c t o r s a f f e c t i n g p l a n t m a i n t e n a n c e p o l i c y
✓ it involves large investment in the setting up of workshops, offices and stores, coupled with a
significant investment in tools and trained staff.
✓ The operational problems imposed by the nature of the construction work, for examples,
remoteness of sites, adverse conditions, etc., severely restrict the quality and amount of
maintenance provision which may be achieved.
✓ In a large national construction company, a centralized maintenance facility is often too
expensive to operate for servicing plant items spread over a wide location.
✓ The alternatives of establishing workshop facilities on individual sites may be justified on the
larger and/more expensive remote contracts, but is generally prohibitively expensive on the
typical small sites.
✓ Rationalization offers a suitable compromise, whereby individual maintenance facilities may
be set up on the large plant intensive sites with a mobile workshop operating from the
regional facility to serve the smaller sites.

❖ CONCLUSION
✓ Planned maintenance should be the backbone of the system in order to achieve basic
maintenance objective i.e. to reduce the incidence of failure.
✓ Practical difficulties arising from the dispersed nature of the work generally required a
combination of planned, unplanned and replacement maintenance policies.
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THANK YOU