Construction Economics and Management

8. Complete these sentences with the correct form of the verbs in the box.

assess undertake carry out involve ease access compare assist

1)Our company specializes in ____________ feasibility studies for construction projects.

2)The construction site is located in the area that is difficult to ____________.

3)The task of a feasibility engineer is to ____________ various options for project implementation.

4)Feasibility studies usually __________ in the preparation of the project execution plan.

5)Before starting the design works one should ___________ a feasibility study.

6)While preparing a feasibility study it is necessary to __________ both construction and maintenance issues.

7)Feasibility studies (not) ___________ the design works.

8)The work of a feasibility engineer can ____________ by providing him with all the necessary data.

9.Translate the sentences into English.

1)Для сложных и комплексных проектов необходимо разрабатывать технико-экономическое обоснование.

2)Компания, работающая над технико-экономическим обоснованием проекта, должна консультироваться со всеми заинтересованными сторонами (участниками проекта) и органами государственной власти.

3)Технико-экономическое обоснование обычно содержит сравнение различных вариантов реализации проекта.

4)На стадии технико-экономического обоснования рассматриваются вопросы сметной стоимости, проектирования, строительства, эксплуатации и программы техобслуживания объекта.

5)Важным компонентом технико-экономического обоснования проекта является оценка условий строительной площадки.

6)Цель технико-экономического обоснования состоит в том, чтобы определить, целесообразно ли реализовывать проект строительства.

10.Imagine that you are given a task to develop a feasibility study for the project of a country house. You have already prepared the cost estimates for it (see exercise 10 on page 15). What are the issues you have to consider now? What is your work plan?

First, we have to get statutory approval.

We need to think of various options and choose the most feasible one.

………………………………………

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5. Read the text and answer the questions.

Construction project success is not only based on the quality and quantity of work, but also largely depends on availability and efficient management of resources. Various types of resources are involved in construction industry such as materials, manpower, machines, and finance. The project manager ability to handle construction resources contributes to the project success.

Materials. Materials are the essence in the construction industry, which represents a substantial proportion of the total value of the project. Hence, efficient material management is an important criterion for success of any project. A material management system includes identifying, acquiring, storing, distributing and disposing of materials. Regular and adequate supply of the materials is a very critical task, since late or irregular deliveries as well as wrong types of materials affect the utilization of other resources like manpower and machinery. This leads to poor productivity, time delay and cost overrun.

Manpower. Manpower or human resources consist of technical and managerial personnel and workforce in project activities. Human resources are essential and important to achieve project completion within estimated time budget. Technical personnel include engineers, architects, surveyors, supervisors, technicians, etc. The workforce consists of skilled and unskilled workers.

Machinery. Construction equipment is a very significant resource, which plays an important role in the execution of high-cost and time-bound construction projects. The selection and utilization of equipment in a project must be an integral part of the total plan. The type and number of the equipment required depends on the nature of the project.

Finance. Finance is the first resource required for any construction work. Other construction resources depend on the availability of funds. Financial management is essential for cash flow forecasting as well as for assisting in planning, making decisions and controlling the activities of the project.

(Adapted from: http://constructionfield.net/resources-in-construction-projects)

1)What is necessary for a construction project to be successful?

2)What kinds of resources are involved in construction?

3)How should a project manager handle construction materials?

4)Why is it so important to have a regular supply of materials? In what way does it influence the construction process?

5)What are the three types of human resources involved in construction? Give examples.

6)What role does the machinery play in the implementation of construction projects?

7)Why can we say that the funds are the first resource needed for construction?

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6.Complete the sentences.

1)Construction project success depends on ______________.

2)There are several types of construction resources, such as ______________.

3)Material management involves _____________.

4)Irregular supply of the materials can lead to ______________.

5)Manpower is important for construction because ______________.

6)Financial management in construction affects ______________.

7.Find the synonyms of these words in the text.

