Courteous Engineering Discipline Proffering and Determining - Essay Example

Civil engineering practice Name Class Unit Q.1 The procurement selection criterion is based on time, cost and quality concepts. These concepts guides in understanding the basic concepts of the construction procurement method chosen. The decision on the procurement method to use should be made early (Davis, Love and Baccarini, 2008). The three main procurement methods in the construction industry are; traditional, design and construct, management and collaborative. In the following section, the features, merits and demerits of the three main methods of procurement are discussed. This is done while addressing price, cost and quality objectives and citing the project and client type which the specific contract can be chosen (Mortledge, Smith and Kashiwagi, 2006). Traditional procurement Traditional procurement involves separation of the design and construction. The client appoints consultants for design and cost control while the contractor carries out the rest of the work. This includes the work by subcontractors and suppliers. In this case, the contractor is appointed through a competitive tender process on complete information. In some cases, they may be appointed based on partial or notional information. There are three types of pricing arrangements through the traditional procurement methods. These are; lump sum contracts, measurement contracts and cost reimbursement (Davis, Love and Baccarini, 2008). The lump sum contract occurs where the contract sum is determined before starting construction. The amount is entered in the final contractual agreement (Davis, Love and Baccarini, 2008). The contractor in this case agrees to carry out a defined amount of work for an agreed amount of money. The sum agreed is subject to limited variation. The sum may also be affected by the fluctuations in the labour costs, materials and plant. The recovery from this is done through a predetermined formula. The lump sum contracts are priced based on the bill of quantity (BOQ) (Mortledge, Smith and Kashiwagi, 2006). These are also referred to as measurement contracts. The work that is done by the contractor in this case cannot be accurately measured before starting the tendering. The most effective measurement contracts are based on drawings and approximated quantities. The employer takes the risk of starting the work without having accurate ideas on total costs. This contracts best suites small jobs such as construction of a small dam. Cost reimbursement occurs where the contractor carries out an indeterminate amount of labour based on agreement that they are paid total cost of labour plant and materials. The contractor also receives a fee aimed at covering the management, overhead and profit (Davis, Love and Baccarini, 2008). The main advantages of this type of contract are high level of accountability due to competitive selection of consultants and contractor. The contract provides competitive equity since all contractors involved in the tender bids on similar basis. High price certainty when awarding the tender is achieved. Using this contract, it is possible to make changes and manage them. Lastly, it is a tried and tested method (Davis, Love and Baccarini, 2008). The disadvantages are based on fact that it is a time consuming process and may lead to disputes. This is due to fact that it is a long process to produce full documentation for the contract before tendering. The project duration using this method is longer than other methods. This is due to sequential strategy where construction cannot commence before design is complete (Davis, Love and Baccarini, 2008). Lastly, the contractor does not have an input in design or planning since they are appointed after the design stage (Skitmore and Marsden, 1998). Traditional procurement is used when the programme has sufficient time and the consultant design is warranted. In cases where the client requires different designers and constructors, this form of contracting is efficient. Traditional procurement can be applied in cases where price certainty is required before construction commences (Davis, Love and Baccarini, 2008). This form of contracting is useful when there is need for high product quality and a balanced risk between the client and constructor. Most of government projects use traditional procurement (Mortledge, Smith and Kashiwagi, 2006). Design and construct procurement In this type of contract, the designer accepts the responsibility for the whole design or part of it. In this type of contract, there should be express reference and the extent if the liability is supposed to be set out in a clear manner (Davis, Love and Baccarini, 2008). In some of the design and construct contracts, the design liability is for the contractor is limited to exercising reasonable care and skill. This makes the external contractors engaged by the contractor to have a liability which is not greater than normal. In cases where the contractor does not have in house designers, the external consultants used must be identified before the tender is issued. Use of construct and design contract has costs benefits. The client is provided with competitive price due to close integration of the design and construction methods and high relative freedom for the contractor. Once signed, the contract proves costly to make changes (Meredith and Bjorg, 2003). There are various variations in design and construct procurement which includes; direct, competitive, develop and construct, package deal and novation. In the direct method, there is no competition during tendering. Appraisal for competitors before tendering can be made but only a single tender is obtained. In the competitive method, several tenders are obtained to enable contractors to compete in prices and design. Develop and construct occurs where the designers are required to design the building up to a partial stage. This is referred to as the scope design. Competitive tenders are then obtained to complete the design and construct the building. Package deal is used when there is limited scope for innovation. Novation occurs