Construction
In general, there are three types of construction: (1) building, (2)
heavy/highway, and (3) industrial. Each type of construction requires a unique
team to plan, design, construct, and maintain the project.
Building construction
Building construction for several apartment
blocks.
Building construction is the process of adding structure to real
property. The vast majority of building construction projects are small
renovations, such as addition of a room, or renovation of a bathroom. Often, the
owner of the property acts as laborer, paymaster, and design team for the entire
project. However, all building construction projects include some elements in
common - design, financial, and legal considerations. Many projects of varying
sizes reach undesirable end results, such as structural collapse, cost overruns,
and/or litigation, because of insufficient planning. For this reason, those with
experience in the field make detailed plans and maintain careful oversight
during the project to ensure a positive outcome.
For projects of large size and/or unusual type, the owner will likely
establish a team of workers and advisors to create an overall plan. This ensures
that the project will proceed in an orderly way to a desirable end. While no set
list would establish what is needed or advisable for a particular project,
frequently used advisors include mortgage bankers, accountants, lawyers,
insurance brokers, architects, and engineers. While their roles overlap, each
area of expertise addresses an element of what will be affected by the building
construction project.
Construction on the North Bytown Bridge in
Ottawa,
Canada. A crane is readied to
lower a
barge into
the
water. This
barge will be placed under any cutting work on the
bridge to lessen the
environmental impact. Note the concrete
barricades and
snow fencing in place to protect the
public and workers.
Residential Construction
More and more families are looking into building their own homes, or
contracting to have them built. Construction practices, technologies, and
resources are making Home Construction
significantly easier to accomplish. In practice, a General contractor
works closely with the owner to determine the exact needs and desires, and acts
as an intermediary between the owner and the sub-contractors.
Heavy/Highway construction
Heavy/Highway construction is the process of adding infrastructure
to our built environment. Owners of these projects are usually government
agencies, either at the national or local level. As in building construction,
heavy/highway construction has design, financial, and legal considerations,
however these projects are not usually undertaken for-profit, but to service the
public interest. However, heavy/highway construction projects are also
undertaken by large private corporations, including, among others, the golf
courses, harbors, power companies, railroads, and mines, who undertake the
construction of access roads, dams, railroads, general site grading, and massive
earthwork projects. As in building construction, the owner will assemble a team
to create an overall plan to ensure that the goals of the project are met.
Authority Having Jurisdiction
In construction, the AHJ is typically the municipality. For a
building that is
contemplated, drawings are reviewed and must be accepted by both the
buidling department and the fire department's plan reviewers, following the
application of a building permit.
The AHJ during the construction of a building is the municipal building
inspector, who is enforcing the local building code. Once
construction is complete and a final inspection has been passed, an occupancy
permit may be issued.
An operating building must comply with the fire code. The fire
code is enforced by the fire prevention officer, who works for the local fire
department.
Any changes made to a building including its use, expansion, its structural
integrity, fire protection items
require acceptance by the AHJ. A fire prevention officer may accept small
changes, but anything affecting basic safety functions, no matter how small they
may appear to the novice, may require the owner to apply for a building
permit, to ensure proper review of the contemplated changes against the
building code.
Routes into construction
There are several routes to the different careers within the construction
industry. Craft
industries offer jobs where employees train while they
work through apprenticeships and
other training schemes.
Technical occupations in England require GCSE qualifications or
vocational equivalents,
either initially or through on the job apprenticeship training.
Graduate
roles in the construction industry are filled by people with at least a foundation
degree in subjects such
as civil engineering,
building and construction
management. Graduates often receive specialised positions and gain
qualifications such as chartered status.
Construction industry qualifications
There are different types of qualifications and training programs for the
construction industry such as;
- Apprenticeships
- Construction Awards
- Foundation Certificates
- NVQ/ SVQ’s
- National Certificates & National Diplomas
- Foundation Degrees & Degrees
- Professional Qualifications
- Full time & Part Time Sandwich Study
Tender requirements
In many countries (such as the United States), public agencies must adhere to
many legal requirements that require the project to undergo a public bid
process. These laws stem from underlying norms that all constructors should have
an equal opportunity to do construction for the public, and not those
constructors who can influence monetarily (bribe) public officials for contract
award. These laws stipulate very rigid procedures for soliciting, receiving, and
awarding to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.
Industrial construction
Industrial construction, though a relatively small part of the entire
construction industry, is a very important component. Owners of these projects
are usually large, for-profit, industrial corporations. These corporations can
be found in such industries as medicine, petroleum, chemical, power generation,
manufacturing, etc. Processes in these industries require highly specialized
expertise in planning, design, and construction. As in building and
heavy/highway construction, this type of construction requires a team of
individuals to ensure a successful project.
