Introduction:

There are numerous challenges facing todays construction manager. Some are new to
the industry, and some are centuries old. Many of these challenges are a direct result of
construction operations, while others a result of indirect, peripheral activities. A surprising
number of challenges are not construction issues but must be addressed and managed by the
construction manager (CM) to ensure project success. Some of the construction issues
include workforce considerations, safety, time constraints, and the changing nature of the
work. Non-construction challenges that CMs face that are part of the business landscape
include legal issues, government regulations, environmental concerns, and socio-political
pressures. It is critical that the CM understands the demanding realities that he or she faces in
the planning and control of construction operations.

Construction projects represent a unique set of activities that must take place to
produce a unique product. The success of a project is judged by meeting the criteria of cost,
time, safety, resource allocation, and quality as determined by the owner. The purpose of
Project Management is to achieve goals and objectives through the planned expenditure of
resources that meet the projects quality, cost, time, scope, and safety requirements. The CM
must control, deflect, or mitigate the effects of any occurrence or situation that could affect
project success.

Nature of the Work:

Construction is a complex array of interdependent activities that some would say is at
best organized chaos. The very nature of construction introduces challenges typically not
encountered in other industries. For example, construction differs widely from manufacturing
in that:

the work is often seasonal

each project is unique
often involves remote sites with various access problems
the process is not as predictable
difficulty in applying automation
there is high potential for encountering unforeseen conditions
costs can vary according to conditions
Difficult to manage and supply utilities and other resources.
Technical innovations are adopted slower.
Success is dependent upon the quality of its people.
very custom-oriented
the work is not performed in controlled conditions, therefore highly impacted by
weather and other environmental conditions

Work Force Considerations:

As is the case in any business, people are the construction organizations greatest
resource. Construction operations depend on the knowledge and skills of people planning and
executing the work. The quality of this most important resource: people, is what distinguishes
one team or company from another. Having talented management in place to guide and direct
operations is crucial. Obviously, having an adequate number of skilled and unskilled workers
to perform the work is a bare necessity. Finding and recruiting sufficient numbers of skilled,
talented people is becoming increasing difficult. There are several factors contributing to this
problem. Construction is typically viewed as being one of the least desirable industries in

which to work. Surveys among the nations youth show construction at the bottom of the list
of professions that they would enter. Construction by nature is dangerous, dirty, hard work.
Other industries or professions offer preferred work environments that are cleaner, safer, and
generally more desirable. The pervasive growth of technology and the associated industries
that have followed are attracting the youth away from traditional industries. Consequently,
there is a severe shortage of bright, talented people willing to work in construction.

Time Constraints:
Time is money to owners, builders, and users of the constructed facility. From the
owners perspective there is lost revenue by not receiving return on investment, cash flow
crunch, potential alienation and loss of clients/tenants, extended interest payments, and
negative marketing impacts. Time implications from the constructors perspective include
liquidated damages (negative) and incentive/disincentive payments. Delays result in extended
overhead costs and put a crunch on critical cash flow. Extending project durations limits the
constructors bonding capacity and ability to bid more work (opportunity cost). Inefficient
time management results in higher labour and equipment costs. A reputation for late
completions is bad for business, especially in negotiated work. In todays intensely time
driven business environment, superior planning, scheduling, and control are vital. The CM is
faced with the challenges of completing high volumes of work within tight time frames, and
generally finite resources. CMs must comprehensively plan construction operations and
closely monitor progress. CPM schedules and linear schedules are valuable tools that provide
several advantages in managing construction operations. Schedule preparation requires
managers to think the project through prior starting the work and provides a structured
approach to planning. Comprehensive schedules provide a means of communicating the work
plan to others. Schedules must be an accurate portrayal of the work plan to realize the full
value. A good, regularly updated schedule in the hands of a competent CM is a powerful tool.
Good schedules are critical to project success; however, they are only a tool. Schedules do
not build things; people build things. Proactive rather than reactive control by the CM is a
key to staying on schedule. Events or conditions that cause delays and require appropriate
action include weather, lower productivity than anticipated, delivery problems, resource
constraints, changes in scope, and differing site conditions. The CM must manage or mitigate
these situations in order to deliver a constructed project on time. Time is of the essence!

Statement of the problem:

In the context of performance and profitability of the construction industry, they are mostly
caused by internal problems (Barrie & Paulson, 1992). The continual existence of
construction industry bring about to why there are problems in performance and profitability
still coexist up to the present day and become pressing issues that need to be resolved (Barrie
& Paulson, 1992). In the residential constructions, for instance, the performance of the home
contractors is considered to be lower where the quantity of houses built per year is one or two
units (Tan, 2005). There is growing number of complaints from potential home owners of the
poor performance and low productivity of the home builders (Badron, 2005) as the number of
construction units of houses increases.
The Malaysian Productivity Report (MPR) 2005 further reported that complaints
recorded by the clients are low quality workmanship, cost overrun, delayed completion, poor
communication, excessive material and labour used, building failure, and industrial related
accidents. As such these issues are not only raised in the previous construction of homes but
also a recurring problem in the construction bungalow houses in Malaysia.

