Construction Site Coordination and Management Guide

A. Samer Ezeldin, Ahmed M. Alhady

• Publisher: Momentum Press
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781947083288
• eBook ISBN: 9781947083295
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Construction & Architectural Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Coordination and management are essential functions in the building procedure. Recent research has demonstrated that poor or inadequate coordination is the best that is accomplished on construction sites. Nevertheless, not many writers of construction project management have examined this essential subject. Between project goals and the reality on the ground exist a huge number of conditions that can affect the progress of a project and that is the reason a dynamic ramification amid the development time frame is significant. This book provides construction practitioners with the knowledge they need to successfully coordinate and manage construction projects. It high­lights different construction processes required to enhance their practical performance in particular and further the construction industry in general.

CHAPTER 1

Site Coordination Overview

1.1 Introduction

Coordination is an essential function in the building procedure. Recent research has demonstrated that poor or inadequate coordination is the best that is accomplished on construction sites. Nevertheless, not many writers of construction project management have examined this essential subject. Literature reviews carried out on this subject revealed that there is an absence of formal comprehension on how everyday coordination is really accomplished on a construction project.

Coordination can be viewed as a procedure of overseeing assets in a balanced way so that a higher level of operational effectiveness can be accomplished for a given project. Between the underlying goal and the reality on the ground exist a huge number of conditions that can affect the progress of your project and that is the reason a dynamic ramification amid the development time frame is significant. Successful project coordination permits the global vision of the project and the customer’s interests to remain intact. This chapter addresses the causes of poor construction site coordination considering the various types of coordination activities, the roles/duties of construction engineers and managers, and ends with an overview of the site’s temporary facilities and controls.

1.2 Causes Leading to Unsuccessful Site Coordination

It is a typical practice for primary contractors executing projects to assign the vast majority of the work to subcontractors. Yet, one of the greatest gripes of subcontractors is that they can’t perform to their full potential because of poor coordination and site management. Eighteen common site coordination issues and 16 basic reasons for these issues were identified from the literature and recommendations of industrial experts. The causes were grouped into three classifications: staffing-related causes; technical-­related causes; and management system related causes. The reasons for the poor quality of primary contractors’ coordination through the construction stage were addressed through a questionnaire survey conducted in the literature. Vague employment obligations were observed to be the most critical cause. The results of the survey revealed that the most critical causes were essentially associated with management systems, particularly communication, rather than staffing- or technical-related variables.

The typical site issues and the basic reasons for these issues were shortlisted by studying the literature for the factors influencing the productivity at the worksite level and the observation of common practices and recommendations of industrial experts.

1.2.1 Typical Site Coordination Problems

Eighteen basic site coordination issues were identified and they were ­classified into the following eight groups according to their nature as shown in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1. Common site coordination issues

No.	Group	Problems
1	Construction ­information	a. Data not detailed enough b. Vague or contradictory data
2	Working plan	a. Working plan not detailed enough b. Working sequence not practical c. Short notice for commencing site work d. Late change of working plan
3	Preparation for workplace	a. Workplace environment not yet ­prepared, such as general site ­arrangements, ventilation, and lighting b. Insufficient or inadequate site reference points c. Insufficient or inadequate temporary work support such as scaffolding, and water and power supply
4	Interfacing work to be ­completed by other ­subcontractors	a. Wor...

Table of contents

• cover
• halftitle
• title
• copyright
• dedication
• abstract
• contents
• figures
• tables
• 01_Chapter 1
• 02_Chapter 2
• 03_Chapter 3
• 04_Chapter 4
• 05_Chapter 5
• 06_Chapter 6
• 07_Chapter 7
• 08_Bibliography
• 09_Index