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Project research work, just like projects are never done alone. I’d like to thank my humble supervisor, Dr. Ukwuoma F. P. O, his fatherly care and strict supervisor kept me on track and focused throughout the duration of this study. I am also grateful to the following: My Head of Department and Lecturer, Dr. Okorafor G. F, Prof. Akpan E. O. P, Engr. Chief Anya G.
O, and all staff and lecturers of the department of Project Management Technology for giving my mates and I much more than we could ever ask academically. My sincere thanks goes to my dear parents Mr. and Mrs. F. O Egwim and my brother Okwy. Your understanding, love and assistance keep me going. My gratitude also goes to my aunties and Uncles -Mrs. Nneka Egwim, Chief R. A Anebere, Chief Chika Igbosonu etc for their support both morally and financially. Finally, I wish to appreciate my friends Foster, Rejoice, Ernest, Ify, Mazi, Jessy Onyii, Muna etc for your assistance and encouragement.
ABSTRACT This research presents results from a study, which examined the relationship between contractors’ planning practices and the occurrence of delays in Nigerian construction projects. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire distributed to randomly selected firms operating in Nigeria. The prevalence of planning practices among Nigerian contractors was assessed. The relative significance of limiting factors on projects undertaken by contractors who use quantitative planning techniques for planning construction work and contractors who do not use such was compared.
The results of the study showed that, although, the use of quantitative planning techniques contributes significantly to improving the project delivery process, limiting factors in the Nigerian industry do not really discourage contractors from engaging in quantitative planning. It is therefore concluded that if significant improvements in the delivery of construction projects in Nigeria are to be achieved, specific framework for planning and managing construction projects in Nigeria, which incorporate the identified limiting factors, need to be developed.
TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGEI CERTIFICATION II DEDICATION III ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IV ABSTRACT V LIST OF TABLES VI CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.
BACKGROUND / OVERVIEW OF STUDY 1 2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 3 3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 3 4. RESEARCH HYPOTHESES 4 5. SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY 4 6. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS 6 CHAPTER TWO HISTORICAL BACKGROUND . 1 DEVELOPMENT OF CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA 7 2. 1. 1 PARTIES IN A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT 9 2. 2 PROJECT PLANNING 11 2. 2. 1 THE PURPOSE OF PROJECT PLANNING 14 2. 2. 2 REASONS FOR PROJECT PLANNING 14 2. 2. 3 PITFALLS IN PROJECT PLANNING 15 2. 2. CONSTRAINTS TO PLANNING 17 2. 3 STEPS IN PLANNING A PROJECT 18 2. 3. 1 STEP 1: DEFINE AND ORGANIZE THE PROJECT 19 2. 3. 2 STEP 2: DEVELOP THE WBS 20 2. 3. 2 STEP 3: DEVELOP THE SCHEDULE 22 2. 3. 3. 1 GANTT CHART 23 2. . 3. 2 USE OF BAR CHART 25 2. 3. 4 STEP 4: ANALYSES RESOURCES 26 2. 3. 5 STEP 5: DEVELOP A RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN 27 2. 3. 6 STEP 6: TRACK AND MANAGE THE PROJECT 29 2. 4. 1 OTHER PROJECT PLANNING TECHNIQUES – PERT AND CPM 30 2. 4. 1. 1. ADVANTAGES OF NETWORK BASED PLANNING TECHNIQUES 31 2. 4. NATURE AND CAUSES OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECT DELAY 33 2. 3. 3 TYPES OF DELAY 34 2. 4. 3. 1 NON-EXCUSABLE DELAYS 34 2. 4. 3. 3 COMPENSABLE EXCUSABLE DELAYS 35 2. 4. 3. 4 CONCURRENT DELAYS 35 2. 4. 4 CAUSES OF DELAYS 35 2. 4. EXTENSION OF TIME 36 2. 4. 6 CPM IN DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND LITIGATION 36 2. 5 CONTRIBUTIONS BY OTHER AUTHORITIES 37 CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODLOGY 3. 1 INTRODUCTION 39 3. 2 RESEARCH DESIGN 39 3. 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POPULATION 40 3. 4 SAMPLING DESIGN AND PROCEDURES 40 3. DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT AND METHOD OF ADMINISTRATION 40 3. 5. 1 SOURCES OF DATA 40 3. 5. 1. 1. PRIMARY SOURCES 41 3. 5. 1. 2 SECONDARY SOURCES 41 3. 6 METHOD OF ANALYSIS 41 CHAPTER FOUR DATA PRESENTATION ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 4. 1 INTRODUCTION 43 4. PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA ACCORDING TO RESEARCH QUESTIONS 43 4. 3 PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS F DATA ACCORDING TO HYPOTHESES 50 CHAPTER FIVE 5. 1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 58 5. 2 CONCLUSION 58 5. 3 RECOMMENDATION 59 BIBLOGRAPHY APPENDIX LIST OF TABLES Table 4. 1:No of times firms execute project Table 4. 2:Extent of use of quantitative planning technique
Table 4. 3:Distribution of the quantitative planning techniques adopted by contractors who use such techniques for planning construction Table 4. 4: Effects of inadequate planning on construction project delivery Table 4. 5:Severity of limiting factors for contractors using quantitative planning techniques and those who do notuse such techniques Table 4. 6: Effect of the use of project planning techniques on projectdelivery time Table 4. 7:Effect of project planning skill on project delay andabandonment Table 4. 8: Analysis and interpretation of data for Hypothesis 1 Table 4. : Analysis and interpretation of data for Hypothesis 2 Table 4. 10: Analysis and interpretation of data for Hypothesis 3 Table 4. 11: Computation of expected frequency Table 4. 12: Computation of the value of X2 CHAPTER ONE 1. BACKGROUND/OVERVIEW OF STUDY “Its often been said that project management really consists of two major phases – doing the right project and doing the project right. Ensuring that your project is based upon a true need and justified from a business stand-point are two aspects of doing the right project. Project planning on the other hand, is all about doing the project right.
