THE CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK CE 54100: HIGHWAY AND AIRPORT CONSTRUCTION CLASS NOTES FOR LECTURES #3:

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT: PLANNING, DIRECTING ORGANIZING AND CONTROLLING (References: Construction Methods and Management by S. W. Nunnally, Chapter 16 pp 451-478) CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT Introduction Modern complexities in construction projects have made it imperative that owners, planners and contractors avail themselves of a system that allows for the efficient management of these projects. A project is unique. Large projects sometimes have thousands of items that have to be executed and managed in such a manner as to enable the synergistic completion of the project. To achieve the owners objective in terms of project duration and budget the project must planned, scheduled, monitored and controlled to ensure the timely, cost efficient and quality delivery of the project. Project activities consume resources such as, time, money materials, equipment and people. If we were to allow the several activities to follow one after each other like ants on the march our projects would never come to an end. Planning allows us to identify activities that could be conducted simultaneously and thereby reduce project duration. To begin the scheduling process, each activity of the logic diagram is then be time-loaded, the forward pass done on the diagram to determine project duration and compliance with the objectives, and the backward pass done to determine the critical path and floats. From the scheduled logic diagram, the bar chart schedule is then be plotted to indicate graphically, the start and end times (durations) of each activity. Note that the bar chart (Gantt Chart), in isolation, is of no use and must be a product of a logic analysis to enable the efficient management of the project. PLANNING, DIRECTING, ORGANIZING AND CONTROLLING THE PROJECT What is Project Management? Project Management is defined as managing and directing time, material, equipment, human resources (personnel/labor) and costs to complete a project in an orderly, efficient and economical manner in order to meet project objectives with respect to schedule and budget and deliver a quality product. Project management is knowing where you are in a project and managing changes when problems arise to achieve successful project goals. Project Management has 9 major categories, viz.: 1. Managing Project Scope (Includes aims, goals and objectives of the sponsor). 2. Managing Time (includes planning, scheduling and controlling the project to achieve time objectives). 3. Managing Costs. (Financial control of the project. Includes accumulating, organizing and analyzing data and reporting the cost information). 4. Managing Communication. (Keeps inflowing flowing among all members of the team). 5. Managing Human Resources (includes directing and administering the people working on the project). 1

6. Managing Quality Control (include ensuring the fulfillment of the quality established as a measure of performance for thee project). 7. Managing Contract/Procurement (includes selecting, negotiating and awarding orders and administering procurement of materials, equipment and services). 8. Managing Risk (includes dealing with a level of uncertainty about the project based knowledge and experience). 9. Managing Project Integration (includes project coordination among all project functionaries). This list includes all of the encompassing elements of the body of Project Management. These elements are addressed below with a brief description of the three important elements of a successful project: Planning: What is to be accomplished? List of activities and required resources. Preparation of the logical project-planning diagram. Scheduling: When does a specific task have to start? What is its duration and end time? Control: Tracking/monitoring time and cost. Analyze performance. Make the necessary interventions to preserve the integrity of the schedule and the budget. Important to supporting the three elements are: Allocation of Labor/Personnel: Allocation of Capital Resources Use of Computer Applications to Aid Project Management:

The Five General Elements of Project Management Per the Project Management Institutes (PMIs) Project Management Body of Knowledge, a project has 5 phases, which are compressed into the 3 elements discussed above. These 5 phases include: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Initiation Planning Execution Monitoring and Control (Included in the rest) Closeout INTRODUCTION TO THE CRITICAL PATH METHOD (CPM) The Critical Path Method (CPM) (essentially a construction tool) was developed between 1957 to 1958 by DuPont and Rand as a network planning method to improve planning and scheduling methods to reduce project duration on plant overhaul, maintenance, and construction projects, using computers. The intent at that time was to reduce project costs by finding the optimum tradeoff of time (project duration) and total project cost. CPM was quickly recognized by professionals in government and industry and its use as a cost saving tool commenced. Today, CPM is used widely for project scheduling to communicate project details to the several layers of the organization. The Critical Path Method applies the following network project modeling process or sequence of steps: a. Define work tasks or activities b. Put activities in order of sequence c. Diagram the activity sequence in network format d. Determine activity durations 2

