VOLUME XXVI JANUARY - MARCH 2011 NUMBER I

CONTENTS
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Shrinkage And Creep Behaviour Of Pazhani K. C. 5
Slag Cement Concrete Chandru N.
Project Scheduling Analysis And Quantifying K. R. Suresh 16
Risk In Construction Delays Using Kishore R.
Bayesian Belief Networks
Analysis Of Contract Clauses Affecting Syed Tabish 34
The Schedule Performance Of A S. A. H. Pandian
Construction Project K. N. Jha
Project Duration Controlling Methods: Jyoti Trivedi 52
An Earned Value Analysis Approach Varun Shah
Study On Factors Affecting Labour Productivity S. Kamal 66
In The Construction Industry C. Umarani
T. Anbu Selvaraj
COMMUNICATION
Literature Review Of Field Data Based S. P. Mishra 79
Mathematical Simulation Of D. K. Parbat
Complex Construction Activities J. P. Modak
Ambiguities In Construction Contracts M. Sridhar 90
NICMAR
JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
Shrinkage And Creep Behaviour Of
Slag Cement Concrete
Pazhani K. C. and Chandru N.
Abstract : Large scale investments are witnessed recently in the infrastructure projects
such as highways, road and railway bridges, airports etc. Most of the
spending on these projects has been attributed to the cost of bulk
materials like cement, steel and concrete. Any small breakthrough in the
research and development in concrete will be cost effective as far as the
materials are concerned. Cement production is one of vast potential
damages of environment. Hence, it is necessary to replace cement with
some alternates. Creep and shrinkage of concrete are known to have
significant effects at early age of concrete. The strength and durability
of concrete mainly depend on the shrinkage and creep of concrete. To
predict the behavior in terms of strength and durability, it is essential
to know the behavior of shrinkage and creep of the concrete at various
ages. So, the current paper is aimed to study the behavior of creep and
shrinkage of concrete at various ages with replacement to cement by slag
and fly ash with different replacement levels.
Keywords : Shrinkage, Creep, Slag Cement Concrete
Project Scheduling Analysis And Quantifying
Risk In Construction Delays
Using Bayesian Belief Networks
K. R. Suresh. and Kishore R.
Abstract : Project management techniques are widely used to plan, execute, control,
and deliver construction projects. The goals of a successful project management
endeavor are to finish on time, within budget and according to the
specifications and quality standards. The ultimate benefit of implementing
project management techniques is a satisfied customer. With higher
requirements of quality, increasing demand for shorter project completion
times and more efficient use of available budgets, project management
professionals are facing the necessity of using analytical and quantitative
tools that are more sophisticated than traditional qualitative approaches.
Management of risks and uncertainties in construction projects is only
possible if risks have been identified and the potential impacts have been
analysed. Principles of probability theory offer the mathematical basis
for modelling risks and uncertainty and the analysis of its effect. Construction
schedules are affected by uncertainties in weather, productivity, design,
scope, site conditions, soil properties, material delivery time, equipment
efficiency, etc,.[18]. All risks in a construction project might be schedule
risks because they are related to the schedule directly or indirectly.
Moreover, all activities can be critical due to uncertainties, even those
that are not critical according to deterministic Critical Path Method
(CPM). Capturing uncertainty in projects 'needs to go beyond variability
and available data'. It needs to address ambiguity and incorporate structure
and knowledge. In order to measure and analyse uncertainty properly,
one needs to model relations between trigger (source), risk and impacts
(consequences). The duration of a task is uncertain because there is no
similar experience before, so the data is incomplete and suffers from
imprecision and inaccuracy. Estimation of this sort of uncertainty is
mostly subjective and based on estimator judgment. Any estimation is
conditionally dependent on some assumptions and conditions even if they
are not mentioned explicitly. These assumptions and conditions are major
sources of uncertainty and need to be addressed and handled explicitly.
The most well established approach to handling uncertainty in these
circumstances is Bayesian approach [9][12]. The present work is an attempt
to identify the uncertainties in the construction project activity duration
estimates of a construction project in Indian context and quantifying the
risk involved in construction delays using Bayesian Belief Networks (BBN's).
Keywords : Project Scheduling, Risk in Construction delays, Bayesian Belief Networks
(BBN's)
Analysis Of Contract Clauses Affecting The
Schedule Performance Of
A Construction Project
Syed Tabish, S. A. H. Pandian and K. N. Jha
Abstract : About one third of Indian Construction Projects are facing time over
run ranging from 1 to 195 months. The delay in a project could be on
account of several factors including poorly drafted contract clauses.
Although a number of studies have been conducted to identify the
factors causing time overrun very few studies have been conducted to
identify and evaluate the contract clauses in general affecting the schedule
performance of a construction project. As a case study, General Conditions
of Contract (GCC) 2005 Form Central Public Works Department (CPWD)
7/8 is used for the study as most of the projects in India are being
executed using this form. Through a two-stage questionnaire survey 16
clauses were found to have significant impact on schedule performance
of a project. The factor analysis indicates 'determination of contract'
clause as an important clause affecting the schedule performance of a
project frequently besides payment and advances, deviations measures,
schedule performance, and reimbursement of taxes related contract
clauses. The results could help the professionals in focusing on key
clauses affecting schedule performance of a project and modifying them
to help projects achieve schedule and possibly budget goals.