Project planning gets more attention that any other aspect of project management and justifiably so. It’s hard to imagine how a project could be successful without some planning” Heerkens (2002). Before the advent of modern planning techniques, all activities, resources required, constraints and interrelationship for relatively smaller projects could be envisaged by the human mind and planning can be done informally in the head, or on the back of an envelop. Even on large projects, the various stages of the work sometimes have a simple, logical sequence and as such planning can be done informally.
However, when a project gets over a low threshold in size and complexity, it is impossible for the human brain to take it all in, and some formal planning system is necessary to ensure efficient working. As projects get more complex, planning and control become more difficult, but much more essential to the efficiency of the project. In the management of operations, work normally follows a well-defined routine; people know their job and carry out basically the same work, week in, week out. Relationship and information flows are more or less permanent and there is an effective learning curve brought about by work repetition.
Monthly budgets are straightforward measurements of variables that change only slightly from period to period. Operational management can thus be viewed as a relatively static situation. None of this applies to a project work. A project according to the PMBOK is a unique endeavour to produce a set of deliverables within clearly specified time, cost and quality constraints. Thus, in all but the simplest project, the people, the companies, the work, the management information system and many other factors require to be organized uniquely in temporary but ever-changing relationships.
Thus, planning in project work, which is the process of stating project objectives and then determining the most effective activities or accomplishments necessary to reach the objective – is an essential aid in organizing the construction firms, the departments and all people involved in executing, managing and controlling the project work to ensure the success. However, in the Nigerian Construction Industry, project planning has been found to be one of the most significant factors for the efficient and effective delivery of projects.
It is not only essential to the organisation’s decision-making and resource allocation on a project, it also defines the actions and activities, the time and cost target and the performance milestones, which will result in the successful achievement of, project objectives. Since the planning function of management is responsible for defining the work to be managed, planning can be said to provide the basic for the performance of other management functions and can therefore be considered to be the most important management function.
The study reported in this paper examined the relationship between the project planning practices of contractors operating within the Nigerian construction industry and project delivery. The study also investigated factors within the operating environment of the Nigerian construction industry that affect project planning practices. 2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Improving project delivery time in the construction industry is an important issue because timely delivery is a means through which clients’ objectives are being achieved.
For a nation to move from a lower level to a higher level, there is need to effectively and efficiently deliver qualitative projects within cost estimates and most importantly within the time limits set for it. In construction projects, project planning is used mostly for effective project execution and timely delivery. It is quite explicit that some contractors in Nigeria engage in construction works without proper planning of the various stages of the construction project.
This often precipitates a lot of problems such as: i) Delays in project delivery time. ii) Cost overrun. iii) Project abandonment. iv) Poor performance of the construction industry, hence stunted growth rate of the overall industry. From the above adverse effects resulting from inadequate planning on the part of contractors operating in Nigeria, it has therefore become important to commence a research study on the role of proper planning in improving construction project delivery. 3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main aim of this project research is to establish the use and role of project planning in improving construction projects delivery. To be able to achieve this aim, this study will attempt to realize the following objectives: – To examine the relationship between the projects planning practices of contractors operating within the Nigerian construction industry and the occurrence of delays. – To investigate the factors within the operating environment of the Nigerian Construction Industry that affect project planning practices. 4. RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
The successful delivery of a project deliverable within the time, environmental and resource constraints reflects the soundness of the planning that took place before the execution of the project and effective control measures used during the execution of the project. The following hypotheses are stated: 1. H0 – Lack of effective project planning leads to projectdelay. HA – Lack of effective project planning does not lead to project delay. 2. H0 – Lack of Project Management planning skill does notlead toproject delay and abandonment. HA – Lack of Project Management planning skill leads toprojectdelay and abandonment. 3.
Ho – Limiting factors in the Nigerian constructionIndustrydiscourage contractors from planning. HA – Limiting factors in the Nigerian ConstructionIndustrydoes not discourage contractors fromplanning. 5. SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY The study will be beneficial to several groups as outlined below: – To the construction industry: i) It will widen their scope towards appreciating the need for project planning and its role in improving construction projects delivery time. ii) It benefits the contractors as it enhances their construction planning skills recognizing the prevailing characteristics of the Nigerian construction industry.
This includes frequent delays in payments, scarcity of construction materials, poor operating conditions of available construction plant and equipment etc. iii) It would help construction firms to know how to plan their projects and avoid delays. – To other professionals: iv) Helps the Electrical Engineer to know how to plan the electrification of building projects. v) To the Quantity Surveyor in the cost estimating and material quantity requirement and specification of each stage of the building so that lack of material availability does not bring delay in project completion time. i) To the Architect in the design of a specific project or product that can be developed with a specific time frame. vii) To the Project Manager in the supervision of work. This would aid him to know when each stage of the project is meant to be completed and be mindful of the critical path. – To the economy: viii) Important in that it tries to maximize economic (human and material) in order to ensure project completion within time and at the least cost. ix) Enables individuals to know the duration of their planned projects bearing in mind the available resources. To Education sector in general: x) The research would be beneficial to learners, school administration in their choice of textbooks, lecturers, students and project management practitioners, as it will not only expand their scope of knowledge towards the need for construction planning but its role in improving project delivery. 6. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS The extent to which the findings of this study can be applied is basically restricted to projects whose work programmes are expressible in network diagram form.
