Constructions and the management of their projects

Construction projects are not processes because each construction is different from another one. It´s quite like traditional crafts because from raw materials something new is built. And these projects have a problem, at least here in Spain, where I´ve studied Construction Engineering and worked in this sector for about 2 years. The problem is that they never get ended on time or budget and neither quality.

During the past 10 years there has been built a lot and very fast. This has as an result the loss of quality. Even if these constructions were above cost it wasn´t a big problem because the customers were like crazy to buy at almost any price a new home.

Nowadays the few projects that are being constructed, don´t accomplish the baseline neither. And it´s not due to the workload.

So, why does this occur? Well I don´t have all the answers but I do have one clue of why this happens. It´s because we don´t plan in detail all the phases during the planning  phase. And when we do it, it´s just a copy paste from a previous project, which is also wrong because the location is always a crucial point because it determines the suppliers you´ll have in the area, the materials and machinery disposable, etc.

The budget also fails because  the designer of the project, usually, just copies from a previous budget from a previous project, without taking into account the new location where the project is going to be developed.

So if the initial budget is lower as the real one needed to accomplish the project, and you also go upon time (which means you go upon the budget), this has as an result that someone loses money.

I´ve once worked with a German engineer on a project, and he was astonished about the fact that here we plan the building work during three months and execute the project in 3 years. He told me that in Germany it is quite the opposite, they plan and project the building work during 3 years and execute it perfectly in 3 months.

In my opinion this is the main cause because of which the majority of projects in the constructions sector don´t achieve the objectives settled by the project plan.

The solution is to plan everything in detail and expect the unexpected, because there always happens something in each project which turns a normal task into a quite critical one.

Comentarios desactivados en Constructions and the management of their projects / 18 Ene 2012 por Alex Cosor
MERME /

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