Participants in Construction Projects

Participants in Construction Projects A construction project is a task undertaken in the production of construction products. The term project in this context is being used for the total activity from inception to commissioning and occupation, involving an agreed and planned objective and total input of specialist participants and their interrelationships. It is a temporary non-recurrent activity that is started, implemented, evaluated and terminated. This activity is undertaken in response to demand (direct, derived, individual or collective) for construction activity. Moreover, the activity is complex and, hence, necessitates the input of large numbers of participants with different disciplines to carry out the separate but interrelated functions of design, engineering, costing, pricing, and production. The participants who are engaged to work on the project are mainly unaccustomed to working with each other and, hence, projects activity imposes a special demand on team building and motivation. In addition, every parti cipant should be made aware of all the governing conditions, objectives, responsibilities, relationship and basic parameters of the construction project. Construction projects vary considerably in size and complexity. Moreover, generally complex projects tend to be large amount of service element. This complexity poses major problems of bounded rationality, risks and uncertainty. Project Participants The participants to construction project procurement are the client (who is the initiator), the multi-disciplinary construction consultants (who act as the clients professional advisers) and the building contractor (who constructs the building). Together, this group of participants takes on and manages sequence of distinct but unrelated activities of the construction process from beginning to the end. A construction project, to all intents and purposes, is the production of capital goods and, like any other capital investment, involves careful planning and decision making. Construction projects generally are complex and composed of many activities. It is this complexity that calls for the input proposals of designers, contractors, suppliers and statutory authorities for their production. Although thee procurement method adopted may vary the relationship of the participants, there will always be a proposer (client), designer (architect/engineer), construction team (builder), statutory authorities (gas, electricity, fire and water) and area local authority. A. The Client The client is the key to the whole construction production process from inception to completion and at times to post-occupancy maintenance. Without the client there would be no construction project. Construction industry clients either identify user potential or create the need for the facilities and raise the necessary financial resources for their creation. They initiate the construction process by commissioning various construction professional to build to specific requirement. During the design and construction phases, the client directly or indirectly monitors progress, time, cost, and quality objectives and sanctions any necessary major variations to the design. Finally, on completion, it is the client who either disposes of the product at the marketplace or takes occupation and bears the repairs and maintenance cost of his/her investment. Therefore, the construction industry looks to many clients for work and, generally, these may be classified as public sector clients or clients from the private sector. A1. Public sector client These are public authorities whose operations are governed generally by Acts of Parliament. They act as agents for the central government who exercise control over their capital building programmes and expenditure. The key public sector clients for the UK construction industry are: Central government department, who are responsible for their own programme of construction on projects. Local authorities, who are responsible for the provision of housing, school, libraries, swimming pool, halls, sports centers and the like. Some health authorities, which are responsible for hospital buildings. Public corporations (e.g. British Rail and Air Transport boards), who are responsible for the provision of buildings and other construction products for their own use. A2. Private sector client These are private companies that build for leasing, renting, sale or own occupation. The central government only exercises a limited amount of control over their operations (e.g. planning controls for proposed development). The private sector clients for the construction industry are many and may be classified as follows: Multi-national companies (e.g. Ford, Cadburys. ICI and Esso) who construct factories, production plants, offices and distribution depots for their own use. National companies (e.g. Tesco, Sainsburys and Woolworths) who construct buildings for their own use in warehousing and retail. Local property development companies, who construct offices, factories, shops and houses speculatively for hire, lease or sale. Private clients, who construct new buildings, or extent, refurbish or repair the existing building for own occupation, letting, leasing or sale. B. Consultant office (The Design Team) All the developing design stage it is imperative that architectural design and details are well integrated with those of structural, mechanical and electrical engineers. The architect as the design team leader is responsible for design integration. And all the design team members are playing the important role during the design stage. B1.The Architect Traditionally, the design function in the construction process is the responsibility of an architect who is a professionally qualified person whose role is to interpret the clients project requirements into a specific design or scheme. Design is taken to include appearance composition, proportion, structure, function and economy of product, but in addition the architect performs the function of obtaining planning permission for the scheme. In most times, too, the architect supervises and organizes the entire construction process, starting with consulting with the client and ending with commissioning. As an established practice, the architect plays the leading role in the construction process. He or she collects, coordinates, controls and disseminates project information to all project participants. As a project team leader, the architect performs various functions in all stages of construction process, which includes: Ascertaining, interpreting and formulating the clients requirement into an understandable project brief. Designing a building to meet the clients requirement and constraints imposed by such factors as statutory obligations, technical feasibility, environmental standards, site conditions and cost. Bringing together a team of construction professionals such as the quantity surveyor, structural engineer and service engineer to give expert guidance on specific points of the clients construction project. Assessing