Then the data and analysis can be carried out using project planning techniques. Contrary to much expectation, the study may be best applicable to construction projects in developing countries (e. g. Nigeria) as against all projects having a network approach to its planning. There were equally some limitations encountered in the course of this study. These include: – Time Constraints: A detailed research into the role of project planning in improving construction projects delivery in Nigeria requires a lot of time and efforts. This was not possible due to other academic engagements. Financial Problem: Due to inadequate funding of this study, a lot of materials like books, journals and other publications could not be purchased. – Paucity of Data: Not all required data were available to me during field study as some analysis of responses was not comprehensive, incomplete or portrayed some outside mindedness. Also a great deal of time was required for the administration and collection of questionnaires from the respondents. – Non-cooperative Attitude of Some Respondents: During the research many respondents were not cooperative; some were conserved and refused to release relevant information.
CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 0HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 1. DEVELOPMENT OF CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA “Construction is a basic industry, touching every aspect of a country’s economy. It provides factories for manufacturing, builds roads and airports for the transportation sector of the economy, and builds towns or cities with residential homes, schools, hospitals, markets, water and electricity. Besides, it creates employment and generates wealth” (Nwachukwu, 2002) Constructions industry in Nigeria is still in its infancy.
As recent as between the period 1950 and 1960, private sector participation in construction business was almost nil. Government construction was undertaken by the then Public Works Department (PWD). Private works mostly for the foreign companies like the UAC, UTC were executed by construction workers recruited from their home countries. Through this process, however, organized construction business developed. When an association of registered contractors (The Federation of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors in Nigeria) was incorporated on 3rd November 1954, the members were all foreign companies registered in Nigeria (Ofori, 1991).
Post Nigeria Civil War witnessed great increase in the number of indigenous construction companies due largely to the increased construction activity brought about by: 1. The policy of reconstruction and reconciliation of theFederal Military Government soon after the civil war. 2. The creation of many States out of the then existing regions, which led to an increase in demand for infrastructural facilities. 3. Increased revenue from crude oil in the early seventies, which made it possible to finance the construction activities. (Nwachukwu, 2002)
During this period, many Nigerians of dubious business ethics and even others with no basic knowledge of construction operations registered construction companies. To encourage the indigenous contractors however, Government introduced the mobilization fees, which was grossly abused. Project failure and delay became rampant in spite of the enormous material wealth that had accrued to contractors. Note, A project that is not completed within time, cost or quality constraints set for it is termed to be a failure, even though it may have achieved its purpose.
According to Chizea (2005), a project is considered to have failed if any combination of the following occurs: 1. Cost overrun (i. e. project executed and realized at a cost higher than the initial contract sum). 2. Time overrun (i. e. project executed and realized at a time exceeding the initial completion date). 3. Quality of completed project is unsatisfactory (poor workmanship). 4. Contractor not making profit. 5. The project abandoned and not realized. Onyeador (1970) determined the critical factors responsible for time overrun in construction in Nigeria as follows: 1. Inadequate thorough detailed scope definition, 2.
Inadequate planning and lax attitude towards tasks. 3. Cost effects of variations. 4. Unforeseen circumstances. 5. Early design time control and lack of use of computers. 6Bribery and corruption. There is therefore the need for contractors to address the problem of inadequate planning, cost implication of construction projects be determined, fund sourced and provided at the required time before projects are placed. Also proven management techniques should be adopted in the execution stage. These will reduce the incidence of project failure and improve the delivery time of construction projects in Nigeria. 1. PARTIES IN A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
In most construction projects, three major parties are usually involved. These are the client (promoter), the project manager (consultant) and the implementer (contractor). The client expresses a desire to have an infrastructure constructed for him, such as building, bridge, road, hydroelectric project etc. The expression of this desire implies readiness to fund the project to completion. Baron (1976), thus contented that the client should realize that there is an element of risk in the contract, which he must bear, and ample allowance has to be made in the budget to accommodate such contingencies, particularly in civil works.
Furthermore, the client needs an expert to package his dreams into a readable, interpretable, reproducible and constructible form (Owuala, 2001). This is where the project manager is required. Slack and Giles (1981) maintained that consulting experienced engineers had become very illustrious in engineering history by virtue of their role as coordinators all of specialist designs elements making up the project. The consultant, in order to do a good job, interviews the client to properly define what is actually desired.
Based on the outcome, the consultant starts the preliminary design, visits the site to examine the topography, soil conditions, and other physical constraints like accessibility, existing infrastructure, labour mobility and requirements of the planning authorities in the location. With these inputs, the consultant then produces the preliminary design and submits them for the client to vet and be satisfied with such dimensions as functionality, aesthetics, safety and cost. Subsequently, tenders are invited and a competent contractor is then selected to concretize the project.
The consultant usually defines the scope of work and the technical specifications for measuring progress and quality of work. Good workmanship and right quality of materials are usually checked by some testing procedures, and it is the duty of the consultant to ensure compliance by the contractor. He assesses or confirms the measurement of the job for purposes of raising interim payment certificates. Any negligence in this measurement could lead to over-payment to the contractor. He could also certify extra jobs arising from genuine changes and checks possible abuses of this privilege.
It is also the consultant’s duty to enforce any penalty arising from the contractor’s lapses in terms of poor workmanship, takes materials, delays and others. Essentially, the contractor is the person (or company) that implements the construction process and concretizes the dreams of the client (promoter). As soon as a contract is signed, one of the critical assignments is the appointment of the Site Agent by the contractor, who sets up the site office and prepares and organogram, indicating the key persons whose activities are relevant to project implementation.