e. Calculate the schedule and adjust to meet constraints Here activities are defined, sequenced, diagrammed, activity durations assigned and the schedule is calculated. The simple mathematical analysis in CPM is performed using the predecessor-successor sequencing of activities and their durations. The mathematical algorithms used in the forward pass and backward pass result in the minimum completion time for the project, as well as the start and finish times of each activity. The Critical path on the network diagram is that path of activities that generates the longest duration for the project within the network. All activities along this Critical path are called Critical Activities. The sum of the activity durations along the critical Path indicates the minimum time within which the project could be completed. Any delay in a critical activity will increase the completion time of the project by the value of that critical activitys delay time. All activities that are not on the critical path are called non-critical activities or float activities. During the same time CPM was developed Booze, Hamilton and Allen developed the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) for planning and controlling U.S. Polaris missile system development. Both systems use the network diagram to show the relationships among the activities in a project. The difference between the systems is that CPM uses a fixed time estimates for activity duration, while the PERT procedure assumes that time estimates for activity durations are independent random variables. Therefore, PERT utilizes an average or mean time, and a variance (measure of dispersion or variation) for each activity, calculated from a set of user provided values. The advantage of the CPM is that it shows relationships between project activities, contrary to the bar graph schedule. There is no way to determine from the bar graph whether the person preparing the graph was aware of the relationships. Another failure of the bar graph is that it does not show those activities which actually control project duration, better known as the critical activities, nor does it show the impact of a delay or change of one activity on an entire project. The steps in bullets a through c above define the planning phase of the CPM process. We will discuss this phase in some detail as it is important to developing a proper schedule for the project, which activities are listed in bullets d and e of the five steps. Why Do We Plan In Project Management/Construction Management? We plan so that we can make logical decisions on a course(s) of action from a set of possible alternative courses of action. Planning is considered to be the most important phase of the project. It is the first step in the process, which sets the stage for either a successful project or a disaster. The end product of the Planning Phase is the production of the Logic Diagram, which shows graphically, all of the activities of the project laid out in a logical, sequential order. This plan is put together from a harvesting of the thoughts and experiences of the staff and establishes a workable plan for the execution of the project. The student should note that the planning phase relies wholly on the human thought process to develop the activity list and logic for the project. This is the most time consuming phase of the project and the time spent in this effort is never wasted. The participants in the planning phase can almost invariably be certain that they have a complete knowledge of what the project entails. No computer program can assist you in this effort. You must rely on the staff members who have the knowledge derived from similar projects to prepare the Plan. The computer uses the Plan to prepare the Project Schedule and assists in Project Control. The Logic Diagram, when completed, will provide a graphical definition of the scope of the project. The Planning Process has 5 stages, which the student must observe when developing the Programming Planning Diagram or Logic Diagram. They are: 3

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Establish the objectives. Develop the Plan. Construct the Project Planning Diagram. Establish the timing durations of the respective activities. Identify costs and labor/personnel associated with each activity.

Let us now discuss these steps. 1. The Planning Process commences with the definition of the goals and objectives of the project. The goals and objectives would include: a. Project start date b. Project end date. c. Budget. d. Expected results. e. Milestone objectives for significant events within the projects timeframe. f. Designated responsible personnel or departments for delivery of the objectives. These are identified early in the project-planning phase and should be identified when setting the objectives. 2. Having established the objectives of the project the planning team then commences the development of the Plan. Here defines the activities necessary to execute the project and establishes the relationships between and among these activities. Communication is required among the team in order to gather data from many persons and places. For example question like: When and from what source will the right crane be available? Are enough skilled masons available to complete e.g. the masonry work on time? Are enough skilled lathers available to complete the installation of the steel, reinforcement on time? What would be the impacts to the schedule of long lead items, such as elevators, escalators etc that will require special fabrication at a manufacturing agency that has an existing backlog of work? What are the activity relationships that can be determined from information from the management team, accounting department, equipment department, plans and specs, a visit to the site, the nature of the work, the owner, the banker, the sub-contractors, the government agencies involved and their requirements and the suppliers. The Project manager should note that good planning requires creativity and releasing oneself from traditional company practices. Just because the company always did it this way, does not mean that it is the best way. By trying to break away from established paradigms or models or false constraints, planners can incorporate new methods and approaches into the plan and schedule. One way in which the Project manager could incorporate these new methods is by convening a brainstorming session where all members of the team are locked in a room to think out the solutions to problems. E.g. Say the question is to find the best method of pouring concrete into elevated columns on a specific project, the participants in a brainstorming session would each state the first method or solution that comes to mind, no matter how way out the thought seems. When all thoughts are gathered they are discussed by the team and screened for the selection of the best alternative to be pursued. In the development of the Plan: The list of activities necessary to be carried out to successfully complete the job must be drawn up. The work breakdown structure (WBS), categorizing the activities under the respective disciplines/departments, is prepared. This is an excellent aid to organizing the work and its activities. See examples of a Work Breakdown Structures below. 4

