Construction Jobs in Dubai, have started to pick up in a big way, as Dubai’s economy starts to grow again. Most major construction companies have resumed work on projects that were left half-finished earlier. Once again, Dubai is targeting to attract the best talent in the world.

Sending in your Resume to Recruitment Agencies is very important, but not enough. To secure lucrative Dubai Construction Jobs requires you to be more proactive. We present extensive information on our website, that you will find very useful to apply and secure your DREAM Dubai Construction Jobs.

I advise you to follow and implement each and every step and link given. That will ensure you receive lots of quality offers of construction jobs UAE, that you can choose from.

The following construction careers listed below are much in demand in Dubai:

Site Supervisor, Contracts Manager, Project Architect,
Construction Project Managers, Civil Estimator, Project Manager,
Site Surveyor, Architectural Draftsman, AutoCAD Draughtsman,
Excavator Operator, Supervisor / Foreman, Construction Manager,
Electronics Technician, AutoCAD Draftsman, Quantity Surveyor,
Civil Estimator, General Foreman, Industrial Electrician,
Carpenter, Construction Worker/Laborer, Electrician,
Ironworker, Mason, Painter,
Plumber, Roofer, Surveyor and lots more.

You will find the following information on our website:

Email ID’s and URL links of recruiting agencies, (a mix of general agencies and, those specific to Construction Jobs, Dubai.
Email ID’s and URL links of Companies offering Dubai Construction Jobs.
Interview Questions & Answers (Middle East region specific)
Interview Cracking Tips
Names of top recruiters to follow on Twitter & Facebook etc

Construction tools refer to the various kinds of tools and equipments used for building and construction purposes. Construction tool business has always been an integral part of the construction and building industry as it is unimaginable to construct a building without these tools. In fact, for every single activity at a construction site one invariably needs one or the other kind of construction tool to start up the work.

Construction tools are also important as there needs to be a definite and appropriate tool for every activity during the construction of a building. The construction tools range from the lighter equipments like sand screening machine, air compressor, brick making machine to large, heavy equipments like cranes, dozers, haulers etc. Every builder or constructor looks for durable tools which last long in the rough and tough conditions of a construction site. Thus, construction tool manufacturers too work on the principle of providing reliable tools to serve the requirements of the site workers in the best possible manner.

Discussed here are some of the basic construction tools which are generally used at a construction site:

Excavators

Excavators refer to the heavy construction machines used for the purpose of pushing or lifting heavy objects from one place to another. This particular construction tool simplifies the mammoth and tiring task of moving the large objects on a construction site.

Sand Screening Machine

Sand screening machine is used for screening sand to get rid of dust, dirt and slit from sand. Generally constructors prefer vibratory screening machine as it can sieve both wet as well as dry sand.

It is a common fact that we find a wide variety of construction machines on every construction sites, which make the construction jobs easy, safe and quicker. Depending on the application, construction machines are classified into various categories which we are discussing here.

The construction work can be classified into 3 major groups:

Earthworks
Road Works and
Lifting

Earthworks
Earthworks refer to the construction and engineering works which involve the moving or transfer of large quantities of soil or unformed rock. The two most popular type of construction machines used in earthworks are digging machines and surface digging machines.

Digging Machines: Excavators and Loaders
Excavators are the most popular and widely used types of heavy equipments, which are mainly used for  digging holes and building pits. They are available in different construction variants.  Loaders are another type of digging machines which are very fast compared to excavators. The main purpose of loader is to move loose soil.

Surface Digging Machines: Dozer, Grader, Scraper
The surface digging machines are used to prepare the construction surface by moving and changing the soil. A dozer is an important surface digging machine which pushes soil in and out to create a somewhat flat surface. This flat surface can further be flattened by using graders. The grader as a construction machine is popular as it can do leveling jobs very effectively, creating a smooth surface for construction. This becomes particularly helpful in projects of road construction. Scraper is another type of surface digging machine, used to scrap a thin slice of soil. The scraper further moves the scraped layer of soil material to an area few meters away. Scrapers are most widely used in big earthwork construction sites.

In this article you are going to learn about the different types of construction tools and also learn were to hire construction equipment.

The secret behind running a booming building and construction business heftily relies on using the top construction equipment. As a consequence, the world’s finest construction companies possess the finest construction tools.

This equipment facilitates and gives the most effective help when working on a tight deadline. There is a lot of building construction equipment mandatory to get the job completed. Nevertheless in this informative article we are going to be concentrating on the Loader, Crane, Forklift, Crawler and Excavator.

Loader

A loader is a different type of construction vehicle that’s also called a front loader, front-end loader, scoop loader, or bucket loader. Loaders are usually found used for road construction not to mention other building construction projects.

Supplies usually delivered with a loader consist of rock, recycled materials, sand, dirt, gravel, logs, wood chips, feed, and so on. Loaders are frequently used to transport items to another kind of machinery like a dump truck, rail car, conveyor or open trench excavation.

Crane

The crane is an additional popular part of construction apparatus that is mainly used for deconstruction. Cranes are operated by a number of cables that let down and pick up supplies and are chiefly used on a job dealing with momentary structures.

There are numerous sorts of cranes from the all terrain hydraulic crane, to boom truck. A boom truck is a piece of construction utensils that has a flat layer which has a crane resting on it as opposed to a smaller cab of the crane with tracks.

This crane coordination can be used to tow the material and even move the crane. While hydraulic cranes necessitate a trailer and then roll off to be placed on the floor.

Forklift

A forklift is a high-powered automobile useful to lift and hauling weighty objects and materials. Forklifts come in several styles of sizes and load capacities. A lot of forklifts usually are not utilized in building and construction work, but preferably in manufacturing amenities or warehouses that require repeated transporting and lifting of heavy supplies

Construction in Kansas has achieved a lot of growth owing to the economic development of the state. This however does not mean that there are plentiful jobs in the state. There is a long way to go. However in the whole job industry, jobs in construction have the best record. There has been an intense development of the state due to some construction projects, especially in the Wyandotte County.

