The development of any project follows some major phases in project life cycle. For the success of the project, the project team must successfully plan, organize and control their work activities so that they are performed in proper sequence and on time. Some parts of the major phases of project life cycle is performed before the construction phase starts.
Following are the steps involved in development of a construction project from scratch:
1. Conceptual phase
2. Proposal phase
3. Project design phase
a) Engineering design
b) Procurement of major equipment
c) Project control function
d) Construction inputs from experienced engineers
4. Procurement of other construction materials
5. On-site construction
6. Facility start-up and turnover
1. Conceptual Phase of Construction Project:
This phase of construction project is generally done by owner or client with the help of consultants, project managers and other experienced engineers. The major activities in this phase can be:
Product development
Process development
Marketing surveys
Setting project scope and design basis
Capital cost estimating
Project financing plans
Economic feasibility studies
Board approval of the project
When client develops a need for new facility for any reason, the need for new construction project arises. Then client with the help of their R&D team, consultants and project managers etc., does the above steps during the conceptual phase of the project. Market research for the product development need, capital cost estimating of the project, project financing plans and project scope and design basis are the important part of this phase.
2. Proposal Phase of the Construction Project:
Once the construction project gets approval from the board, then the project enters proposal phase. In this phase the main goal is to select a suitable contractor to carry out the construction activity as required by the client or owner. This phase involves following activities:
Preparing a contracting plan – like terms and conditions of contract, payment terms, security deposit, earnest money deposit etc.
Prequalifying contractor slate – prequalification needed for a contractor to carry out the project is finalized, like size of project executed by the contract, type of project executed by the contractor etc.
Preparing a request for proposal (RFP) or Request for Quotation (RFQ – this involves bill of quantities of each item of work to be executed in the construction project, and quotation for the same is requested from the contractor.
Receiving and analyzing the proposals- each quotation received by the means of tendering is then opened and analysed as per the requirement of the client. Then client decides on selection of the best proposal based on cost and quality in mind and contractors work experience.
Selecting the best proposal
Negotiating a contract: after the best proposal is selected by the client, the selected contractor is called for negotiation. In this step, generally contractors are requested to review the rates quoted by them so as to minimize the cost of the project.
3.Project Execution Phase of the construction Project:
After a suitable contractor is selected by the client or owner, the project manager is ready to execute the project in accordance with the contracting plan. The construction project is initiated in this phase. The following activities are generally carried out by the contractor (project manager):
Engineering design phase: it covers those activities required to generate the plans and specifications for the procurement of the equipment and construction materials and the construction of the facility. Process design, mechanical design, civil, architectural and structural design, piping design, electrical design, instrumentation design, general specifications and construction input from past experiences and other experienced engineers are the major activities in this phase.
Equipment procurement activity: procurement of construction materials and equipment are carried out during design stage and transported to the construction site as specified and on time to meet the construction schedule. Interaction between construction groups and procurement groups becomes much important during this phase of the construction.
Project control functions: to meet the project goals relating to budget, schedule, and quality effectively, a team of control specialists performs the necessary project control functions. All the project commitments and expenditures are monitored by cost engineers to see that they conform to the budget and cash flow projections. Weekly and monthly project reports are prepared to ensure that various activities are as planned or to take any steps to keep the activities on track.
Construction field activities: each team member is presented with certain jobs on site for the construction of the project on time and as per contracting terms. The construction manager delegates the major areas of the construction project. The group of engineers is led by a field superintendent who directly reports to the construction manager. This superintendent is assisted in executing the construction work by an organization of area engineers, craft superintendents, general foremen, and sub-contractor supervisors. All other field groups perform their duties to support the field construction operation.
The field engineer receives and distributes the technical documents for the field organization. They manage the design construction interface to ensure that the project is built according to the design documents. All design clarifications, design and field changes, change orders, as built drawings, vendor assistance contacts, and the like must pass through the field engineering office.
The engineer is also responsible for the quality control operations. This involves quality control testing services, laboratory reports, radiography services etc. the field engineer also maintains copies of the applicable codes and government regulations and interprets their application to the project.
4. Facility start-up activities
This is the last activity on the project. This step establishes the order for putting the operating units into service. The amount of construction participation in the startup must also be considered in the scope of services along with the money and resource plans for the overall project.