clients cost limit and timescale, and specifying the type and grade of materials/components for use on the construction project. Preparing production information for pricing and construction and inviting tenders from building contractors. Supervising the construction on sire, constantly keeping client informed of the projects progress and issuing production instructions as and when required. Keeping the client informed of the status of the projects cost and advising ion when payment should be made or withheld. Advising on the conduct of the project generally and resolving all contractual disputes between client and the building contractor. Issuing the certificate of completion, the certificate of making good defects and the final certificate for payment. Generally, the architect acts as an agent for all purposes relating to designing, obtaining tenders for and superintending the construction work for whish he or she has been commissioned. To be able to perform above function efficiently, the architect must process, among other things, the attributes of foresight, an understanding of construction materials, communicating and coordinating abilities, essential design skills and an ability to design within a set budget. B2. Engineers B2a. The Structural Engineer The structural engineer acts as an advisor to the architect on all structural problems such as stability of the structure, suitability of materials proposed, structural feasibility of the proposed design and sizes of structural members for a construction project. Normally, the structural design engineer submits his/her various structural calculations to the area local authority for approval at the same time as the architect submits his/her drawings for building regulations approval. In addition, the structural engineer performs structural design and supervises his or her specialist area of the construction project during production on site. B2b. The Services Engineers Like the structural engineer, the services engineers (plumbing, electrical, heating and ventilating, air conditioning, sanitation, lifts and escalators and so on) contribute to the building design process to ensure that thermal and visual comfort are achieved effectively. For this reason, they analyze the clients requirement and priorities and advise the architect on the most appropriate design solution. They prepare diagrams of their proposals or services layout of the proposed construction project on the separate drawings and the architect includes these in the tender drawings sent out to contractors for competitive bidding. Once the services engineers have made their contributions to the design, they ensure that their contributions have been correctly interpreted, installed and commissioned. Where services engineers design layout causes any structural problems, the advice of the structural engineer is sought. There is also a need for the architect to coordinate the route of pipes, cables and ducts for various services on the project. The duties and responsibilities of the structural and services engineer include the following: Providing specialist advice and assisting in the design of the construction project within the scope of their respective specialist field. Producing calculations or other relevant data to assist in the design, cost planning, and the assessment of suitability of materials/components and the like. Supervising their respective specialist fields of the project and modifying or redesigning work whenever required. B3. The Quantity Surveyor The quantity surveyor is responsible for the study of the economies and financial implications of a construction project and, hence, he or she would be the appropriate construction professional to advise client/architect on matters relating to the economies and cost of a proposed construction project. Traditionally, quantity surveyors organize themselves into small practices; however, many are now to be found in contracting and client organizations. Those in private practice are mostly chosen and appointed by clients on the recommendation of an architect. As cost is one of the deciding factors in most construction projects, the quantity surveyor is brought in at the earliest opportunity to advise the client or architect on the cost of various schemes proposed. The quantity surveyor is also able to perform several functions on construction projects, and these may be summarized as follows: Preparation of preliminary cost advice and approximate estimating. Preparation of cost plan and carrying out cost studies (investment appraisal, life cycle costing and the like). Preparation of contract documentation for contractor selection and construction project administration. Evaluation of contractors tenders received with documentations for acceptance or rejection. Preparation of cash flow forecasts and institution of post-contract cost monitoring/reporting mechanisms. Valuation of variations that arise as the works proceed and preparation of interim valuations at regular intervals. Preparation of periodic cost report for the architect or client. Preparation and agreement of final account with the contractor. Evaluation and settlement of contractors claim for direct loss and/or expenses. Settlement of contractual disputes. C. The contractor The production aspects of construction projects are undertaken by building contractors who are essentially commercial companies that contract to construct development projects. Although many major contracting establishments are able to undertake both design and production work, their primary function is to build and to organize their considerable resources basically as a manufacturing organization. Duties and responsibilities of the contractor commence upon invitation to tender and include the following: Carrying out a full site investigation prior to submission of tender to ensure that the bid includes all the cost of contractual risks and problems. Submitting priced bills of quantities for examination and/or correction of any errors when required by the architect. Planning and programming the works and reprogramming thereafter whenever unforeseen events frustrate the program. Controlling directly employed operatives, sub-contractors, suppliers, materials and plant for the execution of the project to programme and cost. Coordinating efforts of all operatives and ensuring that the completed works comply with the contract specification and are also to the satisfaction of the architect. Notifying the architect of information requirements, delays to the construction programme, discrepancy between contract documents, direct loss and/or expense sustained and so on. Paying the wages of directly employed operatives, sub-contractors and suppliers in time to avoid conflicts over payment. Supplying all the information required by the clients professional advisers for the proper administration of the works. Taking steps to carry out the contractors obligations to rectify all defects on completion of the works. Providing post-occupancy repair and maintenance service if so required by the client.