Ken Simonson, the Chief Economist for the Associated General Contractors of America says, “There has been a notable construction job growth in the Kansas City metropolitan region since February 2010— a net gain of 5,900 jobs, or 16 percent”. This however is not all.

Simonson goes on to say, “Kansas led all states in construction job growth from May 2009 to May 2010, according to a report released by our Association. Kansas had a net gain of about 3,600 construction jobs over the 12 months”. Except Kansas, there were only few other states that have registered a growth in construction employment.

In May 2010, around 61,900 workers were employed in work Kansas construction jobs. Except for Kansas, the one state that had shown a growth in construction employment was Missouri. However in the past year Kansas has recorded a 6.2% increase in construction jobs while Missouri has recorded a 15% loss in the same.

The main area of growth in construction jobs in Kansas has been due to the development of specialty trades like plumbers and electricians and not general construction. But since February 2010, construction work in Kansas has increased in all the three sectors be it in heavy construction, specialty trades or heavy construction.

Construction in Maryland has reached a high peak in recent years as compared to other states. While Indiana has 3.1%, Pennsylvania 2.3% and New York only 1.4% growth in construction jobs, Maryland construction jobs have increased by about 3.7% in the period between February and March 2010. To find out about the exciting opportunities in construction work in Maryland, we need to know a little bit more about the state.

The State

The US Census Bureau has ranked Maryland as the state having the highest median household income with ,545. This makes it first in the country followed by New Jersey and Connecticut. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the gross state product of the state was around 7 billion in 2006. The counties of Montgomery and Howard are the some of the wealthiest counties in the United States.

Transportation is an important service activity which makes it an important arena for construction. The Port of Baltimore is the most important place for trucking and rail related access.

Hence most of the construction projects related to transportation are centered on here. Food production is also a very important economic activity in the state making it possible for construction of large warehouses and processing houses.

Construction Colleges

If you are a resident of the state, you know how important an activity construction is here. There are many ways in which you can learn about construction in this state. The IIT Technical Institute is one of the best colleges in Maryland for granting degrees on construction.

The TESST College of Technology is also known for its reputed degrees in this field. Ashworth College, Penn Foster Career School and the Stratford Career Institute are some other places which are the best places to give you diplomas on construction.

Job Opportunities

Construction in Maryland includes jobs of a diverse nature. You can work as a building insulation worker or building construction inspectors. Both these areas have been stipulated to increase by 8.4% and 18.2% by 2016. Annapolis is the capital of the state but Baltimore is the largest city around which most of the construction work is centered.

You can easily get jobs in roofing in this city. If you have a bit of experience, you can also get jobs which pay better than newcomer construction jobs in Maryland.

If you have degrees in construction, you can also work as senior estimator or project manager at Hyattsville. Silver Spring is another good place for high position construction jobs of Administrative Assistants. Construction laborers and superintendents are in high demand in the area of Greenbelt. Ocean City is a good place for specialty trades in construction like maintenance personnel.

The demand of supervisors of construction has been estimated to grow by 9.1% in the years 2006-2016. Within the same period, the demand for Construction Managers has been stipulated to grow by 15.7%.  456 The growth of Construction Equipment Operators will grow by 8.4% in the same period.

This is one state which not only provides increasing job opportunities for construction workers, but also provides a good package and growth opportunities in the field. While many other states have experiences a decrease in jobs, jobs in construction in Maryland have been increasing in recent years and show a bright future, so get yourself one today.

Analytical Case study on a typical construction project from the Architectural Concept Design to the practical completion

Preface

The project is an extension to an international institution, funded by an overseas body of the same institution. The project is substantially completed and it is in the stage of defects liability period.

The project has undergone several problems occurred from the very inception to completion. Therefore, it is a project worth wile to be studied.

The problems are tried to be discussed at the places where they are described itself, under a sub topic named as the observations and conclusions of the author, rather than going to a discussion of important aspects at the end of the document.

Pre Contract Phase One – Pre Design Stage and Out Line Design Proposals

1.1 Project Description

1.1.1. Scope of the Project

The scope of the project is a refurbishment to an existing building of an International Institution at Narahenpita. The scope consists of design and construction of an extension to the existing building and rectification and repainting of the existing building. The new building consisted of approximately 6,000 sq.m. and is almost equal to the size of the existing building. The anticipated project cost is twenty five million Rupees. The existing building is also designed be the same organization (CONSULTANT) 25 years ago.

1.1.2. The client’s Brief and project approval process

The client is an Institute of Management and Accounting at Narahenpita and the head quarters of the organization is located in London. The clients brief consisted of an addition of a Study area, Administrative office area and an auditorium to the existing building. Access is to be provided from the existing building to the new one.

The design to be carried out to the British safety standards. The client had an international consultant and the designs done by the local consultant has to be gone through the international consultant and the clients head office at London and the approval to be obtained.

1.1.3. Location and the Site

The site is located at Narahenpita and is adjacent to the existing building of the client. The land is a government land belongs to the carom players association. The land was leas hold for twenty five years by the client for the purpose of constructing the new building.

1.2. Appointing Consultants

1.2.1. Consulting Firm and other Consultants

The project has a history of starting with an international consultant who worked as the principal designer of the project. The design was finalised and as per the FIDICT conditions of contract as, as invariably recommended by the international consultant, tenders are called. The tender figures were found to be extremely high and the project was not feasible.

The project has to be re designed. The local consultant was then appointed as the principal designer and the international consultant was appointed as an organization to check the design and tenders. The contract was agreed to be done as per the ICTAD conditions of contract.

 The design was developed by the local consultant. Design Consortium LD and Archedium was appointed as the main consultant for the Concept Design and the organization has the capabilities to provide all the consortium services that include Structural, Electrical, Mechanical and Quantity Surveying services. The design team appointed included a structural engineer, mechanical and electrical engineer and a quantity surveyor. However, the Fire Services Department was appointed to provide the consulting services for design of fire protection and detection system.

