BE 8306 CE Project Management

Tutorial 1
Group Members: Ang Ming Jun Farid Hilmi Holly Foong Jeslyn Toh Yu Ming Yuen Class: DCEB / 3B / 08

1. Discuss the challenges faced by the construction industry in Singapore. Firstly, the segregation of design and construction activities in the current approach does not encourage consideration of factors such as buildability, saving in labour usage, ease of maintenance and construction safety at the design stage. This reduces the efficiency of the industry and leads to much rework and wastage at the later stage. Also, the existence of a large pool of low cost, unskilled foreign workers retard the adoption of labour saving techniques and skills upgrading by contractors. The segregated nature of the industry with its numerous smaller players does not encourage industry upgrading efforts and economies of scale. Many contractors face the problems of cost and time constraints, and are not adopting modern techniques. This leads to Singapore being highly reliant on labour as compared to many other countries. In order for Singapore to become a globally competitive knowledge economy, the construction industry must be more streamlined with the other sectors of the economy in its performance and practices. 2. Explain the entire construction value chain from upstream activities such as design and tendering of projects, to downstream construction activities, and to the final stage of maintenance of the finished product in terms of: (a) Manpower required. (b) Activities involved (a) During the Design Stage, the personnel include the architect, developer, engineer, quantity surveyor, project manager, regulatory bodies and contractors. In the Tender Documentation & Selection Stage, architect, developer, engineer, quantity surveyor, project manager and main contractor are involved. During the Construction Stage, the main people involved are architect, engineer, quantity surveyor, project manager, main contractor, sub-contractor, construction site staff, construction worker, government agencies and regulatory bodies. Lastly, during Handover & Maintenance Stage, developer, architect, engineer, quantity surveyor, project manager, main contractor, management corporation, regulatory bodies and consumers are involved. (b) Key activities in the Design Stage: develop concept and schematic design, and obtain planning approvals. Tender Documentation and Selection Stage: develop tender specifications, ascertain bills of quantities, put up invitation to tender, submission of tender, evaluation of proposals, award of tender, and drawing out contract and liabilities. 1

BE 8306 CE Project Management Construction Stage: obtain various permits, mobilisation of resources (such as financing, subcontracting, manpower, materials and machineries), construction (such as piling, M&E works and finishing), and supervision on site, enforcing safety standards, management and training of workers. Hand Over & Maintenance Stage: obtain temporary occupation permit (TOP), maintain a 1-year defect liability and 5-year structural defect liability, carry out remedial work, maintenance by owners. 3. What is the purpose of Construction 21 (C21) study? Construction 21 (C21) was pioneered to address the problems in the construction industry, mainly to cope with the high dependence on unskilled foreigner workers and the low level of productivity. It helps to address issues across the construction value chain, from design to construction and to maintenance. 4. Under Construction 21 study, six strategies have been proposed and implemented: Strategic 1: Enhancing the professionalism of the industry Strategic 2: Raising the skills level Strategic 3: Improving industry practices and techniques Strategic 4: An integrated approach to construction Strategic 5: Developing an external wing Strategic 6: A collective championing effort for the construction industry Give ONE example each to demonstrate that the strategies have been accepted and implemented. Strategy 1 example: Individual level: Building Construction Supervisor Safety Course included in tertiary institute to better prepare students for the construction industry. Professional body: Renewal of various tradesman licences on regular basis. Industry level: Registration of Resident Engineer (RE) / Resident Technical Officer (RTO), BCA Academy. Strategy 2 example: Implement foreign workers levy increases and cuts Man-Year Entitlement quotas in July 2010, so as to control the influx of unskilled foreign workers. Strategy 3 example: Building Information Model (BIM) roadmap was developed to propagate wider use by the industry and work towards mandatory BIM submission by year 2015. Strategy 4 example: Introduction of Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) by the Housing Development Board (HDB), integrating architectural and civil engineering works. Strategy 5 example: CapitaLand Limited headquartered and listed in Singapore, and has ventured into Asia Pacific and Europe. Strategy 6 example: The Construction Productivity Award, launched in November 2010 by BCA, aims to recognise built-environment professionals, consultants and builders for their achievements in improving productivity, promote productivity in the industry; and serve as a platform to measure productivity in the industry. 2