saphores_CEE110S12_HW6classProject

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Professor Jean-Daniel Saphores Spring 2012AIRB Room 4028, 824-7334, [email protected] Assistant: Ankoor Bhagat ([email protected]).

EngrCEE 110 METHODS III:

MODELING, ECONOMICS, AND MANAGEMENT

Class Project [Homework 6]

Due Monday, June 11th

at noon in CEE (no exception).Attached is information about a construction case study as reported in Project Management:Principles and Practices by M. Pete Spinner (Prentice Hall, 1997). This information includes

the project Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and an ADM schedule. Input all tasks intoMSProject and answer the questions below after reading the text carefully. Full credit=36points (up to 4 bonus points as the maximum number of points is 40). For full credit, you mustgive explanations for your answers and provide a printout of your work in MSProject.

1. [10 points] Find the critical path for the project. What is the total project completion time?2. [10 points] The present construction plan allows for completion of the project on February

10, 1997. The City of Southfork has asked the contractor, Lawrence Construction Co.(LCC), to reduce the completion time by two weeks. What changes could be implementedto reduce project duration? Hint: Some critical tasks could be split in two and preformedconcurrently with other activities. For example, three weeks of painting could be donewhile woodwork is being completed. Use your engineering judgment.

3. On March 18, Nardan Constructors, one of the contractors, informs LCC that the followingactivities will be finished later than originally planned:

Build floor forms will now be finished on April 20, 1996.

Install underground piping and electrical will now be finished on May 24, 1996.

a) [4 points] If LCC simply accepts these changes, what will the new project date andduration be?

b)[6 points] To keep the whole project on schedule, however, LCC would like to reassess itsplans. What activities could be performed faster in order to complete the project within theinitial time frame?

4. When planning for personnel requirements for this project, LCC believes that supplyingcarpenters may be a problem for May 4th to August 8th (laborers, carpenters, andelectricians are a resource for MSProject).

a) [6 points] Assuming that all activities start at their EST, prepare a report on the carpentersworkload from May 4th to August 8th.

b)[4 points] If six carpenters are available for the project, will they be able to handle theworkload? Will they need to work overtime? Justify your answer.


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BACKGROUND: SOUTHFORK CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

The City of Southfork plans to construct a building addition to the library building at its CIVICcenter. The addition consists of a 50,000-square-foot structure with exterior and interiorcharacteristics similar to those of the main building. Southfork has already retained S&EAssociates, an architectural and engineering firm, to prepare the construction drawings,specifications, and bid documents. The city awarded the construction manager contract to

Lawrence Construction Company (LCC) for a not-to-exceed price of $4,450,000. Besides theconstruction manager fees, the contract provides funds to furnish labor, material, and equipmentto complete the project. An exception to this contract is a provision that the City of Southforkwill furnish several major long-term delivery building equipment items. This type ofarrangement is necessary for timely shipments of any critical items to avoid jeopardizing theconstruction schedule. A separate responsibility of this nature may be awkward-how to acceptshipment at the job site, problems associated with defects, potential uncoordinatedresponsibilities-and all of these require special details in the specifications S&E, which will bedesigning the long-term equipment, will also assume responsibility for preparing the purchaseorder documents, processing the order, and coordinating the fabrication process and shipment tothe job site. To complete the long-term equipment installation, S&E will include in the

specifications that the successful contractor (LCC) will be responsible for acceptance of thisequipment and be accountable for proper installation and tryout.

Terms of the contract provide for construction to start March 4, 1996 and finish byFebruary 10, 1997, when the city of Southfork will begin occupancy.

PLANNING THE PROJECTUnder the terms of the contract, LCC will provide a detailed plan of action to satisfy the City ofSouthfork that the operational plan meets the city's objectives. To administer the project, LCChas divided it into three phases: planning, scheduling, and controlling.

The planning phase has three main steps:1. Establish project objectives.2. Develop the project plan.3. Prepare the project planning diagram

The Project ObjectivesAfter reviewing proposals on the major work divisions to be done, LCC selected the followingcontractors:

Contractor Major Work Responsibilities .Nardan Constructors Excavation, concrete

Kanes Steel Structural steel, roofing and sidingBeede Builders Building exterior, building interiors, cleanup and approval

At the initial organizational meeting, LCC reviews the main timing and cost objectives set by theCity of Southfork:

Start project March 4, 1996 Complete project; building ready for occupancy February 10, 1997 Authorized budget Not to exceed: $4,450,000


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Using the starting and completion dates as the base, LCC and the designated contractors set upthe interim objectives or milestones. Milestones are defined as the significant events to beachieved before meeting the main objectives. The milestones set with the responsible contractorsare as follows:

Milestone Contractor Start Complete

Start project LCC 3/4/96 --Excavation Nardan 3/4/96 5/20/96Concrete Nardan 3/4/96 6/17/96Structural steel Kanes 3/4/96 7/29/96Roofing Kanes 6/17/96 9/07/96Building exterior Beede 3/4/96 10/04/96Building interiors Beede 7/29/96 12/16/96Cleanup and approval Beede 12/16/96 2/10/97Complete project LCC - - 2/10/97

The Plan of ActionThe plan of action is made up of the activities needed to meet the project's objectives andmilestones. When all the contractors make up a list of the activities needed to complete theirwork, the construction manager will organize them in a logical sequence to prepare a projectplanning diagram. The completed diagram will supply the necessary input data to produce thecomputerized time and cost schedules. Added to the time and cost information will be resource

planning data, also identified on the diagram, for generating the construction labor/personnelloadings.

