The Programme of works and a critical path for a typical three bed rood house

1.0 Introduction Construction planning is a fundamental and challenging activity in the management and execution of construction projects. It has several functions the most of which is to save the building owner money by helping build the house in the shortest time possible. By developing the construction plan (schedule), the builder knows in advance when every facet of the job is to begin and when it should be completed. The builder, is able to schedule subcontractors and materials deliveries so that the proper sub and the necessary materials arrive when they are needed, this in turn saves time and money. More-so, construction planning shows the sequence of building activities (which activity follows the other), which ones can be going at the same time and how long each activity should take to complete. Various systems have been developed in this regard, to help builders have greater control over the building process; these include the formulation of the program of works and a critical path. Either method can help the builder keep track of what activities are upcoming and when they can be scheduled. In this assignment the program of works and a critical path for a typical three bed roomed house are prepared. 2.1 The program of works The programme of works is a schedule of works from inception to completion. It shows the activities and the personnel involved in each stage of the construction project. Below is a programme of works for a typical three bed roomed house under consideration. SUBSTRUCTURE Substructure refers to all the construction works below and up to the ground floor slab. For instance, setting out, excavation, footing, erecting of foundation walls and laying of the concrete slab. To this end, the following personnel will be needed: Site engineer; for setting out and putting up levels Bricklayer; for block and concrete works

Superstructure Superstructure refers to all construction works above the ground slab level up to and including the roof. During this phase of the construction process, the following personnel will be needed as required: Site engineer; he will be needed for setting out the block work and levels according to design. Bricklayers; these will be needed for the laying of block work, plastering and concreting the ring beam. Steel fixer; the steel fixer will be needed for fixing the lintel and ring beam reinforcement. Carpenter; these will be needed during the roofing stage for the fixing of the timber roof structure and its finish.

The Programme of works and a critical path for a typical three bed rood house
Electrician; he or she is needed for marking out of electrical linings and wiring according to the architects design. In addition to this, they also do the testing of all the electrical installations. Plumber; will be needed for all the plumbing works such as pipe works and installation of sanitary fittings. Sanitary fittings may include things like basins, bath tabs and toilet fittings. Painter; will be needed for all the external and internal ceiling/wall painting works.

External works External works refers to works outside the building such as land scaping, paving and drainage works. This stage will need: Site engineer; he will be needed for the determination and setting out of levels in laying of the drainage pipes. Plumber; he will be needed for the actual pipe work of the drainage pipes. Brick layers; will be needed for the brick work in the manholes.

The programme of works is therefore intended to match the resources of equipment, materials and labour with project work tasks over time (Kerzner, 2000). A good program of works helps eliminate problems due to construction bottlenecks; it facilitates the timely procurement of necessary materials and otherwise insures the completion of a project as fast as possible. Many clients require a detailed work schedule to be submitted by contractors as a means of monitoring the work progress; the actual work performed is compared to the schedule of works to determine if construction is proceeding satisfactorily. The above activities of the programme of works have been properly framed according to their proposed occurrence in the work schedule provided on a separate A3 paper. 2.2 The Critical path A critical path is the longest route through successive dependent activities in realising the project. Each activity on the path is crucial to the completion period of the project. If a delay occurs in a critical activity, the completion of the job will be delayed (Pilcher, 1992). Understanding which activities are critical helps in proper planning and monitoring of the works. For instance, you have to frame the house before you can do the roofing. This means that if block work up to the roof level is delayed, then roofing will be delayed resulting in the eventual delay of the whole project. On the other hand, some activities can overlap. The diagram below shows a critical path for a typical three bed roomed house under consideration. This critical path was arrived at using both forward and back pass computations. The activities in the network analysis depicting the critical path have been represented by numbers as listed below; 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Site establishment Site clearance Stripping off top soil Setting out Excavation to foundation Concrete footing

The Programme of works and a critical path for a typical three bed rood house
7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. Key Foundation walls Back filling and compaction Reinforcement to ground floor slab Formwork to slab Pouring of concrete Curing of concrete Block work up to lintel level 1st electrical installation Lintel/ring beam formwork Lintel/ring beam reinforcement Concreting of lintel/ring beam Curing of concrete Block work up to roof level Fixing of the timber roof structure Fixing of IT4 roof finish Plaster to walls Gamma zenith to 25% of the external brick wall Ceiling fixing Screed to floor slab Door fixing Fixing of glass panes Plumbing works 2nd electrical installation Panting Drainage and paving Simba grass Handover

The Programme of works and a critical path for a typical three bed rood house
3.0 Conclusion Construction project scheduling is a vital ingredient in successful project management. Therefore, a good presentation of the programme of works and a critical path is of much assistance to the stake holders involved in understanding the multitude of activities and their interrelationships. This is important especially that numerous individuals and parties are involved in any construction project, and they have to understand their assignments. Various project management soft wares available helps in providing the necessary information related to the tasks and schedules of the construction works.

The Programme of works and a critical path for a typical three bed rood house
References

1. Haugan, Gregory T. (2002), Effective work Breakdown Structures, management concepts, Vienna, Virginia 2. Kerzner H. (2000) Project management: A system approach to planning, scheduling and controlling (6th edition). New York: John Wiley & sons 3. Pilcher R. (1992), Principles of construction management (3rd edition) McGraw-Hill International Series. 4. Pritchard, Carl (1998), How to build a work Breakdown Structure, The cornerstone of project management. Arlington, Virginia: ESI International