This equally defines the channels of communication and programme of work, which the consultant must be abreast with. Snowdon (1979) enumerated the salient qualities of a good site agent as: i. Ability to understand and evaluate several aspects of the problems, which undoubtedly will come his way. ii. Having sufficient experience relating to the contributions of the technology, so as to appreciate the contributions of others and detect possible omissions or faults. iii. Having a logical orderly and systematic approach to work. iv.
Ability to deal sympathetically but firmly with the people involved in the project. v. Ability to communicate. vi. Having well-developed skills of leadership. vii. Having a good working knowledge of the principles of management and organization, as well as flexibility to new ideas. In order to effectively actualize the entire objectives of a project, management is central. Hence, Project planning. Several of its techniques (Project planning) have been developed to help contractors’ complete projects on time and eliminate the cost associated with delays.
They include Gantt chart, Critical Part Method (CPM), and Programme Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) (Fubara, 1998; Agunda, 2000). THEORITICAL FOUNDATIONS 2. 2 Project Planning “Planning is of the greatest importance since it involves focusing an organization on “an objective consideration of its future” integrating futuristic thinking with careful analysis” (Heerkens, 2002). According to Stuckebruck (2002): Project planning, which is of critical importance is the project environment, is a system of analysis and decisions for the purpose of: 1.
Directing the intent of the project. 2. Identifying actions, risks, and responsibilities within the project. 3. Guiding the ongoing activities of the project. 4. Preparing the project for changes. The extent of planning is dictated by the objective of the project and the resources to be applied to it. Many elements of the project are established during the conceptual/feasibility analysis and preliminary planning and design phases. It is during these activities that the parameters of the project are established, which form the basis for the “go-ahead” and the creation of the project.
Armed with the general objectives of the project, the resources constraints and goals to be achieved, a general requirement concept is formulated for the project and the project plan begins to take shape. The single most important decision at this point is the depth of planning detail necessary on this project. In some instances, where the control is at one place and vested in a single individual, a job list is all that is necessary. Should this job list become time-dependent and interrelated, more planning details may be required.
As the work becomes more complicated, with dependency on outside support and with jobs at different sites and divisions of responsibility, further information is required in the plan. In most cases, the plan involves a number of interrelationships with functional operations, and these interfaces of activities must be detailed within the project plan. The planning detail should be limited to the level of control expected to be exercised with the project. Detail beyond this level results in the collection of unused data, which has no bearing on success or failure in achieving the project objective.
An often-sighted case is the desire within some companies to collect cost information for developing a data bank for future estimates. If this can be complied as a by-product of the project information system, it may be acceptable however; if it requires additional planning detail that does not contribute to the guidance and control of the project it should be eliminated. In directing the intent of the project, the plan must clearly identify the project objectives, goals and any special influence or constraint on the project scope (Stuckebruck, 2002).
The objectives are the end results of the project, whereas the goals are those desired operational specification or cost-time relationships. Special influences or constraints would include such impacts upon the project as environment, local customs, governmental policies, and corporate practices. Combined, these features of the project give it form and are prerequisites to establishing project requirements. This element of the project plan serves the purpose of breaking the project into controllable segments understandable to those responsible for the project’s successful execution.
The actions and responsibilities are self-explanatory; however, the identification of risk or problem area creates a basis for consideration of alternatives. Another cornerstone to creating purpose in the project is the guiding of on-going activities, through the proper identification of all required activities for meeting the goals and objectives, and in establishing workable procedures to generate project dynamic. This element sets the stage for uniformity and “oar-beat” of the project, from which all activities can have meaning. A final purpose in project planning is preparing for project changes.
The plan must have enough flexibility to adapt to changes but retains the qualities of integrity and durability. Having set activities into motion, the plan must be alert to danger signals and be responsive in a positive manner. A project plan must fulfill each of these purposes. In effect, a complete project plan will answer all the questions of why, what, where, when, who, together with the How To and How Much, leaving as little as possible to the guess work of those responsible for the project execution. 2. 2. 1THE PURPOSE OF PROJECT PLANNING A project represents a large investment of time, money and resources.
Planning a project effectively can maximize its positive contribution to the construction firm’s profits, of which its aggregation helps in sectoral growth. Good planning is fundamental to the financial considerations of a project, has organizational implications and is crucial to the scheduling of resources and the control of progress and costs. Delays in implementing projects can be costly and can mean delays in payback that fundamentally affects the original cost justification. The knock on effect of delays may be to interfere with interfacing systems or to impede commencement or progress of new projects and the scheduling of resources.
Effective planning needs to take into account the integration of existing and interfacing systems when formulating an execution plan for a project. A project plan acts as a map to guide people on the team. Even an imperfect plan is useful as it serves as a pretext to commence work on the project. A complex project can be simplified by drawing up a plan that breaks it up into its constituent parts. The disconnected parts can be examined to see what influence they have on each other and potential conflicts can be anticipated and avoided. 2. 2. 2Reasons for Project Planning
The intention of planning is to smooth the path from ideas to accomplishment. Managing a project can be a complicated process, plans acts as a map of this process. The following are some of the reasons that project planning should be attempted (SMG Ireland, 1997). o Planning facilities integration and purposeful action. Unplanned activities tend to become fire-fighting exercises. A great deal of time, effort and money can be spent troubleshooting. o Planning generates documentation that can be reviewed and checked to make sure the plan is coherent and that it meets the requirement of other connected plans. Planning can help to anticipate trouble and delays. o If planning is carried out in a careful and systematic manner then the implications of conducting each activity can be predicted and potential crises circumvented. o Planning lays the foundation for coordination and control of a project. o The plan provides criteria/standard of performance against which team members and managers can assess themselves. o Planning improves the process of planning in the future. The results of one plan can be used as the basis for further planning by providing a blueprint for action.