 The job is delineated by determining the relationships between/among the activities. Planning entails defining the activities necessary to construct the project and establishing the relationships between the activities. Determine which jobs must start before others (precedence chart) and those that follow each other. Determine which activities could run concurrently. The Project Manager should note that good planning requires flexibility. It is the natural tendency for first-time schedulers to build a long chain of activities following one after the other, with no branches and with only one thing happening at a time. The most efficient way to shorten a projects duration is to have as many activities as possible run concurrently, without hindering each others progress. Instead of having single crews working consecutively on the projects activities, there could be five or other number of crews working concurrently on the site, though not interfering with each others progress. 3. In the construction of the Project Planning Diagram, the sequence of the activities in the precedence chart is shown graphically on the planning diagram. The entire project is first constructed in the minds of the scheduling team, and then put on paper. The interrelationship between/among activities, building methods, problem solving and communications that define the plan, take place in this fertile environment that defines the project in terms of the Plan and succeeding schedule. On reaching this 5

point demonstrates that the planning phase has reached initial completion where a graphic display could be shown of the project activities and their interrelationships. The figure below depicts a plot of a logic diagram and shows the rule for numbering the nodes. Note: The node numbers are not the same activity numbers on the Precedence Chart, they must be allocated to the nodes as detailed in the diagram below.

4. In this step, the respective team members, based on their experiences on previous projects, determine the duration of each activity. 5. This step identifies the activity cost and resources (labor/personnel, equipment) associated with each activity on the diagram. Scheduling As we previously discussed, project planning addresses what work has to be done and project scheduling, addresses when the work is to be done. The complete schedule includes the following: Time schedule Resource schedule (Personnel/Labor) Cost schedule However, we will deal with the timing schedule in this lecture Manual Scheduling It is essential that the student learn to schedule manually first, before using computer applications to compute the schedule form the time-loaded logic diagram. Manual scheduling involves an initial analysis of the project, prior to devoting time and effort to input the computer data. This allows for manual timing adjustments before the time wasting efforts to effect these changes in the computer inputs. Manual calculations include adding and subtraction functions with some level of accuracy. Initial scheduling is done by placing the scheduled start and finish times of each activity, directly on the projectplanning diagram. ELEMENTS OF THE INITIAL SCHEDULING EFFORT The Earliest Start Time. This is the initial calculating element. This is the earliest possible time that an activity can start according to relationships assigned. This allows early review of the project duration and a check on whether the project objectives will be met. Here, any necessary changes in the time-loaded planning diagram could be made to meet these objectives. The Critical Path. This consists of a continuous chain of critical activities from the start to the finish of a project, each with zero float and which chain has the longest duration, and which in fact, determines the project duration. Float. The amount of slack time or time difference between the calculated duration of the activity chain and the critical path is called the float. It permits an activity to start later than its early start and not impact the project. Float can be classified either as total float or free float. Total Float. This is the difference between how much time is available to perform an activity and how much time is required. This is the measure of leeway in starting and completing an activity. It is a measure of time units (hours, days, weeks, years) that an activity (or chain of activities) can be delayed without impacting the project end date.

Free Float. Also referred to as an activity float because unlike total float, free float is the property of an activity and not the network path that the activity is part of. Free float is the amount of time the start of an activity may be delayed without delaying the start of a successor activity. Note again the following activity relationships: Concurrent Activities are logically independent of one another and can be performed at the same time. Predecessor Activity is one that must be completed before a new activity can commence. Successor Activity is one that cannot start until a given preceding activity is completed. THE SCHEDULING PROCEDURE The prime concern in scheduling is timing - how much time each activity requires and when each activity will start and end. After the project-planning diagram (logic diagram) is completed the scheduling process commences as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Determine the required time (time estimate to complete each activity). Determine the available time to complete each project activity. Compare the required time and the available time for each activity to determine the total float. Determine the critical path activities (activities with zero float). Determine the float time of noncritical activities. Compute the duration of the project via the critical path. If project objectives are exceeded adjust the plan and the timing estimates. 7. Obtain concurrence from all concerned and responsible parties for validation of the schedule. 8. Prepare a bar chart time schedule from the time-loaded plan. TIMING ESTIMATES Estimating the durations of activities in a project is not a one-time effort but the start of a dynamic process, as changes need to be continually made throughout the duration of the project. The three estimating phases of a project are: 1. When the project-planning diagram is essentially complete. 2. During the scheduling phase, when the initial estimates require revisions because they do not meet the project objectives. 3. Ongoing estimate changes of selected project activities during the conduct of the project to maintain its planned schedule. The initial estimate is based on how much time the activity requires. Staff that is familiar and experienced with this type of activity makes this call. Staff desiring to be safe oftentimes overstates the activity duration. When the project is totaled and if the initially estimated end date falls outside of the project objective, every activity is then revisited and adjustments made to the individual activities to make their durations more realistic. Periodic review of the project schedule will indicate project activities that are behind. This may require revisiting the project schedule to adjust the duration of critical activities. If the situation is serious, 8