Triple Constraint:
The Scope, Time and Cost constraints is always there in this industry. The scope is
very clear as it is planned in the initial stages and the time and cost are inversely proportional.

Project life cycle:

Concept phase: In this the customer requirements are first analysed and depending upon this
the objectives of the project are finalized. Key performance indicators are defined and risk is
evaluated.
Definition phase: Work breakdown structures are developed, cost and activity scheduling is
done, contractors are detailed and detailed plan for implementation phase & preliminary plan
for rest of life is developed.
Implementation phase: Monitoring and controlling project performance and launching
corrective action whenever required.
Closeout phase: All the deliverables are tested and transferred to owners. Project accounts are
closed.

Project Feasibility and Appraisal:

Feasibility studies aim to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and
weaknesses of an existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats present in
the environment, the resources required to carry through, and ultimately the prospects for
success whereas Project appraisal is the process of assessing and questioning proposals
before resources are committed.
The feasibility studies that are done here are the technical, economic and schedule
feasibilities. The technical feasibility looks at how well the technology available and also the
expertise needed. Economic feasibility looks at the cash inflows and outflows, i.e. cost
benefit analysis as the majority of the construction projects are costly and cease to fail at this
factor. Scheduling feasibility looks at how practical the activities are planned and if it is not
able to achieve in the prescribed date will the crashing can be done within the budget
specified.

About the organisation:

Sri Vaja construction is been to building independent homes and is now planning to
start a venture 30 independent houses in an area of 1.5 acres with an estimation of 200-300
yards per house and is planning to construct in a year, starting in the month of April. The
main constraint here is the time as it was planned to complete in a year, the work is going to
halt for a period 30-45 days during the rainy season.

Layout of the site: (pending)

Planning the construction process:

The whole layout is divided into 30 plots in 6 rows and 5 columns. The construction
is planned in such a way that one row is taken at a time and proceeded to other rows, i.e. to
some particular stage of construction only the first row plots are in progress and then the
work gets started in the next row. This repeats till the last row. The reason for the planning is
due to labour unavailability and to control costs.
Layout planning:
1
6

2
7

4
8

4
9

5
10

11
16
21
26

12
17
22
27

13
18
23
28

14
19
24
29

15
20
25
30

Project Planning and Scheduling:

Main activities that are involved in the Construction of houses are:
1. Putting
2. Beam
3. Plinth beam
4. Basement filling
5. Pillar extension
6. Centring
7. Slab
8. Curing
9. Order of wood frames
10. Brick works
11. Plumbing and electrical works
12. Plastering
13. Flooring, Interior, Compounding, Parking tiles.
Critical path of the project:

So, the construction of one independent house takes 146 days to complete. As it was
planned that 5 houses are to be constructed at a time and preceded to the next level, the detail
schedule for the construction of the first row of houses are:
1. Putting 1 week
2. Beam 1 week
3. Plinth beam - 1 week
4. Basement filling 1o days
5. Pillar extension - 1 week
6. Centring - 2 weeks
7. Slab - 1 week
8. Curing 15 days
9. Order of wood frames 2 weeks
10. Brick works 4-5 months
11. Plumbing and electrical works 15 days
12. Plastering 15 days

13. Flooring, Interior, Compounding, Parking tiles 20-30 days

So the whole set of first row houses will take around 262 days to complete and after
every week next set of row will begin their work so after the 5th week all the houses will
be started. So the whole project will take 262+5*7+45=342 days, which is approximately
equals to a year.
The main constraint here is the halt of the project due to rains; it can be taken as a
positive effect, i.e. it helps in curing the mortar if we complete the slab works before
starting the rains.
The other constraint over here is the availability of the labour at different stages as the
project progress. It was planned to get the labour as required during construction. This is
done to keep the cost at low as possible.

Project Monitoring and Control:

The Monitoring and Controlling process oversees all the tasks and metrics necessary
to ensure that the approved and authorized project is on time and on budget so that the
project proceeds with minimal risk. This process involves comparing actual performance
with planned performance and taking corrective action to yield the desired outcome when
significant differences exist. Monitoring and Controlling process is continuously
performed throughout the life of the project. If any deviation occurs extra labour is
employed.

Some of the problems that are faced by the real estate organisations are:

Bifurcation of the state

Increase in cost of materials (10-20% hike in materials)
Shortage of labour due to state bifurcation intern increased the labour cost
Delay in project completion
Increase in project cost due to the increase in the raw materials, which caused
overburden to the organization.