The phases, tasks and activities of an initial project can be used as checklist for the requirements of a new project or as guidelines for generating fresh tasks, activities and phases. o Planning helps to formulate sound objectives because it emphasizes the order and importance of the decision required to achieve objectives. 3. Pitfalls In Project Planning There are a number of areas in planning project that can prove problematic. In the following text a number of potential stumbling blocks in planning is described and suggest some ways around them (Andersen, 1997). The planning levels in a project may be uniform. If project levels are uniform, then some users may find that the plan contains details while other may find them lacking in details. A plan that is made at one level can either be too broad in scope with insufficient detail or it may be too detailed and fail to map the goals that are to be achieved along the way. By planning the project at two or three levels, the appropriate levels of detail can be reported and followed at a glance. A project should have at least two levels of planning, the milestone plan (management level) and the activity plan (task level). Planning tools may be unwieldy; the tools used for communicating a plan at a particular level should be able to fit on one or two pages. Project members need to be able to see their work easily without having to follow a tortuous trail through a network with thousands of activities. o Planning can discourage creativity. Planning should be a group activity where the relevant people work together to solve the task in hand. If the planning levels, tools and ranges are cumbersome, then project members may be discouraged from engaging in a creative discussion about the plan.
The language used in the plan should be free of jargon and understandable to non-specialists in the project. o The planning of time and cost can be over-optimistic. Planning can be cut arbitrarily and unrealistically. Methods and empirical data can be used to plan the project and estimate work content and cost. But project managers may be tempted to reduce time and cost estimates to make project look more attractive to senior management or they make assumptions about doing the work more quickly and cheaply. Insufficient previous experience against which to judge work content may cause the project manager to underestimate the time needed to make procedure changes. Time needs to be allocated to accommodate the process of change and to allow people to gain to take effect. To avoid these pitfalls, those committed to the work must be involved in the planning and those responsible for its implementation must be realistic. 4. Constraints to Planning The foundation of a good plan lies in good project definition. Limits on the scope of the project need to be set. Issues that need to be ddressed with regard to the project include: how far in advance to plan, the depth of detail required in the plan, the breadth of the plan, how long to spend planning (Sma Ireland, 1997). Some of the limitations on planning and some alternative courses of action are listed below: o Planning is expensive in terms of time and the commitment of the best people. The value of planning is hard to measure and it takes good judgment to know when the plan has gone far enough. Standing plans absorb more money but have a general applicability. The development of single use plans should not be limited in the detail.
The extent of planning is dependent on a balance being struck between the additional value of more detail and the additional expense. o Plans are based on the estimated timing of future events. Developing forecasts is difficult but if they are never attempted then the solution cannot be found. Long-range forecasts are often less predictable and less detail is required in planning further along the timeline of the project. o Arguments against planning include a lack of time to run, laziness and a preference for winging it, the likelihood of the plan changing and exposure of the less skilled. The previous serve to reinforce the idea that planned approach is vital for the successful implementation of a project. Plans serve as the basis for personnel selection, allocation of resources, budgeting, scheduling and control. It is important to realize that there is no magic formula for planning a project that guarantees its success. Projects fail for a number of fundamental reasons. The pitfalls of project planning are by no means exhaustive but they should be avoided if the project is to be timely delivered. 2. 3STEPS IN PLANNING A PROJECT
Planning a project involves a number of steps, regardless of the sized and nature of the project. Almost all project planning techniques leads to plans with the same basic elements, they differ only in the way they approach the process of planning. It is a good idea to plan the task of planning as this job is in planning itself time consuming. The task of planning a project can be broken down into work packages. The planning of the plan defines how long each work package lasts. The length of work packages depends on criteria such as the control cycle e. g. weekly, orthrightly, the degree of risk involved in the activity, quantity of staff performing the activity and the overall size of the project. The planning checklist acts as a guideline to follow when formulating the project plan. All the activities in the planning checklist should be performed at the higher levels in the plan but may be committed at lower levels. Failure to plan the planning activity means that you could be performing a high –risk activity with no planning or controls. Planning helps to establish how long the project will take to produce results.
Sorting Out the Project – A Planning Checklist If a project is to come in time and within cost, a great many things must happen when and how they are supposed to happen. Planning can be broken down into a number of steps that serve as a checklist of activities to be performed (Sma, 1997). The planning checklist helps to sort out what exact is to be done whom, and when. All the activities required to complete the project are precisely delineated and co-coordinated. Resources are then made available when and where they are needed and in the correct amounts. The procedure proposed is a hierarchical system.
First, the goals are specified. This aids the planner in deciding what work must be done for the goals to be met (project action plan). The work is initially broken down into phases. The phase has an outcome associated with it. The phase can be further subdivided into tasks and subdivided again into activities at the lowest level of work aggregation, “activities” level in this case. The project plan contains all the planning information in one document. The planning checklist contains the following six (6) steps: 1. Define and organize agree objectives and constraints 2.
Develop WBS 3. Develop Schedule 4. Analyse Resources 5. Analysis risk management plans 6. Track and manage the project 7. Close out the project. 2. 3. 1STEP 1: Define and Organize the Project The first step in project planning is to define and organize the project. The success of a project is usually based on the clarity of its objectives and how well team members coordinate project success (Harvard, 2005). An astounding proportion of projects have failed because the desired outcome is poorly defined and the organization and procedures to accomplish it are ill understood.
With dismaying frequently, people complete the “wrong” project, producing at best a somewhat less than desired result or, worst a complete waste of time and resources. Tales of unclear assignments, unproductive meeting, poor communication, and interpersonal conflict are rampant in most construction project environments consequently, even a short time spent clearly defining and organizing the project generates a tremendous benefit. The key steps are: Establish the project organization. Define the project parameter, and plan the project framework, Assemble the project Definition Document.
