Construction Management Development of a Sports Facility

3. Method Statement 

A comprehensive method statement has been presented as below, which outlines the fundamental elements for the complete project life cycle.

• Scope of Works

This methods statement outlines the methodology to be adopted for the entire project of the development of sports facility in Coventry, from the commencements of the construction works till the completion of finishing works. The scope of the works includes selection of raw materials for constructions, shop drawings development and subsequent approvals, coordination with primary contractors and subcontractors, startup of site enabling work, assurance of quality of works along with activity execution and fabrication.

• Planning & Design

A holistic approach to the project development will be undertaken, which includes primary planning, designing and engineering in accordance with the site requirements. Provision of the primary design will be the responsibility of the client. As a project manager, assessments will be carried out to analyze the availability of project time, budgets, execution of works and subsequent handover to the client. It will be the responsibility of the project manager to take appropriate actions in order to ensure that the planned works are in accordance with the requirements of the project.

Expert labour will be utilized by the client for planning and designing, and consultancy services may also be obtained to gain an expert advice on the project design.  Subsequent approvals from the Local Council and Planning Department will be obtained. It is also important to note that leave way agreements will have to be confirmed with local companies at this stage the project. This activity is expected to take approximately 30 days to complete, and may cost up to £ 4000, excluding the fee of contract project manager  

• Time Scale

The project will take approximately 15 months to complete.

• Contractual works

The construction works will be completed through construction contracts. These works include, site excavations, piling, ground-works, steel erection, flooring, cladding, roofing, finishing works etc. The works will be under the supervision of contractual project manager. The contractors will be advised to use local labour. Plant and other materials will be responsibility of the contractor. The feasibility cost for these works will be approximately £ 250,000, and will take up to 12-14 months for completion

Works undertaken by a specific subcontractor will be under a separate method statement. The actual cost of this element will be defined through an open tendering process, in which all the associated companies will be advertised to participate in. The bill of quantities will be prepared and compared with the tenders. The least cost tender will be selected, however selection procedures may also consider factors such as organizational background and sustainability considerations.

The contractor will be paid a lump sum amount through adaptation of a traditional procurement strategy. In this strategy, most of the works related to the design and planning will be completed through consultations and the project manager, which is hired by the client. The cost of labour resources, plant and materials will be incorporated in the total payments. However, this is required though a contractual agreements, and for this project the FIDIC “Conditions of Contract for Construction for Building and Engineering Works Designed by the Employer” - the Red Book (1st edition 1999) is most appropriate.

• Preparatory Works

It is assumed in this report that the works will commence in May 2015. Site fencing will be initiated under the jurisdiction of local council directions, and site inductions will be required by all the contractors. The fencing will be 2.5m high erected on natural ground and secured. Designated areas will be screened with solid boards; to minimize disturbances to birds.  Parking at site will be constructed as soon as these works are completed. Temporary access road will be provided onsite at this stage. The estimated time for this element will be 1 month; the cost would be in accordance with the management and sub-contractor contracts, with an estimate of around £ 18,000.  The subcontractor will be responsible for the payments to labour resources, plant and material costs.

• Plant, Materials and Storage

After outlining a designated fenced area, all the plants and materials will be unloaded loaded, from where the construction works could be easily initiated. The storage on site will be such that an easy access is available, which will close to their use and in orderly fashion. Vehicle routes along with pedestrian walkways will be outlined and appropriate barriers will be installed. The estimated time for this element will be 1 month. The cost would be included as the contractor’s responsibility in the contractual works

• Health and Safety

The construction manager will be responsible for health and safety at site. Storage of hazardous materials, plants or equipments will be strictly monitored and controlled; all such areas will be marked as hazardous and limited access will be provided. Specific mitigation measures will be taken such as; control of heavy machinery, its usage and production of waste gases will be monitored and controlled. Noise pollution will be controlled though implication of specific procedures.

A code of conduct will be implemented at site in consultation with the local council/bodies. The site engineer will be responsible to supervise all the construction works, to ensure that all works are executed in accordance with the code of conduct. Workshops and training will be conducted, and a strict compliance with the safety procedures will be enforced, and this will be added as part of the contracts for all resources associated with this project. A record book for incidents will also be maintained by the site engineer / foreman. This element will be lead throughout the life of the project. The expert human resource cost will be incorporated in the management contract with the project manager; implications will be enforced though adding it as contractor’s responsibility to follow the code of conduct for all activities undertaken in the project (for contractual works). Workshop/training, consultancy fee and other expenses will be approximately £ 10,000

• Security

The client and other responsible authorities will be consulted to strategies the site security. The main contractor will be obliged to take for complete responsibility of the material’s and equipment security until installation and approval. A policy will be implemented through which all members of staff and operatives will given identification cards, and will be instructed comply with policy under all terms. Security surveillance cameras and a guard will be procured from an external independent security service provider, with an estimate of around £ 35,000. This element will be lead throughout the life of the project.