CONSULTANT in writing informed the Fire Services Department, that they are the consultants of the project and they expect to get the consultancy services of the Fire Services Department to design the Fire protection and Detection System of this project. ( annexure 01)

The consultant had the capacity and experience to design the Fire Protection and Detection system by itself. However, because the clients higher concern on the fire protection and the standards of the system, it was decided to go to a specialist consultant.

At the confirmation by the Fire Services Department, that they can provide the requested services, the client organization in writing requested the Fire Services Department, to provide the fee quotation for their services. The received quotation was forwarded to CONSULTANT and CONSULTANT confirmed in writing that the quotation is reasonable and acceptable.

Observations and Conclusions of the Author                                                  

The contract formed with the Fire Services Department was a direct contract between the CLIENT and the Fire Services Department and there is no contractual obligation with the CONSULTANT. According to the conditions of engagement, the term governing this situation is – The architect shall be entitled to engage other consultants and shall be responsible to the client for their services. Where other consultants are engaged by client, the architect shall only responsible for coordination and integration of their services.

CONSULTANT has only approved the quotation provided by the Department of Fire Services and no addition of overheads is seen. The Fire Services Department is only being recommended by the CONSULTANT and CONSULTANT has not engaged their services. There is no contract formed with the CONSULTANT but it is a contract with the client. Therefore, there is no contractual responsibility on CONSULTANT for the Fire protection and Detection System of the building.

Calculation of Professional Fees

The professional fees were calculated as recommended by the SLIA. The payments to be made several stages such as

1. Sketch design

2. Schematic design

3. Tender documentation

4. Tendering

5. Inspection and supervision

6. Post contract period

The quotation was sent to the head quarters of the clients’ organization in London and the international consultant for approval.

1.3. Brief Formulation

1.3.1. Inception

Part of the existing building is constructed on a raft and the other half is on piles. The reason for this design has been, the varying condition of earth. The depth to the bed rock at one side of the building is low that it is economical to construct on piles. At the other side of the building, the bed rock was deeper that 28 m that it has been economical to construct on a raft.

 The new building is to be constructed adjacent to the existing building and then to be connected together at each level.  However, the foundations of the existing building are recommended to be kept undisturbed.

Crack formations are noticed in the existing building and therefore the risk involved in the design of the new extension was high. Due to the construction of the new building, the existing structure cannot be disturbed.

The consultant has decided and informed the client to do the project in two stages. In the first stage, the addition – that is the construction of the new building – is done and in the second stage, the alterations to the existing building to be carried out. The new building is to be constructed totally on end baring concrete piles.

Observations and Conclusions of the Author                                                        

The recommendation for the foundation type was given by a consultant soil investigation company and therefore the consultants’ responsibility is reduced or partly transferred to another organization. However, special attention to be given before starting construction, to documentate and photograph the existing cracks.

The decision of the consultant to do the alterations to the existing building – that includes rectification of existing cracks – after the construction of the new building is a safer decision from the consultants’ side. Any effect to the existing cracks of the old building due to the construction of the new building that includes activities that generate vibrations such as pile socketing and Dynamic Load Testing of Piles are the be clearly visible. If the crack rectification is done before, reason for any redevelopment of cracks cannot be distinguished whether it is a defect of rectification or whether it is an effect of the new construction.

According to the contract, the Contractor has to documentate all the cracks that appear in the existing building, photograph them and then get signed by both the client and the consultant. Therefore, there was no need for the consultant to do a separate recording of the cracks for his justifications. However, in a situation where such recordings are not included in the scope of the contactor, the consultant should have to do an investigation of the cracks by himself.

1.3.2. Conceptual Design Proposal

Conceptual design proposal was done by the consultant and was presented to the client organization for their comments. The proposal was send to the clients head office at London for their comments.

The conceptual design proposal was accepted by the client organization with comments. The design is to be revised to satisfy British safety standards. The revised design was presented to the client with a project plan up to tendering.

2. Pre Contract Phase Two – Design development and Tender Procedure

2.1. Design Development

2.1.1. Site analysis and Outline Proposals

The site is a filled land that has originally being a marsh. Therefore, the baring capacity of the soil was poor. A soil test was carried out and the position of the bed rock was identified to be varying between 18 to 20m.

Designs done by CONSULTANT were sent to CLIENT Head Office, London and their consultant for comments. It was commented that the designs should be revised to the cost limits of the client.

Observations and Conclusions of the Author                                                  

A comprehensive site analysis has not been carried out prior to the outline proposals. The project is a good example to show how a project could suffer when the designers lightly consider the need of a proper site analysis.

The problematic things identified later are given below, which, if had identified at the bigining, lot of problems that occurred could have been avoided. (The problems occurred due to some of them are explained else ware in this document)

1. There were data cables, electrical cables and storm water drains running across the site.

2. A public sewer line is identified running across the site.

3. The access road to the site does not have public drains. The drains are available only along the Elvitigala Mawatha and the nearest manhole to which the storm water could be discharged was identified to be located 300m away from the site.

The storm water discharge system of the building was designed in a way that at the discharge point it is coupled with the existing system. After the construction of the system, it was identified that the existing system directly and illegally discharges storm water to the road.

No cost effective solution could be proposed to this problem. And the problem persists. Had it being investigated earlier, the problems could have been avoided by designing a system where the storm water is harvested or directed to a system soakage pit.

2.1.2. Schematic design and statutory approvals

The schematic design was finalised and the approval was obtained from the client. Prior to the approval from CMC, the preliminary planning clearance has to be obtained from the UDA. To prepare this application Clearances from Ceylon Electricity Board, Water and drainage Clearances were to be obtained from relevant authorities. When it is applied for the drainage clearance, CMC informed the position of a 9” sewer line running across the site at a depth of 12’. 5’ minimum distance to be kept from the sewer line and the building and nothing can be built on the sewer line. (Annexure 09)

If the line were to be remained undisturbed, the design has to be changed. The design was continued assuming that the sewer line could be diverted, however, when it was discussed with the authorities of the Municipal Engineers Department, Water and Drainage Division – Maligakanda, it was noticed that the diversion of the sewer line is costly and takes time. Accordingly the design was revised to obtain the required distance from the sewer line.