Trapped in the Middle :: Essays Papers

Trapped in the Middle The middle. When one thinks of the middle, he or she may think about the middle of a street, a class, or the middle of the country. One may also consider the middle of thought, traffic, or of an argument. After asking more than ten people what they thought of what the middle was, none of them ever mentioned the middle of two cultures or traditions. In the essay, The Homeland, written by Gloria Anzaldua, Anzaldua describes her homeland as being a little of both Mexican and American cultures. She talks about the history of Mexico and how the borders between Mexico and the United States were created. She explains how the creation of the border has dramatically changed the lives of the Mexican people. She describes the border by using many metaphorical devices; one such example is that of the ocean, â€Å"where earth touches ocean, where the two overlap; a gentle coming together, and at other times and places a violent clash† (Anzaldua, 319). Anzaldua is very rea listic and descriptive in her text. She uses many forms of writing in her personal narrative, which creates an eye-opening and touching story. She concludes her essay with giving the reader a metaphor of what her homeland is to her, a â€Å"thin edge of barbed wire† (327). Anzaldua explains how she is stuck in the middle of two cultures due to a variety of reasons. Those reasons include, the fact that she struggles knowing that the Mexicans must depend on the Americans to live; yet the Americans are too ignorant to even know what is going on. Moreover, the fact that she lives in America yet her heart and soul lie in the Mexican culture causes her to feel split between the two traditions. I, too, feel for Anzaldua, yet I am Portuguese and not Mexican. Though I do not relate completely with her, I do in many ways. After reading The Homeland, I was opened up to a new story about another culture and at the same time it opened myself up to new ideas about my own. After reading Andaldua’s The Homeland, I was shocked to see myself realize that much of the information that she presented had already been exposed to me, yet I never bothered to look at both perspectives.

Becton Dickinson: World Wide Blood Collection Team Essay

Problem Identification Becton Dickinson a manufacturing company, with operations worldwide, and revenues of over $2.7 billion was founded in 1897, and had ten core businesses organized into two product sectors: medical and diagnostic. Mainly US domestic operation was beginning to give way to expanding international sales, warranting a separate division in Europe. By 1970s, the company was organized by business divisions centered in US and focusing on the largely domestic US market, and an International sector. Since most revenues were earned from the domestic market, priority tended to be domestic, which frustrated managers in foreign countries who wanted to focus more on the resources on their local market. Going international, better said, transnational was the beginning of an evolving problem that Becton Dickinson would face in the upcoming years. Causes of Problem Becton Dickinson and Company (BD) was a supplier of medical products and diagnostic systems to healthcare professionals, the medical industry, hospitals and the general public which included mostly medical gloves, hypodermic needles and intravenous catheters in the medical sector. Blood collection devices, automated systems to detect and identify bacteria and blood cell analysis systems were one of the few diagnostic products that Becton Dickinson produced. During the 1970s BD’s managers did not really take the international market as serious as they should do. Orders were only processed, when the domestic ones were filled out and completed. Furthermore, the managers’ refusals to accept and consider new product requests from abroad were a big threat to the company. In 1980, BD’s senior executives decided to take attempts to develop products and strategic ways to meet the worldwide demands of marketing needs for medical technologies. The competition did not sleep and started expanding into Europe, which began to be another threat to Becton Dickinson not only for the international sector, but also for the US market. Realizing this, BD started to build European Strategic Business Units (SBUs) that reported to the headquarters in the US. Growing concerns about emphasis given to international sales,  especially with European managers voices becoming loud, concerns led to a study senior management’s readiness to consider a new structure of BD’s worldwide activities. A consulting firm offered two structural solutions: â€Å"The Worldwide Product Division† and â€Å"Europe as an Equal Partner†, which was appealing as a way to ensure greater dedication of resources to Europe, but also threatening to duplicate efforts and costs, with the danger of different strategies slowly emerging in each division. After meeting with Harvard professor Christopher Bartlett and his colleague Sumantra Ghoshal â€Å"The Transnational Solution† was born in cooperation with the senior managers. The solution has three faces to it. The first was the challenge faced by