These steps define the “whom” “what” and “who” of the project. 2. 3. 2Step 2: Develop the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) The single greatest source of project delays is work that is inadvertently forgotten or emitted. To be credible, a project plan must account for every task required to achieve its objective, not just a portion of it. The purpose of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) step is to systematically identify all the work to be assigned tasks, and these “owner” can define criteria from completing the specific task. A WBS is a technique for breaking down a total project into its components elements (Stuckebruck, 2002).
It is a hierarchical breakdown of all work required to achieve the scope portion of the project by defining all the tasks that must be performed in the conception, design, development, etc of the project. There are no hard –and –fast rules for preparing a WBS; the hierarchy can be created either by starting with the largest work grouping of the project, known as the major components and breaking them into progressive smaller tasks; or by brainstorming the smallest tasks and forming them into larger groupings. These are called respectively top-down and bottom –up. Both work equally well. The team should decide which approach it prefers. . 3. 3Step 3: Develop the schedule The central question for most projects is “when will it be done”. The purpose of the Develop the schedule step is to embark on a systematic process for creating the project schedule, since schedules developed using a systematic process are more likely to be predicable and credible. They promote effective management by illuminating specific, tactical se objectives. Key Question for Develop the Schedule includes: • Have all the “dependencies” been identified? • Were any new tasks identified that need to be added to the plan • Was a network diagram created? Were durations assigned to all lowest level tasks? • Were estimate for longer or more ambiguous tasks reviewed by the team? • Was a Gantt chart created? (Harvard, 2005) A schedule is created from two elements: Logical relationship between tasks (which are called dependencies) and time estimate for each task. When combined, these two pieces of data can be placed against a time line, which is the actual project schedule. Logical relationships (that is, PERT Network Diagram, Dependencies and Logical Diagrams) are sequence of flow of work in the project (Harvard, 2005).
It is the arrangement of individual activities that make up the project as per the WBS in the correct order or technological dependencies in which the activities would be implemented (Okorafor, 2001). The classic example of a logical relationship is putting on socks before putting on shoes. There is logical flow to the effort: Socks before shoes (of course, it is physically possible to put on shoes before socks but doing so introduces a risk of public embarrassment over the result appearing with one’s socks over one’s shoes.
Having broken the project into realizable components and carefully and logically sequenced these activities, the next process in the planning scheme is to put those activities in a diagram that presents a true representation of the sequence of the execution. This is known as the Network diagram (Okorafor, 2001). Network diagramming and analysis is therefore a general term used in describing a family of related techniques developed to help management to plan and control the execution of project (Okorafor, 2001). They help in the provision of information on time, cost and resources needed to execute various activities of a project.
Two basic methods are used for this analysis. The Critical Path Method (CPM) and the Programme and Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). The result is the same but the basic difference lies in the timing of the activities. While CPM is been used for projects that have been executed before, PERT is used for new projects whose time estimates are based on probabilities. With Network diagram in hand and tasks quickly estimated, it is now possible to create a credible schedule. Superimposing the dependency diagram, with estimate task length, on a calendar or time line, creates schedule.
The most common means of doing this is through the creation of a Gantt chart. 2. 3. 3. 1 Gantt chart A Gantt chart shows tasks in time. These charts are popular because they are easy to create and intuitively obvious to read and understand. Gantt chart can be created by hand drawing in the tasks in sequence for the defined duration and drawing in lines to indicate the dependencies against a time line, or using software packages can against a time line, or using project management software packages can create them (Harvard, 2005) Developed around 1917 by Henry L.
Gantt. The Gantt chart shows planned and actual progress for a number of tasks displayed against a horizontal time scale. It is a particularly effective and easy –to –read method of indicating the actual current status for each of a set of tasks compared to the planned progress for each item of the set. As a result, the Gantt chart can be helpful in expending, sequencing and reallocating resources among tasks, as well as in the valuable but mundane job keeping track of how things are going.
In addition the chart usually contain a number of special symbols to designate or highlight advantages to the use of Gantt chart. Trust, even though they may contain a great deal of information, they are easily understood, they are easy to maintain as long as tasks requirements are not changed or major alternations of the a clear picture of the current state of a project. Another significant of bar chart is that they are easy to construct. While they may be constructed without first drawing a PERT/CPM diagram, there is a close relationship between the PERT /CPM network and the Gantt chart. Jack and Mantel, 2000). The Gantt chart allows us to see easily when tasks should begin and when they should end. When actual start and finish times are added, the Gantt chart is also useful for project control it then lets us visually compare our plan with the actual, enabling us to determine the amount of schedule variance we encountered on our project (Davidson, 1995). According to Ntamere (1995) the most widely used method of planning before the formal development of network planning was the use of bar chart popularly known as Gantt chart after Henry Gantt who first employed this technique.
The bar chart is used for exhibiting project progress or defining work required to accomplish an objective, and often includes such items as listing of activities, activity duration, schedule dates and project status. Bushait (1989) investigated the use of project planning techniques in both construction and road projects. Its result show that engineers in about 73% of the construction projects use the bar chart technique as a reporting tool. Akpan and Chizea (2005) said that the chart is a simpler graphic tool that relates the planned progress to a time schedule. The convention Y-axis represents the project activities.
In order of first activity at the top and the last activity at the bottom with the time scale along the abscissa (on top or below); the X-axis. A bar that extends from its planned start date to its anticipated finish date represents each schedule activity. Lockyer (1969), Spinner (1981) and many other literatures have discussed bar chart techniques. Bar chart is useful for proper synchronization of activities. Here we have paths in the vertical axis and time or duration of the horizontal path with broken lines. We start by drawing the critical bar, which is critical path at the first stage.