After obtaining the Preliminary Planning Clearance from UDA, the design was to be submitted to the CMC. The building is an extension to an existing building, and therefore, the permit to be obtained as an extension and not as a new building. However, the old part of the building stands on the ground belongs to the client and the new construction is on a ground belongs to the government. The extension cannot be done unless the lands are amalgamated.

An amalgamated plan was done by a licensed surveyor. And the plan was submitted with the documentary evidences of the lease hold. The situation was discussed with the City Planning Division, Municipal Engineers Department, CMC and the amalgamation plan was approved.

Development permit was obtained from the CMC in August 2003 and it is well before the award of contract.

Observations and Conclusions of the Author

The consultant was not been appointed before leas holding the land. If the consultant was appointed earlier, and the site was properly investigated, the identification of the public sewer would have been an important point that would have brought down the value of land and the lease hold value could have been brought down.

Prior to stat any design work Preliminary Planning Clearance would have been obtained. The consultant has gone to the extent of the schematic design before obtaining PPC and as a result the entire design had to be changed. The time and cost involvement had to be bared by the consultant.

Tender Procedure

Tender Documentation

The consultant proposed to go for a closed tender. The type of contract is name as measure and pay fixed rate type of contract. The conditions of tender and the conditions of contract are derived from the ICTAD conditions of contract.

The consultant first proposed to go for two tenders and project was programmed accordingly– one tender for piling and another tender for the civil works. However, finally it was decided to make it one tender.

Observations and Conclusions of the Author

There are advantages of breaking the tender into two. It is identified that the proposed contractors does not have the capacity to carryout piling works themselves. So that piling would be anyway, a sub contract. By separating the two, the overheads of the main contractor can be saved. The civil contract starts at the completion of piling and therefore, there will be no need of a payment of an attendance fee. Therefore there will be a considerable cost saving.

Preparation of tender documents for the civil contract can be done while piling is in progress and before completion of piling the tender can be awarded. Therefore, there will be a considerable time saving as well.

The disadvantage of going for two tenders is, the responsibility of the structure is then be distributed among two organizations that in case of a collapse or a damage of the structure or a damage or settlement of a neighbouring building, it is hard to identify the default party. The responsibility of the accuracy of the pile setting out becomes an additional responsibility to the consultant.

The insurance of the piling contractor has to cover not only the construction period of the piles but the total construction period plus one year. This large insurance costs to be ultimately born by the client. When the total insurance cost is considered – the sum of the piling contract and the civil contract – the insurance cost were lower in the case of going into a single contract.

The old building adjacent to the construction site got cracks appeared on it and therefore, there is a much danger that this building may get damaged due to vibrations and loading on the site. Therefore, the decision of making it one tender clearly distinguishes the liability of the contactor.

The consultant provided a list of short listed tenderers to the client that included four numbers of tenderers. The client approved the list of tendereds with a proposal to add two more tenderers to the list. The consultant then sent the tender document to the client for their comments.

Client provided their comments in the form of a report. There were two critical comments made by the client to which the consultant disagreed.

The client proposed whether it is possible to make the contractors pay VAT, instead of the client.

The client proposed whether it is possible to ask the tenderers to provide price breakdown detailed as costs of material, labour and overheads.

The consultant explained that it is the owners’ responsibility to pay any subsequent increase of tax imposed by the Government, and therefore it cannot be transferred to the contractors. Further, the Consultant explained that if the tenderers were asked to detail out their tenders to such an extent, no one will be interested in participating this tender.

Tendering

The letter asking the interest to participate in the tender was sent to all the proposed tenderers, and two of tenderers replied that they are not interested to participate in the tender. Because the number of tenderers is inadequate, two new names were proposed.

Tenderers collected the tender documents. The pre bid meeting was held at the site. And the questions and clarifications raised by the tenderers were minuted and the minutes were copied to all the tenderers. Tenderers were allowed to send their quarries to the consultant and all the questions raised by tenderers were answered and copied to all.

Tenders were submitted to the consultants’ office. The tenders were collected and opened with the presence of the client, the consultants project director and the consultant quantity surveyor.

Observations and Conclusions of the Author

It is important that a letter seeking the interest to participate in tender is sent and confirmation is ontained from the tenderers prior to the invitation to tender. Had the invitation to tender being sent indicating the availability of tender documents and time, there would be problems occurred if considerable number of tenderers do not participate, because the dates are being fixed, there would not be enough time to identify tenderers to fill the gap.

Tender evaluation

The tenders are checked whether to be completed correctly and for arithmetic mistakes. The tender was evaluated not looking at the corrected tender figures. Fallowing aspects were also looked at.

cost plan

labour histogram

technical specifications

equipment available with the tenderer

All the tender figures are found to be too high for the clients’ budget. The clients budget was twenty million rupees and the received tender figures varied between thirty five million rupees to sixty million rupees. The reason for this higher bid values may be occurred due to the imposition of higher safety standards, specifications and restrictions by the client. Out of all the tenderers, two competitive bidders were selected using the above criteria. The tender negotiations were held with the two tenderers. In the negotiations, three things were looked at to bring the construction cost down.

possibility of the tenderer to bring down the rates, that are questionable to the consultant and thought to be comparatively too high

in case where the high rates involve consultants specifications, to check the possibility of changing the specifications and bring the rates down

to remove certain items from the main contract and the possibility to get it done through nominated sub contractors at a lower rate.

It was identified that this exercise alone would not bring down the construction cost to the level acceptable to the client. Therefore it is decided to remove certain items from the contract such as construction of water sump, water tank etc. The money for the construction of these are to be obtained from the amount of money to be released for the interior design of the building by the clients head office in London. New prices of the two tenderers were compared and from which, one tenderer was selected to award the contract.

 Award of contract

The consultants recommendation was sent to the client with the comparison of two tenderers. The recommendation was accepted by the client and the Letter of Award was sent to the selected tendrderer.

The contractor had to mobilise using the letter of award as the legal document to start his work and the contract is to be signed afterwards.

