Construction Management Issues - Essay Example

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT by of the of the of the School 11 February, Site Waste Management Plan Regulations Management of waste during construction reduces construction costs and increases profitability. In order to save money and reduce the impact of construction waste on the environment, a waste management plan is significant. In the United Kingdom for example, materials that get delivered at construction sites and never get to be used, make up millions of tones of construction and demolition waste. According to Wilkinson and Reed, “a waste management strategy can help to design out waste, minimise waste creation on the site, and ensure any resulting waste is dealt with appropriately and this results in a tidier, safer site” (2008, p. 324). The Site Waste Management Plan regulations were introduced in the United Kingdom and particularly in England (legislation.gov.uk, 2008), due to the huge amounts of construction wastes that were abandoned at construction sites. According to the SWMP regulations, all construction projects in England with a value of £300,000 must have a Site Waste Management Plan (Gov.uk, 9 January 2013). The regulations were passed in February 2008; however, they came into full force in April 2008. Therefore, “the regulations do not apply to any project planned before 6 April, if construction work commenced before 1 July 2008…apply to all projects with a value of £300,000 or more,....additional...requirements for projects with a value of £500,000 or more” (Hughes and Ferrett, 2011, p. 640). Through the Site Waste Management Plan regulations, a plan for managing the disposal of waste during the whole of a construction project is provided (Wrap, 2013). Using information based on the design of a building at the preconstruction stage, estimated quantities of waste that a site can produce are identified using the Site Waste Management Plan. Consequently, the best decisions on the most economical ways to manage construction waste are also identified. Therefore, the reason behind the introduction of the Site Waste Management Plan regulations 2008, “is to ensure that the element of waste generation is thought about right from the design and specification stage and facilitate the selection of the construction methods and materials that would effectively minimise waste generation” (Chartered Institute of Building , 2010, p. 199). Other objectives of the Site Waste Management plans 2008 are also to boost the amount of construction waste that is found, reused, and recycled, and improve the efficiency of construction materials. Prevention of illegal waste action is another objective of the Site Waste Management Plan. Through this, waste “is disposed off, appropriately, in accordance with the waste duty of care provisions” (Hughes and Ferrett, 2011, p. 640). The Site waste Management Plan implements a PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Action) cycle at the preconstruction stage of construction management. Under the PDCA cycle, all kinds of waste that are anticipated to be produced in a construction site are identified, and an action to manage the waste is proposed. According to the Chartered Institute of Building, “typically this would include reuse, recycling, or recovery of materials either on or off the site and, if none of these options are suitable, disposal i.e. sending to a landfill site” (2010, p.199). Hazardous waste is separated from non-hazardous waste. At the construction stage, the principal contractor implements the plan. Actual waste generation figures and disposal figures are recorded against figures that had been estimated in the beginning of the construction process, and this helps in evaluating the validity of the plan. At the end of a construction project, all parties involved such as the principal contractor, the designers, and the client are expected to review the Site Waste Management Plan and identify a number of lessons for future projects. According to the Site Waste Management Plans regulations 2008, the client is responsible for producing a SWMP. The SWMP for a particular project is produced before the commencement of the project. Ma points out that “if a project of greater than £300,000 (ex VAT) is started without a SWMP, both the client and the principal contractor (if there is one) are both guilty of an offence” (2011, p. 160). Basically, there is the minimum information that a Site Waste Management Plan should have. These include the owner of the SWMP, details of the person to be removing the waste, the kinds of waste to be removed, the location the waste will be taken to, and “a post-completion statement confirming that the SWMP was monitored and updated on a regular basis” (Chartered Institute of Building, 2010, pp. 199-200). For a Site Waste Management Plan to be successful there is need for thorough planning, arrangement, and implementation. Site waste management Plans for big projects are more complex, comprehensive, and time consuming, while Site waste Management plans for small projects are simpler, less comprehensive, and do not consume a lot of time. Benefits of the SWMP Regulations 2008 Although the Site Waste Management Plan places pressure on organisations, contractors, and clients, it is vital for clean, non-hazardous environments, and effective cost reduction. The following are the benefits that can be realised from utilising a successful waste management strategy and action plan: Saving time. When a client has a Site Waste Management Plan, he is able to answer questions about his waste easily (Runnymede Borough Council, 2013), and this in turn influences a fast pace for his construction. This is because an SWMP acts as a tool to help clients deal with questions from environmental regulators (DTI, 8 July 2004). Ensured compliance with the law. Clients and principal contractors with projects that have estimated construction costs of above £300,000 are able to escape prosecution from the UK law. Saving money. A Site waste Management plan ensures that only necessary items are bought and wastes that can be reused and recycled get appropriate use. This is because construction materials are used more efficiently (NetRegs, February 2011), and disposal costs are reduced when materials are reused on site (MIS Environmental, 2013). Planning for better storage of construction materials is made possible through a SWMP, and this makes it easy to recover materials and reduce overall waste. Environmental benefits. Reusing and recycling waste benefits the environment by keeping it free from waste. A Site Waste Management plan therefore makes it easier to abide by waste regulations. According to Ratcliffe, Stubbs, and Keeping, it is a “demonstration of good environmental performance and corporate social responsibility” (2009, p. 318). Improved company image and performance. Construction companies that effectively utilise SWMPs in their projects are well differentiated from their competitors by customers. From this, such companies enjoy various advantages in the tendering process and are hence able to secure new business (Runnymede Borough Council, 2013). Lessons for the future and improved future projects. At the end of a construction project, a Site Waste Management Plan enables all parties involved to review the Site Waste Management Plan, and identify a number of