Assignment #1 on Construction Management - CEng 5104

Deadline: March 26, 2013.

1. List firms and activities that belong to the construction industry.
Firms: consulting, contracting, material suppliers, regulatory government
agencies, public organizations supplying facilities, operating and maintaining
them (ERA, AACRA, AAWSA, rural roads authorities, etc)
Activities: design, construction operations, bidding, construction supervision,
procurement of construction materials and machineries, operation and
maintenance of facilities, facility valuation, renovation, repair, retrofitting and
demolition of facilities.
2. Why is the annual total or average pay for construction workers lower where as the
pay in the construction sector is high?
Because they receive pay only when they are working. They dont receive pay
when they dont have job or when project is closed during rainy season.
3. Identify 10 projects under construction and classify them as residential, institutional
and commercial, infrastructure and heavy, and industrial. Are these projects funded
privately or publicly?
No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Project under construction

Jemo III Condominium Construction

Classification
Residential
housing
Capital hotel construction
Institutional
Gibe III and Rennaisance Dam and Infrastructure
hydropower projects
and heavy
AA Light Rail Transit and AA Infrastructure
Djibouti
High
speed
railway and heavy
constructions
Tendaho and Beles Sugar Factories Industrial
construction
Tendaho, Kesem, Beles, Wolkite and Infrastructure
Kuraz cane sugar irrigation projects
and heavy
Hawassa stadium construction
Institutional
AA to Adama express highway Infrastructure
construction
and heavy
Construction of airfields in different Infrastructure
towns by Airports Enterprise
and heavy
13 universities construction projects
Institutional
Habesha cement factory construction Industrial

Funded by
Public
Private company
Publicly funded
Public
Public
Publi
Public
Public/toll
Public
Public
Private

4. Define the terms general contractor and building contractor. Do like wise for prime
contractor and specialty contractor. Give the number of registered local contractors
with Ministry of Construction and Urban Development by type and grade. Give the
project cost limit for each contractor grade.

General contractor is a firm that carries out construction of buildings, roads, dam
and irrigation constructions, etc
- Building contractor carries out construction of buildings
- Prime contractor is one in charge of constructing a facility and commissioning a
completed facility to a client. Prime contractor is a party that enters into contract
with the client for the whole project. Specialty contractors enter into contract with
the prime contractor and carry out a portion of the project in their specialties like
electrical installation, sanitary, aluminum works, hydromechanical, etc.
- Contractors by grade and classification
- Contractor grade by project cost limits
5. Define a project. Define project management. List the three stages of project
management with a brief description of each stage.
- A project is a mission oriented undertaking aimed at producing a facility to meet
the demands of a client.
- Project management is the planning, scheduling and controlling of all
construction operations by a contractor to construct a facility with in shortest
possible time and with least cost without compromising quality.
- The three stages of project management are: planning, scheduling and controlling
o Planning - goal setting, project definition, team organization. Planning
horizon covers project duration. This is carried out before construction
operations begin.
o Scheduling - relating people, money, and supplies to specific activities
and activities to one and other. This is detailed action plan with days to
weeks time duration for actual execution of construction activities. It
begins before project begins and continues until project is completed.
o Controlling - monitoring resources, costs, quality, and budgets; revising
plans and shifting resources to meet time and cost demands
6. Analyze the roles of project manager. Is he/she an expeditor, a coordinator, a pure
project or a matrix manager? What are the different types of project managers?
Would you find all of them in a single organization?
7. Describe the principal objectives that a construction manager should have when
carrying out a construction project.
-

Time, cost and quality

8. Describe at least three likely results of poor construction project management.

- Delay in project completion profit of the contractor is eroded and can even
result in completing the project at a loss
- Cost overrun disadvantages the client
- Quality may be compromised that results in rework which in turn results in
delay of project
9. List advantages and disadvantages of project management.
- Advantages of project management are:

o Good project management results in good quality facility at least cost and
in the shortest possible time
o The client can concentrate on its area of work buying this service of
construction and its management from a contracting firm
- Disadvantages
o It costs the client
o Contractors sometimes unethically try to compromise quality to maximize
profit so far as they can cun the supervising consultant
10. What codes and standards are applicable to govern residential, institutional and
commercial, infrastructure and heavy, and industrial constructions here in Ethiopia?
Buildings Ethiopian Building Code Standards
Highways, bridges and culverts ERA design manuals, AASHTO Code
Hydraulic structures we do not have often Eurocodes are used
Industrial constructions we do not have we adopt any document available
11. How did construction management evolve?
It evolved from scientific management upto dynamic engagement dictated by
demands and problems. It evolved through scientific management, classical school,
behavioral school, management science, systems approach, contingency theory and
finally dynamic engagement.
12. Research the following engineering accomplishments on the web and write a one
page paper about construction of each.
a. Dubai Hotel
b. The Golden Gate Bridge
c. Hoover Dam
d. The Chunnel Tunnel
13. Gather information from the concerned organization and write a one page paper about
their construction
a. Tendaho Dam and Irrigation Project ( from Ministry of Water Resources
or Water Works Construction Enterprise or Water Works Design and
Supervision Enterprise.)
b. Tana Beles or Gilgel Gibe Hydropower construction(from EEPCo)
c. Phase 1, or 2 of Highway Construction Project by ERA ( from ERA)
d. Nina Building(19 storey building near Ghion Hotel) construction