MNCs to simultaneously achieve global efficiency, local responsiveness and worldwide innovation. The second was that these objectives needed an environment of international differentiation and asymmetry. Thirdly, they advised firms not to merely change formal reporting lines, but to focus on underlying cultures and values. A typical chain reaction was, that these circumstances affected how Becton Dickinson faced a challenge in implementing a structure that would overcome challenges posed by the growth of business outside of USA. Lack of clear vision and goals by previous management, a lack of clear articulation of the same to second line management and other employees down the chain of command are just some of the few problems that BD had to solve. Alternatives Changes to the existing organizational structure. A change to the existing structure is urgently needed, so that there’s a shift from a corporate mentality to an organization driven by Strategic Planning. This would include meeting the need for a global collaboration and local flexibility that they so badly needed as a fast growing multinational company. Managers and company itself were not prepared, which the case showed, and the lack of anticipation for the need of a suitable structure for a growing company then led to the issue, of quick fixes. This means that whenever managers in other parts of the world were discontent, only then did top management in the US would start to respond and make quick fixes to structural issues.  Cooperation and commitment between top management, middle management and employees is another important part of the change. With no cooperation, and divisions going in different direction the company soon showed signs of urgent need for structural re-designing. Disadvantages to this re-designing could result in a complete departure from the existing task based matrix structure, while others wanted to retain the structure but with minimum changes. This could as well lead to dissatisfaction within the managers and even employees. Secondly, another problem to restructuring is how well conflicts are managed or avoided all together as the company continues to have more divisions out of its central control. Open Research and Development plants in Europe and Japan. With the more and more growing market in these two sectors, Becton and Dickinson should focus on creating R&D centers within these areas and not only in the US with organizations in non-US divisions. Kozy’s thoughts about the future should also include that the European sector is an immensely fast growing one. Within seven years the net trade sales increased by over a $100 million, whereas the US sector increased by â€Å"only† $80 million. Looking at the numbers, you can see that Europe is on the move. A Research and Development center in England, for example, would help to produce local needs and act faster than going through the whole process of talks with US R&D departments and the European R&D organizations. Knowing that with Dufresne BD has a â€Å"champion† on its boat, he should be able to set up his own team of researchers, build a real Development center and take some things in his, better said, the European division’s hand. Japan not to exclude, which has also rising numbers and different marketing needs would also profit from an own R&D plant. Different needs require different solutions, therefore having the US as the only R&D plant, will not help the company nor its divisions. Even with regional R&D managers, like Dufresne, and R&D organizations outside the US, he still does not have team to work and interact with on a day-to-day basis. This would also help to accelerate new product development and quality standards, while maintaining the current distribution systems Budget restrains are a major disadvantage in BD’s case. Total expenses are high in Europe and the numbers jumped in the years from 1985 – 1992 from ca. $10,000 to a high $31,000. The plant would not only bring extra costs, but land had to be bought, people would have to be hired, and machines would have to be purchased. Another negative aspect looking at a plant in Europe or Japan would be the loss of power that the US headquarters and R&D currently have. Becton Dickinson’s US division still wants to have a certain power over its foreign ones. Therefore giving up the R&D department to a certain extent would not be everyone’s favorite in the senior management’s committee. Give Europe and Japan divisions more operating power. As for now, BD’s European and Japanese divisions are quite under the control over the â€Å"parental† guidance and supervision of the US division. The evolution from this classic structure to a new transnational company is a very important part in the future of Becton Dickinson. Even with the introduction of World Blood Collection Team (WBCT), I think that a division in itself should have more power in deciding which products to introduce, which marketing steps should be taken, etc. In the early 80’s the Japan division suffered from not being heard upon on what is need in this division. BD lost small market share in that time. The WBCT illustrated in Exhibit 8(p. 385) illustrates the Strategic, the