thereby impacting several of the critical activities, it may be necessary to revisit the plan and make the adjustments there. On the other hand if critical activities are completed ahead of schedule, future critical activities that may have extended durations could be rescheduled to make good the extra time made available by the early completions. Or, the Project Manager who is in control may attempt to look good and leave the schedule as it is and forecast an early completion of the project. MANUAL TIMING CALCULATIONS Estimated time estimates, the basis for calculating the scheduled timing, need to be placed under each activity on the CPM project-planning diagram before beginning the schedule calculations. (Note that this number is placed in the box node in the PDM method). The schedule for each project activity will initially consist of its earliest start and latest finish times and total float value. Once the earliest start computations are complete, the project duration can be evaluated. Calculating the Earliest Start Time We discussed before, the earliest start time is the earliest possible time an activity can begin without interfering with the completion of any of the preceding activities. Use the following guides when calculating the earliest start times for the project activities: Commence calculating earliest start times with the beginning node of the project-planning diagram (Figure 3. 1), below. The scheduled time of the beginning node is set at 0 weeks. (Since all of the scheduled times are in weeks, this unit of time will not be shown in our calculations but noted in the legend of the diagram.) If only one arrow leads into a node, earliest start time for activities starting at that node is determined by adding the earliest start time of the preceding activity to the duration of the same preceding activity. Procure interior items starts at Node 8, with earliest start time 8. It is the sum of the earliest start time (6) (should be to left of node) for Design interior items that starts at node 4, plus its duration (2)

If more than one arrow leads into a node, the earliest start time calculation will be dictated as shown in the drawing below.

The largest sum total is the earliest start time for the node. In this example, the path through Install mechanical and electrical equipment, the larger of the two paths, totals 23 at Node 7, and becomes the earliest start time of Construct phase II building.

Using this approach, all of the earliest start times for activities in the Christopher Design/Build Project are calculated and added in Figure 3.1.

CALCULATING PROJECT DURATION Review of the Figure 3.1 indicates that the sum of the activity durations along the critical path is 29 weeks which is the earliest start of the node signifying the end of the project (11). This total duration on the time-loaded logic diagram would indicate to the planner whether he met the time objective of the project. This plan and schedule showed that a viable plan was prepared and that the 29 weeks duration desired by the owner was met (10/2/95 to 4/23/1996). 10

Calculating the latest Finish Time The latest finish time is the latest time an activity can be completed without delaying the end of the project. The Project manager should note the following in determining the latest finish times for a project: The project duration must first be established by calculating the early start times. The project duration is the latest finish time (as well as the earliest start time) of the end node of the project. The calculation of the latest finish times involves working from the end node back through each node to the first node in the project.

Let us look at Figure 3.1, with its project duration of 29 weeks. The activity 7,11 (Construct Phase II Building) has a duration of 6 weeks. The latest finish time for activities coming into node 7 (3,7 and 6,7) is 23 weeks. Note that if more than one arrow originates at a particular node the latest finish time is calculated through each arrow and the smallest result recorded as the latest finish time. See the figure below and Figure 3.2.

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The latest finish time for the activities that lead into node 4 is six weeks, the smaller of the two results. Were the latest finish time for activities coming into node 4 set at eight weeks, there would not be enough time remaining to complete activity 4, 5 by its required latest finish time of 10 weeks. Figure 3.2 notes the latest finish times of the project activities. The plan and schedule thus far indicate that timing objectives can be met, so we can continue without any changes or adjustments. If timing objectives were not met, we would initially examine the critical items to determine if possible adjustments would resolve the timing problem. If the project duration is still in jeopardy, then timing adjustments may have to extend to additional items in the project plan. This could require a review of the optional start and finish times for all of the project items. Float: - Optional Start and Finish Times The float feature is one of the most important facets in project management. Its importance in project scheduling is that it identifies the activities that have optional starting and finishing dates. These activities have total float, which is the difference between the time available for performing a job and the time required to do it. Available time Required time = Latest time - Earliest time = Time estimate for completing the activity