8. Complete these sentences with the correct form of the verbs in the box.

deliver distribute supply control utilize lead to affect

1)The materials should ___________ to the construction site on time.

2)We try to ___________ construction resources economically.

3)Poor manpower ___________ the project failure.

4)My job is to acquire and ___________ the materials at the construction site.

5)Financial management ___________ the construction process.

6)Irregular delivery of materials ___________ the productivity of works.

7)Our company __________ construction materials for a number of facilities.

9.Translate into English using expressions from the text.

10.Use the word collocations from exercise 9 to translate the sentences.

1)Неэффективное управление материальными ресурсами приводит к задержкам времени и перерасходу средств.

2)Полную стоимость проекта определяет наличие источников капитала.

3)Строительное оборудование является одним из важнейших строительных ресурсов.

4)Принятие решений входит в зону ответственности руководящего персонала.

11.Speak on the resources needed for construction.

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3.2Materials Management

1.Match the pictures of construction materials with the following words.

2. How can you deliver these materials to the construction site? Compare different modes of transport using adjectives in the box.

E.g.: We can deliver pipes by rail. It is safer than road transport.

3. Read and translate these words. What parts of speech do they represent?

Reduce – reduction; install – installation; store – storage; deliver – delivery; attach

– attachment; ship – shipment; procure – procurement; transport – transportation; measure – measurement.

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4. Read the text and study the types of construction materials.

Materials management is an important element in project planning and control. Materials represent a major expense in construction, so minimizing procurement costs presents important opportunities for reducing expenses.

The materials for delivery to and from a construction site may be broadly classified as: (1) bulk materials, (2) standard off-the-shelf materials, and (3) prefabricated members or units. The process of delivery, including transportation, storage and installation, will be different for these classes of materials. The equipment needed to handle and haul these classes of materials will also be different.

Bulk materials refer to materials in their natural or semi-processed state, such as earthwork to be excavated, wet concrete mix, etc., which are usually needed in large quantities in construction. Some bulk materials, such as soil or gravel, may be measured in bank volume4.

Standard pipes and valves are typical examples of standard off-the-shelf materials. Since these materials can be easily stockpiled, the delivery process is relatively simple.

Prefabricated members, such as columns or wall panels for buildings, are preprocessed at a factory to simplify the field erection procedures. Welded or bolted fasteners are attached to the members, which have precise dimensions for adequate fit. In general, if the work can be done at the factory where working conditions can better be controlled, it is advisable to do so, provided that the prefabricated members or units can be shipped to the construction site in a satisfactory manner at a reasonable cost.

(Adapted from: Ch. Hendrickson. Project Management for Construction. 2nd ed. Carnegie Mellon University, 2000. http://pmbook.ce.cmu.edu/)

5.True or false?

1)Construction materials cost quite a lot, but not as much as the machinery.

2)The total value of the project can be decreased by minimizing procurement expenses.

3)All construction materials are delivered to the site in the same way.

4)Delivery means transportation.

5)We do not usually need a lot of bulk materials for construction.

6)It is easy to transport off-the-shelf materials because they can be well packed.

7)Prefabricated members are the units of the construction facility that are manufactured on the construction site.

8)It is always desirable to use prefabricated members for construction.

4 bank volume – объем грунта в естественном залегании.

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6. Choose the correct alternative (more than one variant is possible).

4)It is advisable to use prefabricated members because ____________.

a)it reduces the volume of works on the site

b)they have precise dimensions

c)it is cheap

7.Find the synonyms of these verbs in the text.

8. Complete these sentences with the correct form of the verbs in the box.

reduce install measure process simplify ship attach represent

1)Sand, gravel and soil ___________ bulk materials.

2)Construction works can be ___________ by means of prefabrication.

3)It is very important to ___________ procurement costs as much as possible.

4)To deliver is to transport, to store and to __________ the materials.

5)Prefabricated members should be firmly __________ to the vehicle during transportation.

