Construction Planning (6CN017)

(Hong Kong 2024)

Session 3 - Lecture 4 (Part 1) –

Project Planning, Monitoring and
Control - PPMC & Lean Construction
Learning outcome

• To understand the role of Project/Site

managers in Scheduling, Monitoring and
Control.

• To understand Work break down structure

and Costbreak down structure.
• To understand Lean Construction
Contents of the Lecture:
Introduction

Importance of PPMC, why, example

Role of project/site managers in Scheduling, Monitoring

and Control

Work break down structure

(examples and characteristics)

Lean Construction
 What is project monitoring and control?
Project monitoring (aka. “project
monitoring and control”) comes as
step four of construction project The
• Planning,
process/phases. construction
process is • Preconstruction,
typically divided • Construction and
into 4 essential
What exactly is project phases: • Close-out.
monitoring?
Project monitoring is a process of
tracking a project’s metrics, progress, In some project management outlines, these
and associated tasks to ensure same steps are divided into 5 phases and are
everything is completed on time, on called:
budget, and according to project • Project Initiation (aka. ‘Planning’ – invoving
feasibility study; pre-design; design; permissions and approval;
requirements and standards. bidding process),
• Project Planning ( or ‘Preconstruction’- comes

• Project monitoring also includes

after the bidding process),
• Project Execution (Construction phase),
recognizing and identifying
• Project Monitoring and Control
roadblocks or issues that might
(performed concurrently within Construction phase)
arise during the project’s
• Project Closure (Close-Out).
execution, and taking action to
rectify these problems.
 Why is project monitoring important?

The success of a construction project relies on complete and dynamic project

monitoring. Careful project monitoring empowers construction Project Managers to
gather valuable data regarding how a project is going and to use this data to make
intelligent decisions.
Some key benefits of the project monitoring
phase include:
• Ensuring that tasks are being carried out according to
project requirements (i.e., quality control) Construction quality is one of the major reason for
monitoring project. For example, in the UK a series of high-
• Letting the Project Manager make sure important deadlines profile failings have led to increased scrutiny and a damaged
are met reputation for the industry:

• Providing a thorough perspective on employee workload • The Grenfell tragedy. - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-

and capacity england-london-40272168

• The Edinburgh Schools failings. -

• Allowing for project changes or remedies in case of https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-
problems 39580308

• Poor new build standards.

• Offering clear budget tracking and adherence

• Encouraging accountability from both team members and So, ensuring project requirements are fulfilled and complied with
stakeholders during project monitoring is more important than ever before.
 Why is it important to monitor and control projects?

In the UK construction industry (2015):

• 37% of design commissions overspend and 59% are late

• 48% of construction projects overspend and 40% of work is late

Currently, the design phases of projects suffer from:

• Temporary organisations/departmental silos, poor communication;
• Poor understanding of complexity of the building;
• Inevitable iteration & rework;
• Unforeseen changes; &
• Inappropriate project management methodologies & tools

Effective planning must overcome these problems by:

• Enabling team-based definition of roles & responsibilities
• Integrating the design & development processes of all participants
• Utilising appropriate management methodologies & tools

30% of construction defect are due to poor communication, Costing £20bn.

(https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/about-bsi/media-centre/press-releases/2003/9/Poor-
Communication-Costing-UK-Construction-Industry/2015)
 Delhi Commonwealth Games weight-lifting Arenal collapse: Why?

See: (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-14424311 )

What happened?:
• Budget was $270m, actual cost $4.1bn!
• Collapse of the footbridge leading to
arena
• Ceiling of the weight-lifting arena
collapsed India was deeply embarrassed by the construction delays,
• Filthy accommodation for athletes budget overruns and corruption allegations

• Unfinished facilities, and

• overall chaotic organisation of the
development.
Why:
• Corruption and poor project monitoring
and control
 What does project monitoring activities involve?

During the monitoring and controlling phase, organizations need to

juggle several responsibilities, including
• keeping to the schedule,
• staying within budget,
• avoiding scope creep, and
• managing risk.
The parallel processes that will need to be prioritize while monitoring
and controlling a construction project include:
• Reporting key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Monitoring change requests
• Keeping track of scope
• Controlling cost, quality and risks.
 How to monitor projects?

In order to implement the project monitoring and control process

effectively and efficiently, there are some elements of that should be
implemented, this includes:

Project baseline • Before getting started with any active monitoring, the Project Manager should make
effort to understand the project’s scope, budget, and timeline. This helps to provide
confirmation a benchmark for success throughout the completion of the project.

Work monitoring • This involves keeping stakeholders up to date in addition to regularly assessing the
status of the project, the quality of the deliverables, and measuring these against
and control baseline goals and metrics.

• Even the most organized projects often require changes from time to time. As such the
Change control project manager must be keeping track of resource considerations (budget, timeline, etc.)
throughout the monitoring process. This involves ensuring that ongoing documentation and
integration any required follow-ups regarding project changes are created and recorded.

Scope • In order to keep a record and ensure stakeholders and project team are on the same
page, it is important to secure documentation related to each phase of the project’s
verification completion. This shows that the project is accepted at each stage of execution.
 How to monitor projects? CONT….

• This is where schedules and costs are monitored closely. This

Schedule and involves, deadlines tracking and following-up (where necessary),
cost control and consistent watching of budgets. Updates to cost and timeline
estimates are made here.

• A project can be done on-time and on-budget, but if it is not what

the stakeholder wants or the quality of the work is poor, it is of little
Quality value to anyone. Quality control is an essential part of the project
control monitoring process. This is where specific project results and
deliverables are looked at in comparison to established quality
standards. If issues are found, changes are requested and made.