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Figure 3.3 above shows another method for showing the total float. Time available for activity 4, 6 (Fabricate mechanical equipment) is the difference between the latest finis time and the earliest start time. To determine the total float subtract the required time (time estimate) from the available time. Total float is very important in the scheduling and controlling the project. Particular attention is paid to activities with zero float (critical items) when there is a slippage in the schedule. These have no room for delays. Float activities, however do not have these restrictions and are not impacted by minor slippages in the activities. Note that the total float of an activity is the difference between its earliest start and the latest finish dates and the duration. Float activities have optional start and finish dates. See 3.4 below.

PREPARING THE SCHEDULE CHART In this the time loaded logic diagram the earliest start and latest finish are stated as well as the latest start and the earliest finish are listed to give the planner all of the available scheduling options. The following formulas calculate the optional start and finish dates: Latest start = earliest start + total float 13

Earliest finish =

latest finish - total float

Figure 3.5 (attached) shows the table of these total float calculations for the Christopher design/Build Project.

SETTING UP THE CALENDAR SCHEDULE The tabulated schedule in Figure 3.5 can be converted into a calendar schedule for better presentation and the ability to better monitor the project. Tabulated schedule dates can be converted into calendar dates using a calendar showing the months and years of the project. Start at zero weeks with the start date of the project (in the case of the Christopher Project this is 10/2/95), which is also the start date of Design structural steel (time: 2 weeks), for which activity the earliest finish date is 10/16/95, and so on for the remainder of the activities. See Figure 3.6.

REVIEW OF THE PRACTICE PROBLEM IN CLASS.

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CE 54100 AOA and AON LAB

HOMEWORK #3

Saturday, September 17, 2011

You are the Facility Manager for an establishment and you propose to construct a shed, but resources are scarce and you want to optimize the use of your available resources (time, budget personnel material and equipment) in this effort. You and your team have developed an activity list and you wish to produce a time-loaded logic diagram using the CPM approach. Your specialist staff has made recommendations for your use in sequencing the project, and they are as follows: Clear Site follows Start and Remove Topsoil follows Clear Site Form Slab and Prefab Wood Walls can start after Remove Topsoil. Place Rebar/Embeds follows Form Slab and Pour Slab follows Place Rebar/Embeds. Erect Walls can follow Pour slab and Prefab Wood Walls. Place Trusses, Install Siding and Place Topsoil/Grade can follow Erect Walls. Place Roof Sheathing follows Place Trusses. Place Shingles follows Place Roof Sheathing Rough Electrical will precede Place Interior Paneling, which will in turn precede Install Finish Carpentry and Finish Electrical. Install Overhead Door and Rough Electrical can follow Install Siding. Exterior Trim Carpentry can follow Install Overhead Door Place Shingles, Install Finish Carpentry, Finish Electrical, Exterior Trim Carpentry and Place Topsoil/Grade will precede Landscape. Note that Landscape is your last activity. Complete the Precedence Chart and plot the CPM Logic Diagram (AOA approach) to show the respective activities, and their durations. Having plotted the time-loaded logic diagram for this project, determine the early starts for each activity, via the forward pass and obtain the project duration from the early start data. You will then determine the late starts for each activity, via the backward pass, having first established the project duration. You will then prepare the Total Float Chart and finally using the data from the total float chart and the scheduled logic diagram, plot the critical path, using double arrows along that path.

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Activity No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Activity Name Clear Site Remove Topsoil Form Slab Place Rebar/Embeds Pour Slab Prefab Wood Walls Erect Wood Walls Install Siding Place Trusses Place Roof Sheathing Place Interior Paneling Exterior Trim Carpentry Install Overhead Door Rough Electrical Finish Electrical Place Shingles Install Finish Carpentry Place Topsoil/Grade Landscape

BUILDING A SHED Duration Precedes (Days) 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1

Follows

Remarks

When you have completed the AOA plot, you now plot eh logic diagram again, this time using the AON approach with square nodes. Having plotted the AON logic diagram, proceed to execute the forward pass, inserting the information into the nodes as you proceed, and having determined the duration execute the backward pass, inserting the information into the nodes as you proceed. You will then complete your scheduling activity by subtracting the EF from the LF to obtain the respective Total Floats. Compare the results with your AOA solution. Is there a difference?

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