• Quality Control

A comprehensive Quality Control Plan will be prepared in consultation with the all the stakeholders. The plan will be developed to ensure the works are completed in accordance with the all design parameters. The in-house quality control program will outline the procedures, progress schedule, inspection details, testing plan, control activity documentation and corrective actions.   The aim of the programme would be to prevent usage of questionable materials, ensure zero defects and achieve 100% client satisfaction. This element will be lead throughout the life of the project. The expert human resource cost will be incorporated in the management contract with the project manager; implications will be enforced though adding it as contractor’s responsibility to comply with quality control plan recommendations in the project (for contractual works) 

4. Construction Programme 

The project construction program can be represented as an activity schedule, which outlines the primary activities of the construction project (Jongeling, 2006). The construction programme presented in this report highlight the critical items / activities related to the project of “Sports for All”, in the form of a real time based programme.  

The time reflected in the programme under each activity will be formalized by the project manager after detailed consultation with all associated project technical staff such as project engineer or site foreman, other stakeholders, consultants etc. As the project matures, advice can be obtained from the project contractors and sub-contractors too. The primary project/construction programme outlined in this section does not include the planning and design approval activities, as these will be finalized by the Charity, their advisors/consultants and the project manager, before the tendering process.

The following is the primary construction programme;

Table 1: Project Construction Programme

 The programme, as shown above, must not be a mere paper exercise of keeping record what has happened and what has been planned as the next activity, as for it be effective, it must be implied as a strategy in planning of activities, monitoring progress, and to identify the areas where additional resources may be required (Ballard, 1997).   This programme will be utilized in the process of contractor appointments (as the contractor will have to agree with the programme), supply of materials, in mitigation strategy, evaluation of the works once the developments works have been completed.    The programme will also be used to incorporate the advice of consultants under each activity, so that the planned resource under each element can be monitored, and evaluation results could be reported to the Charity.

5. Strategic Management, Relationship, and Communication 

The primary of objective of the strategic management is to ensure that projects are completed as per the scope of works, within the allocated budgets, and within the allocated time. Therefore a comprehensive management strategy must be adopted, which ensure timely tracking of activities, resolve complex situations and enhance performance of the project (Mehta et al, 2009). Therefore it is recommended that a management contractor is appointed for this project, which will be responsible for management of construction related works

Figure 3; Strategic Management contracting (source: Edited using MS Paint, 2014)

As shown in the figure above, the project teams and their respective responsibilities include;

• The employer team: Consultants, architect, designer or other technical staff. This team will be responsible to provide the project design, initial cost estimated and bill of quantities, tenders release and supervision of project variables.
• Project Manager or Management Contractor team; site foreman, cost engineer and/or other technical staff. Responsible for the entire project, from the beginning till finishing, which includes supervision of the all the contractors. Other responsibilities are detailed in section below
• Contractor and sub-contractor teams. These teams will be responsible for the construction woks, supply equipments, materials, installation in accordance with the project contracts and tender

The project manager will be under a management contract with the client, and will be responsible to lead the contractor/subcontractor teams. The project manager will take guidance from the management and project consultants, and site mobilization will be initiated. Specific human resources dedicated as per the project requirements will be reporting to the project manager (through contractors) for the progress at site. The production engineer and/or supervisor/foreman will be other key personnel supporting the project manager.   The costs of the management and labour will be in accordance with the contractual agreements.

Information will be shared between the clients, designing / advising teams of the client and project manager, which is then passed on to the contractors. Since the project manager will be under the confidence the client (working closely with the client’s team), it can provide opportunity for initiation of early construction works on site, such as fencing etc. The Charity Sport for All will sign a cost plant contract with the project manager in accordance with the project-drawings, sites & quantity surveys and other specifications.

The scope of works will be documented through contracts. Subcontracts may also be awarded through an appropriate but independent procurement strategy, in accordance with the local legislations / regulations. The contracts will also define internal management purposes and responsibilities, through which the management can ensure progress under all sets of trades.

The logistics and production teams will work closely with the managementy to ensure timely delivery of required materials. The specialist contractor or sub-contractors will undertake the required works in accordance with the contractual agreements, and will be responsible for timely delivery of these activities. Close co-coordination with subcontractors and consultants will be required in order to ensure that site excavations, piling, ground-works, steel erection, flooring, cladding, roofing, framing etc works are completed in accordance with the requirements.

Meetings between the project/contract manager and the contractors will be arranged after regular intervals, recommended to be held on every alternate day, and after completion of every activity, to ensure that works are progressive, not interrupted and accomplished in accordance with the design requirements. The minutes of the minutes would include details on the works being completed since the last meetings, checking the updated status with the project construction programme, verify that the method statements are being followed, and review any risk circumstances if occurred.

The project manager will then review parameters of the quality, cost scope prospective of the project before sharing an update with the charity and take advice on further matters.

In order to ensure that “sports for All” project does not cost more than the original tenders, it is finished in-time and in accordance with initial scope of works, the following strategies can be adopted by the Charity to control the costs, quality and delivery;

• Obtain periodic update on project scope, tasks, resources, quality and duration etc from the project manager, as discussed previously, and verify that deliverables are in accordance with required standards
• Consider utilization of various trends, index of cost performance and earned value statistics
• Analyze available records of similar projects and utilize graphical techniques such as tracking curves, BIM (Building Information Modelling) etc
• Obtain services of a third party for an independent estimation

It will be the responsibility of the project manager to ensure that all the works completed with optimum finishing. After successful completion of the project, the infrastructure will be handed over to the client after formal inspection with the representatives of the client, and the necessary handover documentations will be completed.