Then we more up to next bar which is the next to the critical path, we continue like that to the last path, and there is no double counting of any activity that have been counted before, that is if activity happens to be in more than one path. It can be counted in only just one path and be omitted in other path(s). 2. 3. 3. 2Use Of Bar Chart The use of chart was as earlier said, studied and developed by H. L. Gantt as stated above. The basic principle of a line to represent an amount of work or time has been developed so that the chart can be used not only or controlling against schedule but also for the capacity control of machines and department and for controlling interpose stocks (Nwachukwu, 2002). The chart has been found to be reasonably effective when applied to uncomplicated tasks, especially those involving a limited number of activity dependencies. It’s complicated format and visual clarity gives it the additional characteristic of being a reliable medium for displaying such project information as planned equipment, material and crew schedule. 2. 3. 4 Step 4: Analyse Resources “If I only had more resources! is the traditional cry of the frustrated project manager. Yet even with additional resources, the resources problem itself remains. Simply adding more resources rarely improves project performance. Instead, project manager’s contractors need to more systematically analyze their resources requirements. The purpose of the Analysis Resources step is to provide project managers with better information about the real resources situation, thereby enabling more affective decision making about the three parameters. Key questions for Analysis resources includes: • Is one resource carrying a disproportionate amount of workload? Are any resource underutilized? • Are there any other resources available to the project • Do all the task owners have the skills to perform the work? Typical project decisions involve tradeoffs, between the three parameters, the scope of the project, the schedule of the project, and the resources available to do the project. Effective resources Management based on a good analysis of the resources is a key element of timely project delivery. While there are many tools available to analysis and manage resources, most are not cost effective for smaller projects.
More informal means of analysis have almost as mush utility, at considerably lower cost. The Gantt chart, with owners assigned, is the basis for this informal resources analysis. The project manager and team scan the Gantt chart looking for assignment patterns such as: ? The same person is listed as the owner on most of the tasks. ? The same person is listed as the owner on several parallel tasks. ? Some people are barely listed. ? Many tasks are stacked up in parallel. ? Some tasks do not have owners. Since there can be many different patterns, there are no particular guidelines in interpreting the patterns.
However, each pattern will naturally suggest a problem or issue that the team must manage. The resources usage patterns will then be consolidated with the scope and schedule data to be used for tradeoff decisions. 5. STEP 5: Develop a Risk Management plan It is a truism that all projects involve risk. Yet to an astonishing degree, project personnel ignore the risks. The purpose of the Develop a Risk Management Plan step is to draw attention to project risk and the need to manage them. (Harvard, 2005) Key questions for develop a risk management plan includes: ? Have risks to the project been identified? Have they been defined by priority? ? Have actions been taken that reduce the probability that a risk will occur? ? Is there a contingency plan if the risk does occur? ? How will you know if the risks have occurred? ? Who is responsible for managing the risks of the project? If team members are asked at the beginning of a project, virtually everyone can describe some key risks to the effort’s success (Harvard, 2005). Similarly; in projects that have failed people will almost always state that the reason for the failure was known to be distinct possibility in advance but that no actions were taken to prevent it.
People know there are project risks but are rarely proactive to managing them (PMBOK). This paradox seems to stem from several causes. ? People do not believe the risks will occur for them ? There is no time to consider and manage risk. ? People are sufficiently self-confident that they believe they can recover if the risks occur. ? People do not like to manage risk. A risk management scheme must, therefore, be seen as consistent with both the optimism latent in the above causes and the time available to manage risks. Such a scheme is presented here. It has two components: ?
Risk assessment. ? Risk Management In risk assessment, the team spends a few minutes brainstorming possible risks to the project. Members informally select the top two or here risks that present the greatest threat to the project and develop a plan for managing them. (Harvard, 2005) The risk management plans should address both actions that can be taken to reduce the probability that a risk will occur (preventive actions) and actions that can be taken if the occurs (contingency plans). Preventive actions may require that the tasks be added to the plan.
Contingency plans require a triggering metric that informs the team that the risks plan needs to be involved. Typically, the risk management plans are briefly written up and included in the project file. In many cases, some from the project team is assigned responsibility for monitoring the trigger metrics and informing the project team of the need to involve the contingency plan. 5. Step 6: Track And Manage The Project Staying on track once a project begins is an even greater challenge than developing the initial project plan (Harvard, 2005).
The purpose of the track and manage steps is to focus the project manager’s and team’s attention on the areas that provide the best information about project progress turn. In turn, with good information, the project manager and team can make better adaptive decisions to the dynamic changes that occur in all projects. The real payoff for good planning is super ‘real time’ management of the project. In fact, effective tracking provides so much focus and concentrated energy that teams often become highly enthusiastic and motivated by examining project progress and making timely project decisions.
At the same time, not everyone likes to track a project. For them, tracking implies rigid accountability, excessive bureaucracy, and still more timed allocated away from the work of the project. Tracking, for these people, is a nuisance and should be minimized or altogether ignored. Reconciling these two seemingly opposed views is easy, however. If the tracking system is simple enough to take little time to maintain yet is powerful enough to provide the project manager and team with almost all of the data required to make effective decisions, tracking can be made efficient and even enjoyable.
Such a simple according to experts must focus only on the data makes a difference to decision making, and surprisingly, that is not much data at all. 6. Step 7: Close-Out The Project Much learning occurs during a project that, if formally captured will significantly improve project management in succeeding projects. The purpose of the ‘closeout the project’ step is to formally capture key learning and reflection in the hope of improving future performance (Harvard, 2005). Project managers and teams members are usually too busy with the next project to formally closeout a project.