Keywords : Contract Conditions, Contract Drafting, India, Delay, Factor Analysis,
Contract Clauses
Project Duration Controlling Methods: An
Earned Value Analysis Approach
Jyoti Trivedi and Varun Shah
Abstract : Earned value project management is a well-known management system
that integrates cost, schedule and technical performance. It allows the
calculation of cost and schedule variances and performance indices and
forecasts of project cost and schedule duration. The earned value method
provides early indications of project performance to highlight the need
for eventual corrective action. Earned value management was originally
developed for cost management and has not widely been used for forecasting
project duration. However, recent research trends show an increase of
interest to use performance indicators for predicting total project duration.
Project management and its related processes are the keys to staying
organized and focused, and to accomplishing the solutions a community
needs after being hit by a disaster. Reconstruction project management
is about solving problems and delivering intended results through an
organized, structured methodology. During execution of reconstruction
projects many a time project management methods and tools like earned
value (cost loaded schedule with focus on cost to complete) is missed
out or not taken into consideration thus, the study focuses on traditional
EVM methods compared with different methods to be used for predicting
project duration. It is very significant to complete any task or project
within planned time duration and cost. Schedule variance is an important
concept in EVM to monitor & control actual work, but there are some
criticisms associated with it. So substitute methods have to be found
out to control the project duration, which can be effectively applied
during execution of project and will give us accurate result. The purpose
of this paper is to compare the classic earned value performance indicators
SV and SPI with the newly developed earned schedule performance
indicators SV(t) and SPI(t). Next objective is, to present a generic
schedule forecasting formula applicable in different project situations
and compare the three methods from literature to forecast total project
duration. Finally, application of the use of each method on a simple
real-life project data is presented.
Keywords : Earned Value Analysis, Project Performance Indicators, Earned Schedule,
Project Duration Forecasting
Study On Factors Affecting Labour
Productivity In The Construction Industry
S. Kamal, C. Umarani and T. Anbu Selvaraj
Abstract : Productivity is one of the most important factors affecting the overall
performance of any organization. At the micro-level, improved productivity
decreases unit costs and serves as an indicator of the project performance.
At the macro-level, improved productivity is a vital tool in countering
inflationary effects and determining wage policies. The efficiency and
availability of materials along with the effective labour productivity
result in the best performance. The productivity of individual workers
or firms or industries differs widely due to many numbers of factors
which initiates a thorough study of these factors both in terms of
positive or negative aspects. If all factors influencing the labour productivity
are known, it will be easier to forecast the productivity accordingly and
take necessary steps. This paper reports an empirical study which applies
the Delphi survey technique to formulate a model to assess the productivity
index. The survey is conducted and the factors are ranked and out of
these top six factors are chosen.
A formula for calculating the Labour Productivity Index (LPI) is derived
which can be used to find the productivity of a project. LPI also
broadens the existing knowledge of both academics and practitioners
in the construction industry because the research method can be replicated
in other geographical locations to create similar indices for better understanding
about various factors affecting labour productivity at the global level.
Keywords : Labour Productivity, Productivity Index, Construction Industry
Literature Review Of Field Data Based
Mathematical Simulation Of Complex
Construction Activities
S. P. Mishra, D. K. Parbat and T. and J. P. Modak
Abstract : The present article gives the detailed review of the research papers
published in the area of mathematical simulation of construction process
by various researchers by adopting different approaches. They include
all modern aspects in construction, but with respect to Indian scenario
where majority of total construction works are still executed manually
and consume a lot of human energy they need to be focused and develop
a mathematical relation which can simulate the real input and output
data directly from the construction field where the work is actually
being executed. Here, the advantages and limitations of the applied
mathematical models are identified and the models are classified in
terms of application range and goals. The findings indicate that the
topic under study is of great importance as no such approach of field
data based mathematical simulation is adopted where human energy is
related to productivity of construction process.
Keywords : Simulation, Construction Process, Ergonomics, Method Study, Human
Factor, Work Station, Optimization, Anthropometry
COMMUNICATION - I
Ambiguities In Construction Contracts
M. Sridhar
Abstract : Most of the disputes in construction contracts arise due to persisting
ambiguities. This gives rise to uncertainty in the correct interpretation
of the concerned terms of the contract. Due to such ambiguities, the
parties to the contract attempt to derive a meaning and interpretation
which will suit them.
The potential causes giving rise to such ambiguities are presented in
this paper. The ambiguities in deviation, variation terms, price variation
conditions, and other contractual terms having financial implications
are presented here, with few case studies. Remedies to avoid them and
steps for avoidance of litigations are presented with appropriate conclusions
drawn.
Keywords : Ambiguity, Construction contract, Deviation, Price variation, Dispute
Resolution
COMMUNICATION - II