Value Engineering in Construction

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Value engineering can be defined as a set of systematic tools and creative methodologies adopted by a construction project team to rectify constraints of costs, quality, and scope. Value engineering represents solutions that can be implemented in a construction project to optimize costs, enhance functional performance, and achieve high-quality work.

Based on the interpretation of the Project Management Institute (PMI), value engineering is a creative perspective utilized in the project life cycle to increase productivity and quality, and to make the project more lucrative. Value engineering can enable engineers to use the project resources within optimum limits and increase market share.  

Value engineering techniques can be incorporated in the early planning phase of a construction project as they involve the value planning of the project. The primary objective of implementing value engineering in a construction project is to decrease the costs, increase the quality along with performance, and solve technical problems that make the project liable to uncertainties.

Value Engineering Timeline in a Construction Project

It is viable to implement value management methodologies in all stages of the project throughout its life cycle. However, it has been observed that the highest benefit is achieved when value engineering practices are implemented in the preliminary planning and designing phase of the project. This is because the project design is more flexible and can easily adapt to any changes without costing too much. Furthermore, more resources are reserved when value engineering is implemented during the conceptual stage. This is the stage where we can evaluate potential alternatives that would result in increased quality and low costs. The following figure shows the timeline during which value engineering can be implemented and its impact on the construction project.

Value Engineering Phases in Construction Project

1. Information Phase

This phase involves the identification of construction project objectives, constraints, limitations, and assessing the status quo of the project. This phase collects all the mandated documents, reports, maps, and cost details of the projects. Primary tools like Quality Function Development (QFD) are utilized to check for quality. 

The project may have several strategic issues that can lead towards increased costs and these issues are identified using tools like SWOT analysis (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat). Furthermore, the risks, high-cost areas, and scheduling performance are comprehensively understood in this phase.

2. Function Phase

This phase of value engineering is about the functionality of a project and what a project would do once all the objectives have been achieved. The tools like performance-function analysis and cost-function analysis are used to develop a comprehensive understanding of the project.

3. Creativity/Speculation Phase

Engineering minds have a propensity for evaluating quick solutions to strategic construction problems and are likely to ignore the aspect of creativity. This phase is related to the development of ideas that would optimize the function of the project’s final product at low costs.

This phase is all about developing ideas that can serve as alternatives to achieve the objectives of a construction project.

4. Evaluation Phase

This phase is about the assessment of all ideas available for increasing construction performance and function. The ideas that are feasible in terms of cost, quality, and schedule are selected and implemented practically. These ideas affect performance and cost and this can be depicted by using tools like T-charts. The potential ideas are selected by life cycle costing (LLC), and choosing by advantage (CBA).

The construction team would select ideas or concepts that would provide enough time to generate value-oriented solutions for construction activities.

5. Development Phase

This is the phase where shortlisted ideas are worked into practically workable solutions. These solutions then become the recommendations incorporated in the design to optimize the costs and increase quality and function. These recommendations are selected based on cost-benefit analysis. These alternatives can be applied in construction for increased performance.

6. Presentation Phase

This phase is all about presenting an alternative solution to the construction project team, stakeholders, and other decision-makers that are associated with the construction project. All the information is propagated within the project team. In this phase, all the formal reports like risk analysis, cost-benefit analysis, justifying documents, value analysis, and scope are presented to the project team.

Advantages of Value Engineering

The following advantages are associated with value engineering:

1. It promotes the ability of creative thinking among the decision-makers and project stakeholders.
2. Value Engineering ensures a seamless flow of information within the project team and certainty for the given information.
3. It promotes a spirit of teamwork.
4. It optimizes the costs of the project while increasing the quality of the final product.
5. It establishes a strong working relationship between the designing team and the planning team. This improves the preliminary stage of a project which results in a high-performance project.
6. Several ideas are generated that can be later used on similar projects with efficient results. 

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