Post Contract Phase One – Contract Administration

Monitoring, supervising and quality control

For the monitoring and supervision of work, a resident engineer is assigned to the site. Duty of the resident engineer was to ensure that the construction is carried out according to the provided drawings and specifications. The project architect and the engineers to visit the site fortnightly and the construction works and the progress were to be supervised.

Other than the resident engineer, the quality of work and the accuracy was ensured by making the contractor submit method statements prior to perches of material and starting work. For example, method statements are requested from the contractor for pile testing, pile hacking, water-proofing and anti-termite treatment.

For monitoring the construction quality, the contractor had to perform tests as specified in the contract document. Concrete cubes of the concrete of the piles were sent to the testing laboratories and results were obtained by the contractor. The test results of the pile concrete were found not to be satisfactory according to the consultant engineer. However, the contractor is not in agreement with the comment of the consultants. Therefore, an independent analysis report on pile concrete was obtained from a relevant professor of the University of Moratuwa. The report indicated that the quality of the concrete is sufficient to bare the load of the building.

Due to the independent analysis report, the piles were not considered as failed piles. There was no need to do extra piles. However the consultant engineer provided instructions to strengthen the tie beams on the pile foundations. The instructions were as per the recommendations by the independent analyst.

Tests on moisture content of timber, and tests to identify the type of timber were to be done by the contractor.

A sample submission list is included in the contract. The contractor has to submit a sample submission program to tally with his construction program. As per the sample submission program, the contractor has to submit samples. Approved samples to be fixed to a board and are to be displayed at site.

Wastage of material and time is minimised by the system of checking the samples before construction of them are done. For example the door frame sample submitted was rejected and it had to be resubmitted with required size, dimensions, level of workmanship and the material.

Work programming (Contractual)

Contractor was requested to submit his work programme, prior to the commencement of work. The program was to be approved by the consultant. Secondly the contractor was to submit a detailed work program to tally with the submitted program. The project architect commented to the submitted programme and the detailed program was to be resubmitted with incorporated sub-contract programs of aluminium works and waterproofing works.

Monthly progress and programme and daily progress and programme to be submitted. The resident engineer checks these programs with the already given master program and the contractor is advised to increase labour capacity, equipments etc. to avoid delays and to catch up delays. The progress is always checked at the progress review meetings as a comparison to the master programme and further instructions are issued.

The contractor failed to start piling for approximately two months. The reason for the delay was the inability of the selected piling sub contractor to mobilise because the available piling machines were mobilised in other sites. The contractor did not request a time extension because he is confident that he could catch up the delays by increasing the labour and machinery.  Due to this, the submitted programme has to be amended and resubmitted. The resubmitted programme was checked by the project architect and was found to be incorrect. It was commented that the amount of work he has to perform at the last two month are increased far too much. The required labour is much large. The contractor has to adjust the programme according to the comments and had to be re submitted.

The project architect and the resident engineer identified that the resubmitted programme is impractical. This was communicated to the contractor but the contractor disagreed.

Progress Meetings

Progress meetings to be held at site fortnightly with the participation of the contractor and his relevant staff, relevant subcontractors, Consultant site engineer, the project architect and the clients representatives. At the first meeting the client was asked to assign the clients project coordinator.

At the time the super structure of the building is started to construct, the client requested to hold the meetings weekly. CONSULTANT pointed out that there would be no enough progress to review weekly. Therefore, it was decided to hold a technical meeting fortnightly, to which the participation of the client is not essential.

Observations and Conclusions of the Author

Assigning of the clients’ project coordinator is important to ensure that all the correspondences with the client happen clearly. Without a key person through whom all the correspondences go through, the communication with the clients organization will get mess up and no one can be held liable. Each party has to assign a person to handle correspondence.

The clients project coordinator would have been appointed at the early stages of the project where the consultant stats the design. However, at these stages the decisions were taken by the discussions of the entire building committee of the client organization.

Commencement of work and setting up Bonds and Insurances

The contractor is expected to program his works prior to mobilising at site. At the progress review meeting no:1, contractor was asked to provide the fallowing documents within 14 days as per the agreement.

Performance bond

Contractors All Risk Policy

Workman Compensation

Advance Guarantee

Detailed Construction Program

VAT Registration Number

Site Organization chart

Labour Histogram

More over, the contractor was asked to attend to the followings prior to commencement of piling.

Service lines across the site – Electrical, Telecommunication, waste water – to be determined and shifted.

Demolition work program to be submitted and the demolition method statement to be submitted for consultants’ approval.

Water, Electricity and Telecommunication connections to be obtained to the site.

Photographic survey of all neighbouring buildings to be done and signed by all three parties.

Workmen Compensation Insurance Policy submitted was not accepted by the client and the consultant. It is identified that the policy should cover the consultants’ site staff and the visiting staff. The clients’ in-house staff, visiting staff and the expatriate staff should also be covered by the insurance as per the contract agreement. It was further noticed that the duration of the construction period should start from the date of the letter of award (Annexure 02). As per the recommendations the contractor resubmitted the insurance.

Observations and Conclusions of the Author  

The advices given to locate the cables and pipes that run across the site is not in the contract but site being handed over to the contractor, he is liable for their protection. This instruction given on site enforces the contractors’ liability. However, this can identified as a mistake of the consultant who would have identified these and the ways of relocating would have been thought of at the early stages of the design.

The contract involves demolition of one existing part of the building. The existing building has already developed cracks on it. Therefore, it is critical that the protection of the existing building is ensured while demolition and piling works are on progress. The request of the demolition method statement is important that keeps the contractor liable to carryout the demolition works according to the approved standards.

However, the photographic survey would have been extended to include the situation of the existing building as well that clearly indicated if the existing cracks are affected by the demolition.

There is a public sewer line running across the site identified. Protection of which would be enforced. The position of the sewer line is given only approximately by the authorities and the contractor would have been asked to measure the actual distance between the line and the piles. There is a possibility of damaging the sewer line due to shoring and movement of earth, vibration due to pile socketing and Pile Dynamic Testing. Further, he would have been asked to locate the sewer line in the pile setting out drawing. However, no precautions on this regard can be seen to be taken by the consultant.