Design team
In the modern industrialized world, construction usually involves the
translation of paper or computer based designs into
reality. A formal design team may be assembled to plan the physical proceedings,
and to integrate those proceedings with the other parts. The design usually
consists of drawings and specifications, usually
prepared by a design team including architects, interior
designers, civil engineers, cost
engineers (or quantity surveyors),
mechanical
engineers, electrical
engineers, and structural
engineers. The design team is most commonly employed by (i.e. in contract
with) the property owner. Under this system, once the design is completed by the
design team, a number of construction companies or construction management
companies may then be asked to make a bid for the work, either based directly on
the design, or on the basis of drawings and a bill of quantities
provided by a surveyor. Following evaluation
of bids, the owner will typically award a contract to the lowest responsible
bidder.
The modern trend in design is toward integration of previously separated
specialties, especially among large firms. In the past, architects, interior
designers, engineers, developers, construction managers, and general contractors
were more likely to be entirely separate companies, even in the larger firms.
Presently, a firm that is nominally an "architecture" or "construction
management" firm may have experts from all related fields as employees, or to
have an associated company that provides each necessary skill. Thus, each such
firm may offer itself as "one-stop shopping" for a construction project, from
beginning to end. This is designated as a "design Build" contract where the
contractor is given a performance specification, and must undertake the project
from design to construction, while adhering to the performance
specifications.
Several project structures can assist the owner in this integration,
including design-build, partnering, and construction management. In general,
each of these project structures allows the owner to integrate the services of
architects, interior designers, engineers, and constructors throughout design
and construction. In response, many companies are growing beyond traditional
offerings of design or construction services alone, and are placing more
emphasis on establishing relationships with other necessary participants through
the design-build process.
The increasing complexity of construction projects creates the need for
design professionals trained in all phases of the project's life-cycle and
develop an appreciation of the building as an advanced technological system
requiring close integration of many sub-systems and their individual components,
including sustainability. Building
engineering is an emerging discipline that attempts to meet this new
challenge.
A construction worker working with rebar that will be used in
a column.
Financial advisors
Many construction projects suffer from preventable financial problems.
Underbids ask for too little money to complete the project. Cash flow
problems exist when the present amount of funding cannot cover the current costs
for labor and materials, and because they are a matter of having sufficient
funds at a specific time, can arise even when the overall total is enough. Fraud is a problem in
many fields, but is notoriously prevalent in the construction field. Financial
planning for the project is intended to ensure that a solid plan, with adequate
safeguards and contingency plans, is in place before the project is started, and
is required to ensure that the plan is properly executed over the life of the
project.
Mortgage
bankers, accountants, and cost
engineers are likely participants in creating an overall plan for the financial
management of the building construction project. The presence of the mortgage banker is highly
likely even in relatively small projects, since the owner's equity in the
property is the most obvious source of funding for a building project. Accountants act to study the
expected monetary flow over the life of the project, and to monitor the payouts
throughout the process. Cost engineers apply expertise to
relate the work and materials involved to a proper valuation.
Large projects can involve highly complex financial plans. As portions of a
project are completed, they may be sold, supplanting one lender or owner for
another, while the logistical requirements of having the right trades and
materials available for each stage of the building construction project carries
forward.
Legal considerations
A construction project must fit into the legal framework governing the
property. These include governmental regulations on the use of property, and
obligations that are created in the process of construction.
The project must adhere to zoning and building code requirements.
Constructing a project that fails to adhere to codes will not benefit the owner.
Some legal requirements come from malum in se considerations,
or the desire to prevent things that are indisputably bad - bridge collapses or
explosions. Other legal requirements come from malum prohibitum
considerations, or things that are a matter of custom or expectation, such as
isolating businesses to a business district and residences to a residential
district. An attorney may seek changes or exemptions in the law governing the
land where the building will be built, either by arguing that a rule is
inapplicable (the bridge design won't collapse), or that the custom is no longer
needed (acceptance of live-work spaces has grown in the community).
Also, a construction project is a complex net of contracts and other legal
obligations, each of which must be carefully considered. A contract is the
exchange of a set of obligations between two or more parties, but it is not so
simple a matter as trying to get the other side to agree to as much as possible
in exchange for as little as possible. The time element in construction means
that a delay costs money, and in cases of bottlenecks, the delay can be
extremely expensive. Thus, the contracts must be designed to ensure that each
side is capable of performing the obligations set out. Contracts that set out
clear expectations and clear paths to accomplishing those expectations are far
more likely to result in the project flowing smoothly, whereas poorly drafted
contracts lead to confusion and collapse.
Legal advisors in the beginning of a construction project seek to identify
ambiguities and other potential sources of trouble in the contract structure,
and to present options for preventing problems. Throughout the process of the
project, they work to avoid and resolve conflicts that arise. In each case, the
lawyer facilitates an exchange of obligations that matches the reality of the
project.
Interaction of expertise
Design, finance, and legal aspects overlap and interrelate. The design must
be not only structurally sound and appropriate for the use and location, but
must also be financially possible to build, and legal to use. The financial
structure must accommodate the need for building the design provided, and must
pay amounts that are legally owed. The legal structure must integrate the design
into the surrounding legal framework, and enforces the financial consequences of
the construction process.
Construction trades
Construction materials
Structural elements
See also