During times of economic crisis, construction is the first industry to get hit. During booms, it is just the opposite. So many industries ultimately make their goods or provide their services for the construction industry. This makes construction a highly rewarding industry monetarily, at the expense of higher risks and stress involved. Higher risks result from the extraordinarily high number variables that can affect the execution of a construction project, probably more than any industry. Remember, construction project means we are building something in real world, outside, in uncontrolled dynamic environments, that involve so many people, firms, material and design input among others. In this article, we will look at some of the most important factors that can affect the execution of a construction project. Remember this is NOT about the initial decision making of the project, which we covered in the previous post. This is about the execution of that project, after the initial decision of what to build was made. The variables that can affect the execution phase of a construction project include:

Project Planning: After the decision of what to build is made, the initial planning of the project has the greatest impact on everything else. Think of it like this: If the previous step of step of deciding what to build marked a distant target point on a map, this step basically draws the overall layout on that map from where we are to that target point.

Design: After the initial planning, the project is designed to meet project’s goals. We can confidently say that the design is the next biggest factor that affect project execution. If the design only meets the code and project specifications but disregards the coordination of so many trades, constructability issues, field conditions, the project is bound to get stuck and may fail in one or more of of quality, cost or schedule. Here we must not forget that, there are simply no design drawings that will “build themselves”. Even the best designs, will need to be clarified in the field during job execution. On large projects, it is routine for example, to have even thousands of RFIs (Request for Information). The design team’s goal is to minimize these questions, as the execution phase is where the largest cost overruns occur.

GC Project Team: When a construction project finishes, all parties involved look back and say “I did this”. And everyone is right. Everyone’s effort is commendable and contributes to the overall goal of project completion. But realistically, there is one entity that runs the show, coordinates and executes the work and acts as a “glue” to everyone and that the project management team, more specifically, the project management team of the general contractor (GC) that builds that project. Without their coordination everything falls apart. This coordination needs to happen timely, every hour of every day throughout the entire duration of the project, and planned way ahead of time with a properly made project schedule.

Subcontractors: The effectiveness of the subcontractors that report to the general contractor comes next. They are the ones that perform the actual work. It is critical that they have skilled, experienced crews, proper equipment and tools, and the know-how to build the project with proper means and methods and safely.

Materials: These are physically what the project is made of. Each component are affected by variables such as quantity, quality requirements, dimensions, required dates and the ability of the suppliers the meet the delivery deadlines among others. Each of the factors listed in the previous sentence is dependent on many factors.

Any temporary structures that needs to be erected, in order to facilitate the execution of the job.

Environmental factors.

Site logistics such as staging, access, coordination with surrounding facilities to avoid or minimize disturbance.

Administrative aspects that involve any applicable jurisdiction. For large projects this may even mean political decisions, laws in effect.

Not only there are more items that can be added here, but also pay attention that each of the items listed above can be influenced by thousands of real life variables.

Post By: A. Tuter

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