Yet this haste presents a lost opportunity for both personal and teams growth and improvement. Teams that take the time (it can be as little as a few hours) to formally closeout the project are substantially more efficient in the next project. (Harvard, 2005) RELEVANT MODELS 1. Other Project Planning Techniques – PERT AND CPM The biggest advance in project scheduling since the development of Gantt chart in 1917 was made between 1956 and 1958. During this period, two new scheduling techniques were developed independently.
These techniques are the program evaluation and review Technique (PERT) and the critical path method (CPM). Both are based on the use of network or graphical model to depict the work tasks being scheduled. Both were designed to schedule long-duration projects that were to be performed only once or in low volume. Computer programs are available for both PERT and CPM. Computers are helpful in developing timely information about large project, particularly those that are to be updated or revised several times before completion. E. U DU Pont de Nemours and company in conjunction ith the Remington Rand cooperation developed CPM. Du Pont desired techniques to improve the scheduling of construction and extensive maintenance shutdowns of its production facilities. Most activities to be scheduled with this technique were similar to previously performed construction and maintenance, so the length of time the tasks were expected to require were treated as though it were a deterministic (known) number (Dilwoth, 1993) PERT was developed under the auspices of the U. S Navy’s special projects office, working with representative of locked and Booz, Allen and Hamilton.
The technique was developed to assist in managing the development of the Polaris missile-submarine system. This project required the coordination of more than 3,000 individual contractors, suppliers and agencies – an immense management and scheduling challenge. Since manly of the activities involved in this project had never been performed before, the time that they might require was uncertain and consequently was treated as a probabilistic variable. (Dilwoth, 1993). The major basic difference between the both remains that as PERT’S capable of dealing with probabilistic time estimates, CPM deal with deterministic. 2. 4. 1. Advantages of Network Based Planning Techniques James Dilwoth (1993) stated that Network-based planning technique can be beneficial in many ways if they are properly used, like all other scheduling techniques; however, they are not panacea or substitute for good management judgment. No technique will make poor estimates any better. Assuming the estimates for a network scheduling method is as good as those for other scheduling methods, the network techniques may offer some. 1. They lead to planning a project to the selected level of detail so that all parts of the project and their intended order of accomplishment are known. . They provide a fairly accurate estimate of the length of time it will take to complete the project and the activities that must be kept on time to meet the schedule. 3. They provide a graphical picture and standardized vocabulary to aid in understanding work assignments communicating among people involved in the project. 4. They provide a means to track progress on a project 5. They provide the means of estimating the time and cost impact of changes in the project plan at any stage. Network planning methods are useful at all levels of management: 1.
At the first level of supervision, network planning methods are useful for identifying the need for the project and the “low or where” to sequence the project better and thereby reduce times and/or costs. 2. At the middle management levels, network planning methods service as a planning tool in formulating and integrating the activities of a project. The middle manager is able to determine whether or not a project can be completed within specific time and cost schedules. 3. At the top management level, network-planning methods are a control device providing for status reporting and progress evaluation.
The updated network and periodic status reports provide a continual comparison of expected or required performance with actual or predicted performance project time-cost problems are highlighted and may be ranked in order of importance in achieving overall program objectives. The network approach provides management with information, which answers many of the questions occurring during the life of a project, such as: – ? How long the project will take and cost? ? When parts and materials are needed. ? Where a project should be expedited to save money. Where overtime should and should not be used. ? How much equipment is needed and when? ? How far a subcontractor or material delivery can slip? ? How to maintain a level work force? ? The effects on schedule of late design changes. ? When funds will be required to pay subcontractors. Properly used, the project planning approach provides advantages and benefits to management, which may be summed up as follows: – 1. Provides an integrated “big picture” of project management. 2. Forces a more logical and analytical approach to planning project. . Guards against not considering important activities. 4. Facilitate coordination between prime contractors and subcontractors 5. Permits analyzing of the effects of change and slippages on schedules. 6. Simplifies preplanning and rescheduling. 7. Provides a means for project cost control. 8. Provides a means to estimate cash flow requirements 1. NATURE AND CAUSES OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECT DELAY Delay is generally acknowledged as the most common, costly, complex and risky problem encountered in debilitating projects.
Construction project delays have a debilitating effect on parties (owner, contractor, consultant) to contract in terms of a growth in adversarial relationships, distrust, litigation, arbitration, cash-flow problems and a general feeling of apprehension towards each other. Delays caused by the client such as late submission of drawings and specifications, frequent change orders, and incorrect/inadequate site information generate claims from both the main contractors and subcontractors which many times entail length court battles with huge financial repercussions.
Delays caused by contractors can generally be attributed to poor managerial skills. Lack of planning and a poor understanding of accounting and financial principles have led to many a contractor’s downfall, (Syed. 2005) so it is essential to define the types and actual causes of delay in order to minimize and avoid delays in any construction project. 2. TYPES OF DELAY Delay can be grouped in the following four broad categories according to how they operate contractually. ? Non-excusable delays ? Excusable non-compensable delays ? Excusable compensable delays ? Concurrent delays . 4. 3. 1 Non-Excusable Delays Non-excusable delays are delays, which the contractor either causes or assumes the risk. These delays might be the results of the underestimates of productively, inadequate scheduling of mismanagement, construction mistakes, weather, equipment breakdowns salting problems, or mere bad luck. Such delays are inherently the contractor’s responsibility and no relief is allowed. These delays are within the control of the contractor or are foreseeable; however, it is not necessary that they be both. 2. Excusable Non-Compensable Excusable Delays
When a delay is caused by factors that are not foreseeable, beyond the contractor’s reasonable control and not attributed to the contractor’s fault or negligence, it may be “excusable”. This term has the implied meaning that neither party is at fault under the terms