The steps leading to construction of the project planning diagram using the projectmanagement approach are as follows:

1. List the important activities.2. Develop the work breakdown structure (WBS).3. List the personnel/Iabor required to complete each activity.4. Identify personnel/labor costs, material and other costs to complete each activity.


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Work Breakdown Structure. Figure 9.2 shows a completed WBS for the Southfork BuildingProject. The WBS is a format that the contractors use to identify and organize the activitiesnecessary to complete a project. It is an excellent way to show the role of the significantactivities. It also helps point out any omissions or duplications before they cause scheduleinaccuracies. Preparing the WBS for many projects is difficult and tedious. Nonetheless, when

completed, it proves most rewarding as the process compels the participants to think throughtheir project.

There are varying styles of WBS formats which will show the responsibilities and/or resourceswith each activity. This may be a more desirable option for reporting purposes. Those notfamiliar with network diagramming might prefer to review the organizational charting used inthe WBS format. They could be confused with the appearance of a project panning diagram anduncertain of its purpose. Regardless, identifying all the data on the project planning diagram isimportant for preparation for computer analysis.

The Project Planning Diagram. Once the WBS has been completed to the mutual satisfactionof the construction manager and the contractors, they investigate the relationships of theactivities it shows. Each contractor examines its own activities, determines how they areconnected, and then prepares a preliminary diagram (or subdiagram) as shown in Figure 9.3.

Once each contractor has completed its respective subdiagram and reviewed it with theconstruction manager, there will be a joint meeting among all of the contractors to investigate therelationships among all of their work activities. Figure 9 4 shows the completed subdiagram ofthis effort. Preparing subdiagrams will simplify constructing the final project plan.

Constructing the final project plan diagram, using the stated rules of arrow diagramming,gives an accurate portrayal of the project. Added to this diagram will be the costs and resourcesrequired for each individual activity. The construction manager will test the validity of the costs,resources, and timing estimates while the contractors are completing the final project plan.Figure 9.5 shows the completed project planning diagram for the Southfork Building Projectwith durations, costs, and resources of each activity.

After reviews and approvals of the project planning diagram, the data is now available todevelop the computerized schedule. While most software programs can generate schedule reportsshowing the timing and required resources using data entered from the planning diagram, fewcan effectively draw a thorough, logical plan structured in the desired WBS form. Drawing itmanually or with computer-aided design (CAD) provides a clear, concise, workable plan. Thequality of computer graphics used to display a project diagram is improving; eventually, it willlikely meet the required standards.

THE PROJECT SCHEDULEThe scheduling phase concerns when the w& will be done. The scheduling techniques used willgive LCC and the contractors useful timing information by:

Establishing a supportable project duration for the plan Identifying the critical activities that make up the critical path through the project Identifying the activities where schedules can be altered without affecting the project

duration


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Project Time EstimatesTime estimates are the basis of project scheduling. To eliminate any potential inconsistencies,LCC and the contractors jointly prepared time estimates needed to complete the activities in theproject. Their knowledge of their own work is the key to achieving acceptable estimates. Theyhad to ensure that contingency factors that contractors would want to include in their estimatesfor unforeseen conditions did not become excessive. The time estimating process can also

become a series of compromises among the contractors. The "give and take" discussionscontinue until all parties are in accord. The acceptable time estimates finally decided upon wereplaced below each activity arrow on the approved planning diagram.

Manual TimingBefore using computer scheduling programs, LCC will use certain parts of the manualscheduling method for several quick timing checks. This is a quick way to determine if theproject duration (as defined by the objectives) conforms with the timing data shown on theproject planning diagram. Calculating the earliest start times of each project activity will give animmediate estimate of project duration. It will also acquaint those working on the project withthe analysis and logic used in scheduling projects by this technique. Figure 9.6 illustrates theseefforts. It displays the estimates and earliest start calculations for the activities on the projectplanning diagram that produce the acceptable project duration date. Also shown is the projectduration, which is the earliest start time of the last activity of the project. It is 47 weeks from theMarch 4, 1996 start date (using a calendar or the date calculator, that would be February 10,1997). Manual scheduling may be used when (1) computer time is restricted, or (2) using acomputer is not feasible for scheduling small projects. It is important to understand both manualschedule calculations and computerized scheduling. Use whatever method requires the least timeand effort to validate the main objectives before starting the larger scheduling task. If thecalculated project duration is not acceptable, then keep adjusting estimates and the logic until thetiming objectives of the project are satisfied.


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Figure 9.2: Work Breakdown Structure for the Southfork Building Project.


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Figure 9.3: Connections among each contractors activities


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Figure 9.4: Interrelationships among contractors.


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Figure 9.5: Completed Planning Diagram.


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Figure 9.6: Earliest start times.

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saphores_CEE110S12_HW6classProject