lessons for future projects. This positively influences future projects. According to the Chartered Institute of Building, “reviewing SWMP of a completed project will provide good reference material for planning waste management for future projects” (2010, p. 200). Transparency. Site Waste Management plans detail all resources and activities for a construction project “by utilising an open-book detailed recording process” (Chartered Institute of Building, 2010, p. 200). Disadvantages of the SWMP Regulations 2008 Need for designers to initiate waste minimisation plans. Designers are the principal determinants of the size of buildings and materials required for construction work. This consequently influences the amount of waste produced at a construction site. Clients appoint designers on the basis of the creativity of their designs, rather than their performance on waste reduction (Price, n.d.). Due to the lack of initialisation of waste management plans by designers, challenges in reduction of construction waste are encountered. Lack of association of health and safety. Both health and reduction of construction waste need to be considered in the Site Waste Management plans. Under the Site Waste Management Plan regulations of 2008, there appears to be lack of combined thinking on how both health and safety can be achieved. Residual risks of design to principal contractor. Once a designer completes his work and a construction contract is awarded to the principal contractor, all residual risks of the design are transferred to him. Despite the fact that a designer may try as much as possible to reduce the amount of waste in a design, there is still some amount of waste left out to manage (Price, n.d.). Reluctance by architects. The Site Waste management Plans recommend recycling of construction waste in order to properly manage construction waste. However, architects are reluctant when it comes to reuse and recycling of construction materials (Price, n.d.). This is because most of them are uncertain of the standards of buildings that can be achieved using reused and recycled waste, while others lack the knowledge to implement this. Leniency on small-scale refurbishments. According to Ma (2011), “projects below £300,000 are exempt from SWMP compliance, so that takes out most of the small-scale refurbishment, which many in the industry consider as the source of much fly-tipping” (p. 159). With this, the original goal of the SWMP is diminished. Time and money consumption. Site Waste management plans require estimation of the amount of waste to be produced in a construction site. However, a lot of money and time is consumed in the formulation of a Site Waste management Plan. It has been argued that other ways such as training employees, rather than implementing SWMPs could be more effective in reducing construction waste. Effects of the SWMP Regulations on the Construction Manager With the enactment of the Site waste management regulations, construction managers are tasked with the responsibility of complying with the law, when carrying out construction works. Towey points out that “a building contractor must recognise its legal requirement to comply with environmental legislation when carrying out construction works because otherwise it will be prosecuted for non-compliance, with ignorance of the legislation inexcusable” (2012, p. 100). In cases where projects are started without Site Waste Management Plans, construction managers together with clients are subject to prosecution. For all projects that construction managers undertake, they are required to be constantly conscious of the environment and to take care to protect it. Effects of Scrapping the SWMP Regulations After the enactment of the Site Waste Management Plans regulations, most people in the United Kingdom argued that due to the regulations, companies were being forced to spend a lot of money and time estimating the amount of waste they produce, rather than engaging in more effective activities that can help reduce construction waste (Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, March 2012). The Site Waste Management Plan regulations were removed in order to solve the red tape challenge in the United Kingdom environmental sector (Donati, 24 September 2012). According to the Guardian, the government decided help businesses save £1bn, by simplifying environmental regulations such as the Site Waste Management Plan regulations (The Guardian, 2013). According to the construction manager, there was an overall reduction in the amount of construction waste since the legislation was implemented in 2008 (26 March 2012). Although not all, companies had slowly adapted to better management of construction waste (Constructing Excellence, 2008). Prior to the implementation of the legislation, there were numerous construction wastes lying around construction sites, and this posed a danger to the environment. This shows a positive impact of the SWMPs despite the fact that most people were against them. After the scrapping of the SWMP regulations, the Halving Waste to Landfill campaign launched by Wrap has influenced substantial waste management by companies (Construction Manager, 26 March 2012). Despite the fact that the SWMPs are no longer part of the UK legislation, the four years they have been implemented have helped in making waste management plans part of construction projects in the UK. It can only be hoped that the trend will continue. Implementing the SWMPs for an additional number of years could have helped salvage the situation of construction waste management in the UK, and therefore the legislation shouldn’t have been abandoned too soon. This is because there is the risk of much more construction waste being accumulated on the environment. Some of the risks include the facts that construction companies could go back to their old habits of improper waste disposal, landfills might end up accumulating too much waste, more fly-tipping could be encouraged due to lack of audit trails, and it will be much harder to save contractor’s money without the SWMPs (HM Government, n.d.). In conclusion, implementation of the Site Waste Management Plans in the United Kingdom was a positive step towards reducing construction waste and protecting the environment. During the number of years that they have been effective, the SWMP regulations have helped in reducing the amount of construction waste lying around the United Kingdom. The government could have salvaged the situation of having much more waste accumulated in the environment, by holding the legislation in place for an additional number of years. Scrapping of the SWMP regulations by the United Kingdom government therefore carries a lot of risks. The government can however, implement laws under the Halving Waste to Landfill campaign in order to save the situation. Reference List Chartered Institute of Building. ed., 2010. Code of Practice for Project Management for Construction and Development. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Constructing Excellence, 2008. Constructing Excellence Position on Site Waste Management Plans. [online] Available at: < http://www.constructingexcellence.org.uk/blog/?p=56> [Accessed 11 February 2013]. Construction Manager, 26 March 2012. Government Bins Site Waste Regulations, but War on Waste Goes on. 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