Archive for the ‘Planning and Scheduling’ Category

Hurricane Season and the Construction Site

One of the responsibilities attributed to the Contractor or Construction Manager by the Contract for Construction’s General Conditions is ‘Cleaning Up’. The relevant clause usually requires that at all time or continuously the Project Site, Perimeter and Access be kept free from accumulation of waste materials or rubbish caused by the operations; some contracts go further in emphasizing daily clean-up. On-site containers are to be provided for the collection of waste materials, debris and rubbish and these should be removed and their contents legally disposed of away from the Project Site. Covered containers are required for disposal of waste generated by food and drinks consumed on the Project Site.

Maintaining an orderly site is an important requirement of the construction process that impacts clean-up and is often sidelined and quite often when undertaken is usually out of sequence with the relevant item in construction schedule, resulting in the possibility of cost being incorrectly attributed. It is important to remember that the jobsite is not an alternate place for storage of sundry items and that only items for incorporation in the project or required to facilitate such incorporation should be brought unto the jobsite. Any item no longer required for incorporation should be removed from the project site.

Let us use concrete masonry units as an example:

• Plain and special units required for each respective lift should be stacked within reach or where they can be easily passed to the mason by the attending labor/helper.

• Where the installation necessitates the breaking or cutting of a concrete masonry unit to facilitate fitting into a space or around an encroaching object or penetrating utility, any resulting portion deemed reusable by the mason should be retrieved and returned to the staging area by the labor/helper whose duties should include placing all debris in the related container as needed and at the end of each day.

• Very critical to this process is the protection of existing floors under the mortar mixer and distribution route to the point of installation that allows for easy and speedy clean-up at the end of each workday and at time of relocation or removal altogether from the jobsite.

This sequence of distribution, installation and clean-up may be adapted to all elements of the construction process.

All the foregoing is required by the contract for construction and follows sound construction practice. Whereas hurricane season and the proximity of one or more storms may impact the construction schedule as well as add shut down and start-up costs, there aught to be no panic to secure and/or remove properly staged and stacked materials. Containers with all site waste and debris can be removed from the jobsite on one day’s notice, which allows for more than enough time to react to those ‘watch’ and ‘warning’ letters from the authorities.

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We provide Florida Construction Management Services in the entire state of Florida including the following large Florida counties: Miami-Dade County, Polk County, Brevard County, Marion County, Pasco County, Leon County, Duval County, Sarasota County, Orange County, Hillsborough County, Escambia County, Manatee County,  Alachua County, Collier County, Palm Beach County, Lee County, Broward County, Seminole County, Pinellas County, Volusia County and others.

We offer Florida Construction Management Services all over Florida including the following metro areas: Gainesville, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Fort Pierce/Port St. Lucie, Sarasota / Bradenton, Titusville, Ft. Walton Beach, Palm Bay, Daytona Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Winter Haven, Naples, Cape Coral, Punta Gorda, Melbourne, Orlando, Pensacola, Ocala, Lakeland, Tallahassee, Clearwater, Tampa, Miami, Panama City, West Palm Beach/Boca Raton, St. Petersburg and surrounding areas.

Florida Construction Planning and Scheduling

If time is the essence of the construction contract, then planning and scheduling are the complimentary engines necessary for driving timely completion.

Planning
Planning is one of the most important functions of management. The Project Manager or management team must first establish and document project objectives; secondly all factors that may impact those objectives, whether positively or negatively must be recognized; and third and finally, the means of achieving the project objective is formulated and follows company policy in its execution. The individual or team responsible for planning must be able to analyze and visualize each element and activity from design to close-out; they must possess a thorough knowledge of equipment, labor, materials and methods, incorporating input from all suppliers, subcontractors and related parties.

Scheduling
Scheduling evolves from a thorough analysis and listing, usually by the Project Manager, of all elements and time required to complete each element of the work. The information may be scheduled in the form of a Bar Chart for durations along with an Arrow Diagram for sequencing. Scheduling which now mostly utilizes computerized systems is usually required by the construction documents to use the Critical Path Method (CPM), which not only sequentially details all activities within each element, but most importantly identifies activities that must be completed on schedule to achieve completion on time. Probably its most important use during the construction phase is determining how changes or delays of any activity will impact project completion.

Construction Phase
During the construction phase, the schedule is at the heart of all coordination because it continuously monitors the pulse of all related players. All parties to the construction contract must recognize the interdependence of activities, clearly appreciating that down-times and start-up times are critical and having a positive plan of how to overcome the ‘what ifs’ that may arise. Because the schedule clearly identifies every activity, managers can recognize, discuss and resolve possible conflicts immediately if need be or at weekly review meetings. The Project Manager may utilize a ‘mini-schedule’ to avoid or recover lost time, thereby avoiding negative impact to the critical path.

Prior planning is a prerequisite for proper scheduling and joint utilization is critical to timely completion.

If you would like us to help with your Construction Planning and Scheduling or need Florida Construction Management Services, please complete the form below and a professional will contact you to discuss your specific planning and scheduling needs:

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We provide Construction Planning and Scheduling Services and Florida Construction Management Services in the entire state of Florida including the following large Florida counties: Brevard County, Duval County, Seminole County, Orange County, Volusia County, Manatee County, Marion County, Palm Beach County, Hillsborough County, Polk County, Leon County, Collier County, Pinellas County, Lee County,Broward County, Sarasota County, Escambia County, Alachua County, Miami-Dade County, Pasco County and others.

We offer Florida Construction Management Services and Construction Planning and Scheduling Services services all over Florida including the following metro areas: Tampa, Titusville, Fort Lauderdale, Daytona Beach, St. Petersburg, Cape Coral, West Palm Beach/Boca Raton, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Naples, Winter Haven, Punta Gorda, Ft. Walton Beach, Palm Bay, Ocala, Miami, Orlando, Gainesville, Sarasota / Bradenton, Melbourne, Lakeland, Fort Myers, Tallahassee, Clearwater, Fort Pierce/Port St. Lucie, Panama City and surrounding areas.


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