Variations and extra work

Several extra works were done based on the requests made by the contractor and the recommendations of the project architect and consulting engineer.

The consulting engineer recommended that an anti-termite treatment is required to be carried out prior to the construction of super structure. The decision was taken after investigating the nature of the excavated soil by the structural engineer. Contractor is requested to provide a quotation and a method statement to do this treatment. The provided quotation is approved by the assigned quantity surveyor with deductions and the new rate was accepted by the contractor.

The client requested to have liquid soap dispensers and hand dryers to be installed in the toilets. The contractor is asked to provide a quotation for the installation of these. The quotation was revised by the consultant quantity surveyor and the revised quotation was accepted by the client and the contractor.

The construction of the sump and the water tank were items included in the tender document. However, in the adjustment of the tender figure to suit the clients budget, these items were removed from the contract considering the possibility of allocating money later. (As explained else ware in this document)

It is identified that to start the refurbishment of the existing building, the client has to move to the new building prior to the interior works commence. Although the building is completed, it cannot be functioned without water. Therefore the possibility to construct the sump and the water tank was rethought.

It is identified that the water tank being a structural element affecting the structure, the responsibility of it can be indistinguishably remained with the present contractor, if it is constructed by him. On the other hand, the cost of another contactor to mobilise at the site would be higher. Therefore, the contractor was asked to provide a quotation to perform this task.

Observations and Conclusions of the Author

It is seen that at the tender stage, the contractor has already provided a quotation for construction of sump and the water tank. But they did not form a part of the signed contract. Therefore there is no contractual obligation formed between the client and the contractor to perform these tasks at the rates quoted. Due to these reasons, the contractor has the right to provide a new quotation that does not base on the quotations he has previously provided.

If the decision were taken to give the construction of the water tank and the sump to the present contractor, the client would have got it done at a lower rate.

Delays and Time extensions

Two months delay of starting the piling work is noticed, the item delayed, being an important item lie in the critical path, the entire program was delayed. The contractor is asked to provide explanation for the delay in writing coupled with the new programme.

Observations and Conclusions of the Author

The record and the request of the in writing explanation of the delay are important. In case the contractor fails to complete the building on time, this written information can be used as valuable evidence to support the investigation of the reasons for the delay of completion.

However, the contractor refrained from providing an explanation in writing but his explanation was incorporated to the minutes of progress review meetings. The architects comment that the reasons provided by the contractor are not contractual, was also recorded.

The contractor was continuously advised to increase the labour and management forces in the site. The instructions were fortnightly minuted and sent in writing as well. The delays were noticed in comparison to the original programme submitted by the contractor and are continuously minuted. When it is found out that the contractor has failed to maintain himself to the programme, he was in writing asked to submit a new programme. (annexure 03)

Before the date of completion the contractor was proposed that he could not complete the building on time, which the contractor refused. On the date of completion, the building was found to be not completed. The contractor has not requested an extension of time.

The contractor is officially informed that he has failed to complete the building and his bonds and insurances are to be extended. He was asked to submit a new programme to complete the building. (Annexure 05)

After this letter, at the progress review meeting the fact that the contractor has not requested a time extension was minuted. The contractor submitted his new program along with a request of time extension of 50 days. The insurances and bonds were extended.

It is identified that the reasons given by the contractor cannot be accepted fully. Therefore, the consultant in writing informed the contractor to submit details of the justification of the reasons for his failure to complete the building. (Annexure 06) The main reasons behind his argument are as fallows

The piling sub contractor did not mobilised causing a delay of two months.

This point is not contractual. The piling contractor is not a nominated sub contractor. The responsibility of the sub contractors works lie on the main contractor.

Due to rain, his works were affected causing a delay of fifteen days.

Rain cannot be considered as an unforeseen reason that causes delays. The weather conditions recorded by the consultant resident engineer do not show an unusual rainfall in during the year. Therefore the contractor was asked to submit his rainfall data. These to be compared with the consultant site engineers data and conclusion to be given.

Due to Tsunami for two weeks he lost labour on site.

However, the labour records do not support his argument. This is anyway, considered to be a valid point.

Due to the delays of client in supplying client supplied tiles and due to the clients delay in approving sanitary fitting samples, his works got delayed.

This also identified as a valid reason by the consultant and can be proved using the progress review meeting minutes.

After the submission of the details of the reasons for the request of time extension, the validity of the request was examined. The decision of the consultant on this matter is still pending.

Payments to contractors

Contractor submits monthly progress bills. The progress is checked by the consultants’ resident engineer and the bill is checked by the consultants’ quantity surveyor. The revised payment certificates are sent to the client for his approval and to release the payments.

A progress bill of three million rupees was submitted by the contractor on 24th of March 2005. The bill is to be evaluated by the consultant prior to approval of the same. An on account payment of two million rupees was requested by the contactor giving the reason that he needs money to settle payments to the workers for the New Year.

Observations and Conclusions of the Author

This payment was requested, was to be deducted from the last payment. In this case the consultant had to look at few more aspects.

what is the possible delay that could be occurred because the contractor had not performed as per the programme

What would be the maximum penalty he would under go, when he fails to complete the building on the scheduled date.

Will the amount of money retained (after the release of the on account payment) and the performance bond is sufficient to cover the penalty and the released payment.

Considering this important factor, only a part of the on account payment requested was released. The client was recommended to make the payment (annexure 04)

Practical completion and the relevant certificate

The contractor promised to substantially complete the building with a delay of two months. The consultant resident engineer was advised to prepare the defects list early so that the contractor can attend to the rectification of defects early.

The consultant was informed by the client that he wishes to hand over the building on such a date. The site was inspected by the consultant and found that the building is not yet completed to an acceptable level. The contractor was officially informed that the consultant could not accept the submission. (Annexure 07)

In one week’s time, the contractor was able to complete the building and the building was handed over to the client after a joint inspection of the building by the client and the consultant. The inventory of defects and items were made and handed over to the client. The certificate of practical completion was issued to the contractor.

