Design and Construction

Rick Best, Gerard de Valence

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9781136411656
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture General

The design and construction of buildings is a lengthy and expensive process, and those who commission buildings are continually looking for ways to improve the efficiency of the process. In this book, the second in the Building in Value series, a broad range of topics related to the processes of design and construction are explored by an international group of experts. The overall aim of the book is to look at ways that clients can improve the value for money outcomes of their decisions to construct buildings.
The book is aimed at students studying in many areas related to the construction industry including architecture, construction management, civil engineering and quantity surveying, and should also be of interest to many in the industry including project managers, property developers, building contractors and cost engineers.

1

Issues in design and
construction

Gerard de Valence^* and Rick Best^*

1.1 Introduction

Getting ‘value for money’ is the basic goal attached to more or less all the transactions that we undertake. The value embodied in the outputs of the various sectors of the construction industry, and how that value can be maximized, is the common theme in this series of books entitled ‘Building in Value’. In this, the second in the series, the focus is on the design and construction phase of building procurement.

It is worth noting again, at the outset, that maximizing value in buildings is not merely about minimizing cost but about satisfying clients’ needs in the best way possible. The process will invariably be governed by a cost limit, usually a budget or maximum price, that must be observed and that places obvious constraints on those involved in the design and construction of buildings. The challenge is to use the funds available to the best advantage and by so doing achieve the best possible ‘value for money’.

1.2 Managing design and construction

It is fairly obvious that avoiding wastage of resources, including those that are purely financial, will be a fundamental part of any attempt to get maximum value, and that good management of the procurement process will play a large part in the success of any such exercise. This book, however, is not a ‘how to’ book on the management of building procurement; instead it takes a more general, perhaps philosophical, approach to many aspects of the design and construction process.

Building procurement, from inception to commissioning, is a complex undertaking, bringing together the set of skills and knowledge that are required for successful completion of building and construction projects. There has been significant development in this field over several decades, as projects have become more demanding and clients’ expectations have increased. Further, the industry has seen a continual flow of new products and materials introduced by the manufacturing suppliers, many of which have delivered significant improvements in building performance or site productivity. There has also been development of new and more capable plant and equipment for use on site as well as great progress in computer-aided design and an explosion of powered hand tools available for use by site workers.

These developments are reflected in the material covered in books dealing with the management of design and construction. The core subjects found include aspects of site management, programming and scheduling, operation of plant and equipment, contract administration and so on. There are significant differences in the extent and focus of topics covered in these works: some construction management books emphasize construction methods (e.g., Nunnally, 1998) while others focus on the human side of construction management (e.g., Fryer, 1997). A new area that has emerged since the Latham (1994) and Egan (Construction Task Force, 1998) reports in the UK is managing teams (e.g., Blockley and Godfrey, 2000).

This book takes a somewhat wider approach to the various tasks involved in construction management and differs from the majority of books in the field by not concentrating on the management of design or on-site activities, or the range of activities that building design and construction involves. Instead, the concern is largely with tasks that are emerging as important to the effectiveness of management of building procurement during design and construction. There are more of these types of tasks as projects become more complex and new tools and techniques appear. As these are applied to building and construction processes, many of those processes change. This is creating a series of cycles of change in an industry that in many respects did not change greatly over the course of the last century.

A comparison of the contents of some representative construction management books shows the typical focus very clearly. The emphasis is rightly on techniques for planning and controlling the construction process. These are often followed by discussions of work study and/or activity sampling methods, plant management and cost control. These days, chapters on quality control, environmental management, marketing and financial management are also common.

Oxley and Poskitt's (1996) text, now in its fifth edition, presents a broad range of management techniques as applied to construction projects. The book stresses the importance of an integrated information system and illustrates, by case study, integration of estimating and production processes. It covers topics such as construction planning and control, project network techniques, work study, bidding strategies, computer applications and cost control.

Harris and McCaffer (2000), one of the leading construction management books, is representative of the field. Also now in a fifth edition, this covers management techniques for production planning and cost control of projects, including work study and plant management. The book also has management techniques for company organization and control, including planning techniques, production process improvement, estimating and tendering, workforce motivation and cost control. Section 2 covers procurement, bidding, budgets and cash flow, economic assessment and plant management. Section 3 is concerned with head office activities such as business development, global construction, the role of information and finance. The main changes between the fourth and fifth editions were new chapters on management of information and knowledge, and the globalization of construction activity. The book also discusses recent developments in regulation, procurement, performance improvement, public–private partnerships, benchmarking and lean construction.

The purpose of McGeorge and Palmer's 1997 book is stated in the Preface:

… we felt there was a need to bring together, for the first time in a single volume, most, if not all of the management concepts currently being advocated for use in the construction industry. The concepts which we have selected for detailed scrutiny are value management; total quality management; constructability; benchmarking; partnering and reengineering.

This is a somewhat different approach to the previous books; each of the six concepts they cover is defined and explained in detail.