6)One can ___________ some of the bulk materials in bank volume.

7)Our factory ___________ prefabricated members for construction.

8)Bulk materials are usually __________ by rail.

9.Complete the table using the following words.

10. Speak on different types of construction materials. What is special about their delivery to the construction site?

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3.3Construction Planning

1.Think of the kinds of construction facilities. If you were the owner of a construction company, what would you construct?

2.Match the types of construction with the pictures. Add more examples.

infrastructure commercial residential industrial

3. Build up word collocations and match them with the Russian equivalent.

4.Every construction project should be implemented according to the Project Execution Plan. At what stage of the design process is it usually developed? In what way do you think it is related to the Construction Management Plan?

5.Read the text and answer the questions.

Construction planning is a challenging activity in the management and execution of construction projects. It involves the choice of technology, the definition of work tasks and the estimation of the required resources. A good construction management plan is the basis for developing the budget and the work schedule.

In selecting among alternative technologies, it may be necessary to formulate a number of construction plans based on alternative methods. For example, a decision whether to pump or to transport concrete in buckets will directly affect the cost and duration of tasks involved in construction. A decision between these two alternatives should consider the relative costs, reliabilities, and availability of equipment for the two transport methods.

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At the same time that the choice of technology is considered, a parallel step in the planning process is to define the various work tasks that must be accomplished. These work tasks represent the necessary framework for scheduling of construction activities. Since construction projects can involve thousands of individual work tasks, this phase can also be expensive and time consuming. Fortunately, many tasks may be repeated in different parts of the project. For example, the tasks involved in the construction of a building floor may be repeated with only minor differences for each of the floors in the building.

Finally, resource requirements are usually estimated for each construction activity. The total resources required for the project are the sum of the resources required for the various activities. By making resource requirement estimates for each activity, the requirements for particular resources during the course of the project can be identified. Potential bottlenecks can thus be detected, and schedule, resource allocation or technology changes made to avoid problems.

(Adapted from: Ch. Hendrickson. Project Management for Construction. 2nd ed. Carnegie Mellon University, 2000. http://pmbook.ce.cmu.edu/)

1)Why can construction planning be considered as a challenging activity?

2)What should be taken into account in selecting among alternative construction technologies?

3)Why is it so important to develop an efficient work schedule?

4)In what way can a good work schedule reduce construction costs?

5)What do the total resources required consist of?

6)How do the resource requirements affect the construction process?

6.Complete the sentences.

1)Construction planning includes ______________.

2)The budget and the work schedule are based on _____________.

3)The choice of a technology has an effect on ______________.

4)Scheduling of construction activities is very ______________.

5)The overall construction work schedule consists of _______________.

6)Estimation of resource requirements helps to detect _______________.

7.Complete these sentences with the correct form of the verbs in the box.

avoid affect select accomplish define estimate

1)All work tasks should be ______________ in time.

2)In order to prepare an efficient construction management plan one must

__________ the most suitable technology of work.

3)A good construction management plan helps to ___________ potential bottlenecks.

4)The resources needed for construction should be ___________ beforehand.

5)It is very important to ___________ work tasks carefully.

6)Resource requirements strongly ____________ construction planning.

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8. Complete the word forks using the collocations from the text.

Construction

Work

9. Find the synonyms of these adjectives in the text.

10.Use the word forks from exercise 8 and the adjectives from exercise 9 to translate the sentences into English.

1)Данный проект капитального строительства требует большого расхода времени.

2)График выполнения работ состоит из отдельных рабочих заданий.

3)Даже незначительные изменения в требованиях к ресурсам делают разработку плана организации строительства непростой задачей.

4)Распределение ресурсов и выбор между различными технологиями являются основой организации строительства.

11.Think of a construction management plan for a country house. Which construction technologies will you apply? What kind of resources will you need? What will be the work tasks and the work schedule? Complete the following table.

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