After the completion of the building, for the client to obtain the COC, a set of as built drawings, clearances and test results to be obtained from the contractor. This was officially informed to the contractor by the consultant (Annexure 08)

4. Post Contract Phase Two – Maintenance and Final Completion

4.1 Liquidated Damages

The client was conscious, what are the penalties that could be imposed on the contractor. The client officially requested consultant to advise them in this regard. The consultant in writing explained to the client that according to the contract penalty for a day is 19,125.00/- and the delay is to be still calculated. However, on assumption that an extension of 52 days is given to the contractor, the total delay being 142 days, LD could be imposed to the rest 90 days. Therefore the total value recoverable as penalty is Rs. 1,5000,000/-.

4.2 Performance bond and maintenance.

The performance bond is to be retained till the end of the maintenance period. During this period, the defects occur in the building to be rectified by the contractor. There are several minor incidents noticed including burning of a fan, blocking of gullies and these were immediately rectified by the contractor as officially informed by the consultant.

Conclusion

The project is special due to three important aspects that rarely occur in a construction project. Firstly, it is the nomination of another consultant to supervise the works of a consultant. This is not a common practice to Sri Lanka, however, it is interesting to see that the international community tends to look at the agreement between the client and the consultant as a contract agreement and use the term ‘contractor’ to refer to the consultant as well. It is important to note how a consultant should react in this kind of a situation and safe guard himself without falling into trouble.

Secondly, the delays of the project started to occur at the very beginning. The client continuously asked the consultant, what are the actions the consultant could take and what are his powers. It clearly displayed that other than imposing liquidated damages at the end of the project, the only action the consultant can take in this regard is writing letters. It displayed the importance to re look at the definition of the consultants’ role in a contract in the standard contract agreements.

The project displayed the importance of a good site analysis and a through site investigation prior to start any design. Number of problems occurred during the project (explained else ware in this document) would have been avoided by this.

However, the imposition of penalties and the Arguments and justifications made on the same too will be an interesting event that is yet to occur in near future.

Construction sector in Poland report ( http://www.bharatbook.com/Market-Research-Reports/Construction-sector-in-Poland.html ) comprises a sophisticated analysis of the construction industry in Poland, making it a useful guide in formulating strategic decisions and development plans for organisations active on the construction market. Additionally, it presents the newest findings of cyclical sector climate survey conducted among the management of the largest construction companies in Poland. Benefit from sector development forecasts for 2009-2011, presented by the individual types of construction work for the whole country and for individual voivodships, prepared using time series analysis augmented by macroeconomic projections and knowledge of our experts.

The report covers following sections:
 Polish construction and assembly industry

Construction market size

Construction and assembly output by type of work

Construction and assembly output forecast for 2009-2011

Construction companies – numbers and business profiles

Financial results of construction companies

Construction sector workforce and wages

Economic climate in construction

Cement production

Legislative changes affecting construction market

Building permits – number of buildings

Results of survey conducted among Poland’s largest construction companies

The survey was conducted among 111 largest construction companies active on the Polish market, using the computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) technique. This was the ninth cyclical survey of the sector (findings of previous surveys – carried out in July 2004 to September 2008 – were published in previous report editions). As earlier, the objective of the survey was to gather information on the current situation on the Polish construction market and on the development prospects before the industry and its individual segments. About factors, both positive and negative, with a bearing on the industry and garnered expert views on the impact of EU membership on sector companies and on the key factors material to success on the construction market. The latest edition of the survey includes an overview of trends and changes that have taken shape over the past three years, as illustrated by the findings of subsequent survey editions.

Civil engineering construction

Market situation

Environmental projects

Road transport

Rail transport

Air transport

Investments in heavy industry

Development forecast for civil engineering construction 2009-2011

 Non-residential construction

Market situation

Commercial construction

Industrial and warehouse construction

Office construction

Hotel construction

Educational and healthcare construction

Development forecast for non-residential construction 2009-2011

Residential construction

Housing stock

Buildings and homes completed

Building permits and home starts

Housing loans and prices

Development forecast for residential construction 2009-2011

Voivodship profiles
Key demographic and macroeconomic data as well as industry-defining statistics. The section also includes information on sales of construction and assembly output and on the number of construction firms in Poland.

The 13 largest construction companies’ profiles

legal form

contact details

revenues and profits

employment

latest contracts signed

structure and shareholders

This is a must have report for anyone from:

the top management of construction companies active on the Polish market

the strategic planners and executives of firms considering market entry

companies engaged in construction and those in production and distribution of building materials

architectural and consultancy firms interested in this market.

Contact us at:
 
 Bharat Book Bureau
 Tel: 91 22 27578668
 Fax: 91 22 27579131
 Email: info@bharatbook.com 
 Website: www.bharatbook.com

www.shcri.com — The proportions of the long-term loan of China new RMB loan in April and May in 2009 were 79.9% and 67.6% respectively. The substantial growth of the loan chiefly flows to the medium and long-term investment projects. The equipment purchase of the related projects will be gradually carried out.

In the aspect of the investment in fixed assets, the demands for the construction machinery equipments are distributed in the fields of the real estate, mining and capital construction. The growth speed of the inventory of the construction machinery products maintains a high degree of correlation with that of the investment in fixed assets. The variation of the investment structure in fixed assets has an immense impact on the demands for the different construction machinery products. In the former three quarters of 2008, the substantial growth of the investment in mining had contributed to the demands of the construction machinery products, speeding up the sales of shovel loaders, excavators and bulldozers.