The changing nature of clients was classified as a strategic issue for the industry in a 1988 report (CSSC, 1988). That report found that the role of large organizations that are regular and experienced clients of the industry will become increasingly important. This was exactly right, as through the 1990s major clients began using a wider range of procurement systems, many of which were based on collaborations or partnering with contractors (de Valence and Huon, 1999). Both McGeorge and Palmer (1997) and Blockley and Godfrey (2000) focused on these changed forms of relationships between clients and the industry, and within the industry between major contractors, specialist contractors and suppliers.

Cornick (1996) examined the fundamental changes in design and design management that have been occasioned by the development of personal computers. The opportunity for electronic sharing of design information, including the ability for all members of the design team to work on a shared project model, is altering the way in which building design is undertaken at a very basic level. There is some way to go, however, before designers are routinely designing using 3D modelling software rather than treating the computer as an electronic drawing board, and there are still interoperability problems to be resolved before truly seamless exchange of information is possible across all platforms.

Gray and Hughes (2001) concentrate on the management of the design process in a general sense and provide checklists of activities to help managers maximize efficiency during the design phase. They do not, however, have much to say about the changing nature of design, in particular the move from two dimensions to three and the use of shared electronic project models.

1.3 The design and construction phase

Under the traditional lump sum style of construction contract, the design and construction phases of procurement were largely separate. Once the design documentation was complete, tenders were called and evaluated, the contract awarded and construction commenced. Designs were amended and details finalized after the start of construction but the majority of the design generally remained unchanged.

In recent years, on many projects, the design and construction phases have been pushed together, with work often commencing on site well before the completion of design work. This has been driven by client demands for shortened delivery times and has given rise to new forms of procurement such as fast-tracking (usually under a construction management arrangement) and design and construct (D&C) or design and build (D&B). In many instances, the whole design and construction phase is controlled on behalf of the client by a project manager. This entity, whether an individual or a firm, manages most aspects of the entire operation, including selection and appointment of consultants, specialist sub-contractors and suppliers, design development, approvals from statutory authorities and so on. The topics covered in this book include many that will be of particular interest to those who act as project managers and are therefore concerned with the whole project.

It is divided into three parts but, as is the case with any complex system, any subdivision of the whole is somewhat artificial as there is inevitably a good deal of overlapping and interdependence. The first part deals broadly, in a conceptual way, with issues related to the nature of buildings and their design. Part 2 moves more into the mechanics of design and construction and looks at issues that underpin activities such as the administration of building contracts, the philosophy of lean construction, investigations of how risk is allocated among the various parties in building contracts, and attitudes to waste management and site safety among industry personnel.

The final part looks ahead and describes areas of innovation in construction including the development of new materials and techniques, automation of construction processes and advances in building services.

1.4 The nature of buildings

There are many forces that help to determine why individual buildings come to be the way they are and they affect a variety of aspects of any one building: materials, shape, colour, size, form, style (or lack of it), choice of engineering systems, structural system, and more. Function or purpose explains much about the nature of many buildings and availability of resources (particularly money and materials) is often the primary determining factor.

Many specific parts of a building's nature are, however, determined by less obvious influences: a desire to build in an environmentally responsible manner, or a client's wish to say something about image or status, perhaps by constructing a building larger or taller than that of a competitor. Much emphasis is now placed on building ‘intelligence’ and on streamlining construction to allow for faster completion. Integrated design, with multidisciplinary teams working closely together, is producing buildings quite unlike any before, with building fabric and services functioning together to minimize energy use and improve the health and productivity of the occupants.

1.5 Sustainable construction

There is increasing pressure on all who are concerned with construction, including developers, designers (including engineers of various disciplines) and contractors, to work towards achieving a sustainable construction industry. Major areas of concern are energy use in buildings, selection of materials, resource depletion and waste management. These concerns are being addressed by researchers in many countries with particular emphasis on reducing operational energy in buildings (e.g., energy used for heating, cooling and lighting) and reducing the amount of waste generated during construction and demolition that is disposed of to landfill.

Advances in computer modelling of building performance have made possible substantial reductions in the energy needed to run buildings, with an increasing number of non-residential buildings being constructed with smaller mechanical plant, or none at all. Daylight is utilized more effectively, reducing the need for artificial lighting, while natural ventilation systems based on sophisticated modelling of airflows in and around buildings are becoming more common.

The effect of these developments on building value will become apparent as environmental controls tighten and the environmental costs associated with energy production and use are progressively internalized through the introduction of measures such as carbon taxes (which are already in place in some countries).

1.6 Statutory controls

Government regulations affect construction, not only through the imposition of taxes and charges and control of waste disposal, but in a number of less obvious ways. These include the granting or denial of development approvals, land use control through zoning, setting maximum building heights and floor space to site area ratios, and safety and quality controls.

There has been a worldwide trend in recent years in the nature of building regulations that cover concerns such as structural integrity, fire safety provisions and health and amenity issues, away from prescriptive controls to performance-based controls. There have also been developments in the regulation of occupational health and safety (OHS) on construction sites and an increasing incidence of remediation of contaminated land, necessary before sites can be safely redeveloped.

1.7 Management techniques

As mentioned earlier, the ...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• List of Contributors
• Foreword
• Preface
• 1. Issues in design and construction
• PART 1: DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
• PART 2: PROJECT PROCUREMENT AND MANAGEMENT
• PART 3: INNOVATION IN DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
• Index