Managing the Construction Process: Estimating, Scheduling, and Project Control (2nd Edition) - Hardcover

Gould, Frederick E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0130604062 ISBN 13: 9780130604064

Publisher: Prentice Hall, 2001

Synopsis

Comprehensive and unique in its perspective, this volume covers all areas of the Construction Management industry—with a balanced focus on both theory and practicality. It helps readers gain knowledge of the Building Industry as a whole, as well as the technical skills required to manage a construction project from conception through occupancy. Covers all aspects of construction project management including estimating, scheduling and project control. For construction management professional, designers, owners and contractors interested in building industry knowledge.

About this title

From the Back Cover

This new edition provides a broad overview of the construction manager's role and responsibilities. After introducing the industry players and processes, the author covers estimating, scheduling, and project control. Background concepts lead off each chapter, followed by practical applications supported by illustrations and sidebars. All of the key concepts in the book relate to actual construction projects in various stages of development.

This text consists of four sections:

• The overview section introduces readers to the concepts of team play, bonding, value engineering, and partnering.
• The estimating section is developed in the context of a project's evolution, showing increasing detail as the project progresses, thereby feeding information to the construction manager to support sounder design and construction decisions. A new chapter has been added to this section. "Assemblies Estimating" shows the reader how to do accurate estimates at the schematic stage of design.
• The scheduling section covers several methods but focuses on the Critical Path Method. Activity definition, the creation of a logic diagram, calculation of activity durations, and network calculations are ail explained.
• The project control section looks at how the integration of the schedule and the estimate forms the work plan that accurately projects resource usage.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

With the growth of the construction management profession, and the resulting expansion of construction management courses both in the major and as electives in many architectural and engineering school curriculums, a need has arisen to combine the various facets of the profession into one comprehensive text. Current texts either concentrate on a single function—scheduling, estimating, or project control—or cover the profession in an overview of project management.

In addition, practitioners who need a primer on current industry practices will find this text to be a good reference. The text is organized to cover all areas of the construction management industry, with an emphasis on maintaining a balance between theory and practice. Each of the four sections is introduced with background theory and fundamentals, which are followed by practical applications, frequent illustrations, sidebars written by industry professionals, chapter review questions, and a project highlight. The latter is a recurring feature, relating the teaching of each of the four sections of the book to an actual construction project, the recent renovation of two buildings at MIT. By using this text, students and practitioners—designers, owners, contractors, and construction managers—alike will gain knowledge of the building industry and the technical skills required to manage a construction project.

Section One, Construction Project Management, provides an overview of the industry. The roles and responsibilities of construction participants, organization of the project team, and factors affecting the project scope and timeline are all discussed in this section. Team play and concepts such as bonding, value engineering, and partnering are defined and emphasized. This section prepares the reader for a more thorough study of the major topics that follow: estimating, scheduling, and project control.

Section Two, Estimating, reviews the techniques and methods used in preparing the costs for a construction project. It discusses the quantity takeoff process, the establishment of unit prices, and the adjustment of costs for time and location. The section covers estimating in the context of a project's evolution. It demonstrates that as project information becomes better, the estimate becomes increasingly detailed, thereby feeding information back into the project to support sounder design and construction decisions.

Section Three, Scheduling, addresses the value of schedules and provides examples of different scheduling methods. The network-based Critical Path Method is covered in the most detail. Activity definition, the creation of a logic diagram, the calculation oaf activity durations, and network calculations are all explained. Computer applications and examples of computer output are included.

Section Four, Project Control, concludes the book. This part examines how the estimate and the schedule are used to provide timely information to the owner and other project participants. In the preconstruction stage, this information can be integrated into a work plan that accurately projects resource usage. In the construction phase, this work plan allows the comparison of actual production to planned production and provides feedback to the project team. This section looks at how the integration of the schedule and the estimate forms this work plan. Examples of integrated reports and a sidebar on Computer Integrated Construction complete this section.

Both the organization and the content of this book have been designed to allow it to serve as a useful reference for the practitioner as well as the student. In the classroom, the book will serve well as a teaching tool for the architectural, construction, or civil engineering student. The text provides an overview of all aspects of construction management, with enough practical examples for the student to get a view of the world of construction management. As a reference for the professional, the book is organized so as to allow quick and easy access to information on current tools and practices of the profession—hence its utility to learners and experienced professionals alike. Acknowledgments

Many people contributed to the writing of this book. I particularly wish to recognize the contributions of Nancy Joyce, Senior Program Manager, Beacon Construction, who authored the project highlights and who served as technical consultant for the entire manuscript. Don Farrell volunteered the efforts of his construction photography firm, Farrell Associates, to provide the photographs used throughout the text.

I thank the following for reviewing the manuscript for this edition: Dr. S. Narayan Bodapati, P.E., Southern Illinois University; John Jarchow, Pima Community College; and Dr. Madan Mehta, University of Texas at Arlington. I also thank the following reviewers of the first edition: James A. Adrian, Bradley University; Jeff Burnett, Washington State University; Charles Richard Cole, Southern College of Technology; Ellery C. Green, University of Arizona; and John Warsowick, Northern Virginia Community College.

Thanks to the following sidebar contributors for their real-world additions to the text: David Lash, Dave Lash and Company; Jeffrey Milo, Jay Cashman, Inc.; Christopher Noble, Hill and Barlow; Kenneth Stowe, George B. H. Macomber Company; and Rory Woolsey, The Wool-Zee Company. I would also like to acknowledge the Wentworth and Roger Williams students for "agreeing" to be class tested on much of the book's content and, in particular, Matthew Viviano, who produced most of the Primavera plots used in the text.

The R. S. Means Company, especially their Engineering Department headed by John Ferguson, was a huge help in furnishing much of the cost data used in the estimating examples in the text.

Edition details

• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0130604062
• ISBN 13: 9780130604064
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 393