• This is like a report card for the project. Performance reporting

Performance consists of collecting and sharing any data related to project
performance in relation to baseline goals and standards. Here the
reporting project manager will create and find status reports, progress notes,
and future forecasts (using collected data).
 Effective Planning, monitoring and control:
Project/Site managers need to understand how to:

• Schedule
• Monitor, and
• Control

Key points to note

• A Plan is a logical sequence of events to accomplish a goal. i.e., what and how

• A Schedule incorporates durations and dates into the sequence of events

necessary to accomplish the Plan. i.e., who and when

• There may be different levels of ‘Plans’ and ‘Schedules’. Top level plans and
Schedules (Master plan) down to detailed plans and Schedules for sub tasks (fitting
out a room).

Work Breakdown Structure: A key tool in ‘scope’ management-used to subdivide a

project into manageable packages that can be estimated, planned, assigned and
controlled.
 Work Breakdown Structure
A Work Breakdown Structure helps in organizing
what needs to be done in small packages of
activities.

The work breakdown structure (WBS) is a

hierarchical system that represents the
construction project in increasing levels of detail
to define, organize and display the project work
in measurable and manageable components
 WBS
• Most linked bar chart project management
software packages facilitate the use of WBS to
enable the programme to be ‘rolled up’ or
expanded to an appropriate level of detail
depending upon the audience (client, contractor,
subcontractor, operative etc)
Scheduling using a GANT
chart
 Scheduling:
To schedule, the manager must identify and list the tasks that must be
accomplished, and the activities required.

The level of detail will depend on the purpose of the schedule and
who will use it.

Too little detail and not enough planning will result in major problems.

Including too much detail will obscure the important tasks and
milestones reducing flexibility.

The level of detail in the planning depends on the size and importance
of the project. Also, at the end of scheduling generate a check list to
be sure that nothing is forgotten at the planning stage.
 Scheduling
Often tasks overlap in time on a schedule. This shows the
interdependency between tasks or resources. Therefore,
it is valuable to find, list, and show the milestones that
signal the start or completion of a task.

Milestones also indicate when resources or information

from one task must be available for use in another task.

Yet, the schedule will indicate when a task is completed

and what must be available to start additional tasks.
 Scheduling Cont’d
Schedules provide a common ‘voice’ between
Engineers, co-workers, and management during
its construction and its subsequent updating. (If
everyone contributes to its construction and agrees to its validity,
everyone will make every effort to keep to it).

This way when circumstances dictate change,

they can made without recriminations
(arguments).
Example of a schedule (Gant chart) for the conversion of a
classroom to a computer suite
 Monitoring progress
• No matter how good the schedules are, if they
are not used for monitoring they serve very
little purpose.

• Monitoring does not require holding to the

schedule strictly.

• Circumstances change and as the project

develops new information becomes available
that may require a change in the plans.

• Monitoring progress of project helps to fulfil

contractual obligation to inform the client if
progress against the master schedule (contract
programme) is not proceeding as anticipated.

The schedules serve as a “yardstick” against which

one can measure progress and show where and
how plans must change.
Most of all, the schedule is a tool to stay focused on
the final goal.
 Monitor
• The project's progress must always be monitored with
respect to the schedule.

• The project manager uses the schedule to see where the

project stands, and to ensure that commitments are met as
planned.

• If they can’t be met, then those tasks whose work depends

on them can be warned in advance.

• Resources can be deflected, reallocated, and the schedule

revised so the overall project goal is achieved.
 Monitor
• The most useful way to do monitoring is to
combine it with the regular project technical
reviews

• Most projects do not always run smoothly,

unexpected difficulties are likely to occur

• Monitoring is the only way that resources can

be reallocated wisely and effectively
 Alternative presentation of a schedule (Network
diagram)

Can you identify the activities that comprise the critical path?
Could the project be completed in less time?
 Control
Controlling means taking the appropriate action as a result of
the information gained from monitoring

• The purpose of scheduling and monitoring is to permit

smart (Specific, measureable, attainable, reliable, timely)
control

• But scheduling and monitoring by themselves are not

control

• The project/site manager must decide what action must be

taken to keep the project on schedule

• Control must be actively and deliberately exercised

 Control
The most common error in project control is not acting soon
enough

Action is delayed either because of poor monitoring or more

often because of unwillingness to face the facts

The true facts cannot work against a project, but erroneous

assumptions can

When it becomes reasonably clear that a certain approach is

not going to work, stop it

Redirect the effort in a more productive direction

Delay only wastes time and money

 Lean Construction
Lean construction focuses on eliminating waste. Waste exists in different forms.
Construction waste relates to:
• methods,
• materials,
• labour,
• time,
• operations, and
• equipment’s.

Main causes of construction project waste:

• design errors,
• defects,
• variations,
• rework,
• excess material consumption
• accidents and
• delays
 Lean Tools
(See http://www.leanconstruction.org/media/docs/lcj/V2_N2/LCJ_05_V2N2.pdf )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0-9nlg-FDY

Lean tools include:

• Last planner system (LPS) • [See video:
http://vimeo.com/63199577]
• Increased Visualisation • And report:
• Offsite Fabrication http://www.ntu.ac.uk/research/do
cument_uploads/132937.pdf
• The 5S/ 5C (House Keeping)
• Kaizen
• Poka-yoke (Failsafe or Error-
Proofing)
• Daily Huddle Meetings
• First Run Studies
Lean Tools CONT….
 See Tutorial 3 Lean Construction.
• Any Questions?