Operations and the Marketing Team within the whole company including the whole World Blood Collection Team. In my eyes, a smaller group separated in regional divisions would help the success of the company. For example, they could combine the President BC Europe, the Director Manufacturing Europe and the Director of Marketing Europe in one group to run the regional division Europe. They would then have the power to decide which steps should be taken, what to manufacture and how and where to do the marketing. The negative aspect of this approach is that this might leave the path that WBCT and BD in general have taken up until now and again this alternative might run into problems and dissatisfaction with the headquarters. It could also lead to complete separation of the diverse division from the headquarters mission and plans on where the company wants to go. Best Alternative Looking at Becton Dickinson’s past and the way they used to business, the best alternative would be the first one mentioned of the three. Changes to the existing organizational structure, which is also part of the third alternative, would be affecting the outcome the most. The way the company will be working, how the employees will be situated within the company and most importantly how the whole company will be structured, not just domestically, but in the transnational field, is what makes them more competitive. Implementation Steps It would appear that the phenomenal growth of the business was an ambition in the managers’ plans, but they did not make any efforts to construct a structure that would suit for a company whose operations were growing with big leaps. However, there is need to make some changes to the existing structure, so that there’s a shift from a corporate mentality to an organization driven by Strategic Planning. In order to create organizational learning, top management has to create a sense of shared purpose and belonging for all divisions and individuals in the company. There is no better way to do it than to implement an organizational structure that allows and pushes free flow of information from division to division, and back to corporate headquarters without a feeling of restrictive set-ups. The main task of the top management is to shape behaviors of people and create an environment that enables them to take initiative and be more and more cooperative. Another important step is to restructure systems to reflect a willingness to accommodate different geographical and product needs. The old system was structured to suit an operation around the US, and was only slightly changed to accommodate European operations, which were still not considered equal by the US headquarters. Now with sales and operations fully developed outside of the US, it is wise to decentralize some decision-making centers so as to  allow for innovation, local responsiveness and flexibility.

Review Of Dr. Mcdreamy Stealing The Spotlight On Public...

From Greys Anatomy’s, Dr.McDreamy stealing the spotlight in every surgery to Meet the Parents, Ben Stiller starring a male nurse, there are so many negative remarks coming from movies and TV shows. In â€Å"The Negative Images of Nursing portrayed on Greys Anatomy, House and ER and its Effects on Public Perception and the Contemporary Nursing Shortage† Jacquelyn Bishop expresses a claim using illustration, cause and effect, and process analysis, of how in many shows there is a display of an unfortunate view to Nurses, such as making awful remarks towards male nurses, giving the audience the belief that nurses are a background prop behind the heroic Physician, and lastly how medical procedures are fulfilled and dealt with. Bishop uses movies and†¦show more content†¦In Meet the Parents starring Ben Stiller plays a role as a nurse, Ben walks into the kitchen and is meets the family of his girlfriend, Pam. Pam introduces her sister’s fiancà ©, who is an M. D, and his father who is a Plastic Surgeon. When Ben tells them he is in nursing, they start laughing and say, â€Å"No, really what do you do?† They continue to ask him why he did not go for being a doctor instead of staying a nurse. He replies, â€Å"Nursing was just a better fit for me.† In many movies, the male nurse is made fun of simply because nursing is for women and being a Doctor is for men. Many men fight the stereotype, as being known as a gay-male-nurse. Many have believed that men should take the one extra step and become a Doctor, simply because it is manlier. Statistics have shown 9.6% of nurses are males, and that number continues to grow every year (USA Today). We could have the most outstanding, most caring, skilled, male nurses in the world, but most will not come forward, the reason being they do not want to be terrorized, since they settled at being just a nurse and nothing more. In the article one male nurse, Ryan McFarland claims, â€Å"This jo b is manly, simply because you must have the stomach for it; you must be able to handle moving residents from one bed to another, helping using bedpans, wrapping bandages and so much more. (USA Today). Bishop claims that this job is not just for the women who have caring hearts but as well as for the men in this