Project Management for Construction: Fundamental Concepts for Owners, Engineers, Architects, and Builders

Project Management for Construction: Fundamental Concepts for Owners, Engineers, Architects, and Builders (Prentice-Hall International Series in Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics)
by Chris Hendrickson, Tung Au

Publisher: Prentice Hall College Div
Number Of Pages: 496
Publication Date: 1989-02
ISBN/ ASIN: 0137312660
EAN: 9780137312665

This book develops a specific viewpoint in discussing the participants, the processes and the techniques of project management for construction. This viewpoint is that of owners who desire completion of projects in a timely, cost effective fashion. Some profound implications for the objectives and methods of project management result from this perspective:

* The "life cycle" of costs and benefits from initial planning through operation and disposal of a facility are relevant to decision making. An owner is concerned with a project from the cradle to the grave. Construction costs represent only one portion of the overall life cycle costs.

* Optimizing performance at one stage of the process may not be beneficial overall if additional costs or delays occur elsewhere. For example, saving money on the design process will be a false economy if the result is excess construction costs.

* Fragmentation of project management among different specialists may be necessary, but good communication and coordination among the participants is essential to accomplish the overall goals of the project. New information technologies can be instrumental in this process, especially the Internet and specialized Extranets.

* Productivity improvements are always of importance and value. As a result, introducing new materials and automated construction processes is always desirable as long as they are less expensive and are consistent with desired performance.

* Quality of work and performance are critically important to the success of a project since it is the owner who will have to live with the results.

In essence, adopting the viewpoint of the owner focuses attention on the cost effectiveness of facility construction rather than competitive provision of services by the various participants.

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