According to the convention of the construction budget, the operating costs of the construction machinery account for 9% to 20% of the flat cost and 5% to 14% of the total construction cost. If these equipments are completely newly purchased, the volume of purchase should be 2 to 3 times of the operating cost according to the payback time of 2 to 3 years. That is to say, the costs of the purchase of the construction machinery account for about 10% to 28% of the total investment. It is predicted by the real estate that except the expense of the land purchase and other expenses, the stimulating rate of the purchase of the construction machinery will be 19% and that of the capital construction will be expected to be 7.2%. In the aspect of mining, 70% of the newly mining investments are investments in fixed assets, half of which are equipment investments, which account for about 35% of the mining investment. Considering the proportions of the new mining investment in the total investment and the proportions of the construction machinery in the equipment investment, it is expected that the construction machinery will account for 9% in the mining investment.

With an increase of 19% of the capital construction investment, 18% of the real estate investment and 23% of the mining investment in 2009, the pulling effect for the construction machinery by the increase of the capital construction investment can primarily offset the reducing demands for the real estate investment and the mining. The domestic demands of China’s construction machinery in 2009 are almost the same with those in 2008. At present, there are signs of recovery in the China’s domestic real estate. It is predicted that the acceleration of the real estate in the latter half of 2009 will improve the demands for the construction machinery. The growth of the construction machinery market will probably go beyond of the expectation of the market, of which close attention should be paid to the construction machinery products relevant to the real estate.

The main export regions of China’s construction machinery products are Asia, Africa and Europe. It is seen that they are rich in petroleum and mineral resources. With the great decline of the raw material price, the requirements of the global mining industry, energy industry, metallurgy industry, etc. for the construction machinery are shrinking. Meanwhile, the export earnings of the raw materials exporting countries decline enormously. The investment budget of the domestic infrastructure will decrease, which results in the recession in demand for the investment of the construction machinery equipment. Meanwhile, most of the construction machinery purchase overseas relies on the bank credit. Due to the financial crisis, the banks tighten the credit loan, which does harm to the sales of the construction machinery. It is predicted that the market of Chinese construction machinery export will keep on going down in the latter half of 2009.

During January to May in 2009, the export sales volume of China’s shovel loaders, excavators and bulldozers decreased by 54.7%, 75.4% and 54.4% YOY. In the first quarter, the export sales volume of cranes, diesel forklift trucks, electric forklifts and concrete mixers decreased by 55.32%, 62.7%, 28.1%, 52.1% YOY. Taking the first three quarters of 2008 into account, the export sales of the construction machinery increased dramatically. So did the cardinal number. However, the cardinal number of the export sales volume in the fourth quarter is low. It is predicted that the export sales volume of China’s Construction Machinery Industry in 2009 will decrease by over 30% YOY.

In the first five months of 2009, the new RMB loan exceeded 5.8 trillion by Chinese financial institution, increased by 176% YOY, which showed that the bank credit was substantially relaxed. Most of the construction machinery products are sold in the form of the bank credit mortgage while the downstream industries of the construction machinery industry are construction companies and developers who excessively rely on the bank credit. At the same time, the model of mortgage sales in the construction machinery industry has determined a relatively high reliability for the bank credit. Among various kinds of construction machinery products, mortgage rates of the excavator are about 80%; those of pump trucks, auto cranes and rotary drilling rigs are all nearly 50%; those of shovel loaders are lower, about 15%.

At present, to enlarge the domestic demand and guarantee an economic growth, Chinese government loosens the bank credit policy. The reduction of the rates lowers the financing cost of the related enterprises and the individual as well, which brings a supported bullish sales of China’s construction machinery industry.

Source: China Research and Intelligence

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China Research and Intelligence

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Construction is any process that leads to a completion of structures. It has many types such as heavy or civil construction, building construction and industrial construction.

Under the field of civil engineering and architecture, construction is a method that consists of assembling or building infrastructure. Usually, this work is managed by a project manager and supervised by a construction engineer, construction manager, project architect or design engineer. There are several types of construction projects such as industrial construction, building construction and heavy or civil construction.

Building construction is a process of adding small or big structures to land or real property. Most of the building construction jobs are small reconstructions like adding bathroom or reconstruction of a room. Often times, the titleholder of the property acts as a designer, paymaster and laborer for the entire job. However, all the building construction jobs include several elements in legal consideration, financial and usual design.

Building constructions are procured publicly or privately using different delivery methodologies such as management contracting, hard bid, construction management at risk, design & build bridging, and negotiated price.

Residential construction technologies, resources and practices should conform to the codes of practice and local building authority regulations. The materials used are widely accessible in the market. The common materials used are timber, stone and brick. The cost of construction is on a “per square foot” basis. This is since homes can vary significantly on local site considerations, conditions, and economies of scale.

Heavy or civil construction is a procedure of adding infrastructure to the environment of a building. The builders are usually government agencies both at the local or national level. These also have legal and financial considerations. This project primarily serves the public interest. They are undertaken and supervised by some large private corporations such as power companies, golf courses and whoever oversees the construction of access dams, roads and railroads.

Industrial construction requires highly specialized skill in construction, planning and design. Holders of this project are normally industrial, for profit or large corporations. This corporation can be found in industries such as chemical, medicine, power generation and petroleum manufacturing.

There are many reputable construction companies in the US. The Turner Construction Company is one of the most commendable. It works with a number of national sector groups that concentrate on a usual building type. Their famous clients include Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical, Justice, Healthcare and Breen Building as well as Aviation, Sports and Public Assembly.

Turner Construction Company also offers additional services of supply chain management, Turner Logistics, TCS or Turner Casualty and Surety that provides loss control programs and proactive safety. It is one of the largest construction running companies in the US.

Another company is Anderson Construction Group. It provides professional builds or designs, general contracting, wind mitigation, SoftPlan construction documents and construction managements. This company delivers a large variety of industrial, residential, medical, industrial, and specialty services and projects. It is one of the leaders in providing value added construction services to their consumers by making a successful partnership with them during the construction processes.

IHC Construction Company is another trusted US construction company. It manufactures concrete blocks packed by hydraulic pressure. IHC Construction Company has construction management, pre-construction, underground contractors and horizontal drilling. The horizontal drilling of IHC is the future of underground conduit and pipe construction.

It eliminates or reduces damages caused by the usual open cut trenching methods. The Design & Build division of the company offers construction services to offices, residential warehouses, industrial and commercial markets.