when the contractor takes over from the client a previous contract work. The contractor then completes the design and construction (Meredith and Bjorg, 2003). The main advantage is that the client deals with a single firm hence saves costs and time to contract independent contractors. In this method, there is price certainty before construction is commenced since no changes are introduced (Davis, Love and Baccarini, 2008). It’s possible to use a maximum guaranteed price to save time, cost and stimulate innovation. Use of overlapping construction and design saves time. Lastly, the involvement of contractor in the design ensures improved constructability (Skitmore and Marsden, 1998). There are several disadvantages when using this method. First, the clients experiences difficulties in coming up with a sufficient and comprehensive brief. Also, making changes to the project are very expensive. The method makes it hard to compare bids since each has a different design. Using this method, the client is expected to commit to the concept design at a very early stage when the detailed design is not complete (Davis, Love and Baccarini, 2008). Lastly, the design liability is limited based on the standard contracts available (Meredith and Bjorg, 2003). This form of contracting is best used when the building is required to be functional rather than prestigious. This is mostly in simple buildings where there is no need for technical innovation or more services. It is also ideal where there are low chances of design change and a firm price is required in advance of construction. The method allows accelerating the programme through overlapping design and construction. It is also used in cases where a single organisation is required to take full charge for both construction and design (Davis, Love and Baccarini, 2008). Management procurement There are three main forms of management procurement. These are; management contracting, construction management and design and manage. In management contracting, the contractor is supposed to have link with all contractors in the work and is given responsibility for all work. In the construction management, the contractor is paid to manage, develop and coordinate the construction and design activities. They are also expected to facilitate collaboration and help in improving the project constructability. For the design and manage, it is similar to the management contracting. The contractor assumes the responsibility of work contractors and design team after being paid a fee. Advantages of management procurement are that the client deals with a single firm which makes it easy to coordinate and collaborate easily with the designers and constructors. There are high chances of saving time since the project design and construction overlaps. In this method, the contractor assumes the responsibility for the design and construction integration. Chances of letting the work packages at competitive and current prices are also high. There is high constructability due to contractor input during design. There are clear roles, risks and responsibility. Lastly, the method provides ease and flexibility of changing design. The main disadvantage is that there is poor certainty in price. The method requires accurate time and information control unlike other methods. There is need for an informed and proactive client which is a major drawback. In management procurement, it is hard to determine price certainty. There is need for the client to give a comprehensive brief before the design team start working. This is due to fact that that design cannot be complete until adequate resources have been committed. Lastly, the client does not have control for the design quality since it is influenced by the constructors (Gordon, 1994). Management procurement is best used where there is need for flexibility in design. This is due to fact that it allows changes to be made in the construction and design phases. The method is also useful where the project is complex and there are multiple of clients, consultants and contractors who needs to be managed. When the project is technologically complex with differing requirements for user users, this methods works better. For the method to be used, the client and their advisers must have adequate management resources and maximum price competition. Q.2 To prepare for tender, the contractor is supposed to access anticipated completion of the works along with the costs. This exercise requires that the contractor access various resources. Drawings are important visual description of the work to be undertaken. They answer the questions on what has to be built and how it will be like. The contractor should use the drawings provided to ensure that their offered goods and services will be able to comply. The contractor offer should not only comply with the specifications but also to the drawings offered by the client (Ashworth, 2002). The next resource is the bill of quantity. This involves a list that describes in a chronological order of operation the quantity and nature of the materials and components required. The list includes the basis of payment for every component. Through the bill of quantity, the contractor is able to calculate the costs of the project. The unit of cost will be quoted by the contractor while the client gives the quantity required (Ashworth, 2002). In some of the contracts forms, the contractor may be required to determine the quantities required and costs based on quantities quoted by the contractor (Gordon, 1994). In cases of lump sum arrangement, the contractor uses prices that are determined prior to construction. This implies that despite the quantity used, the contractor is paid the same amount. This can only occur in cases where the work has been defined at the tender stage. This method may lead to problems when the conditions in the working environment changes and the risk are transferred to the contractor (Ashworth, 2002). In some case, remeasurement is used. This involves items which are paid for at the end of the project. Despite having the bill of quantities, the contractor may be forced to estimate the quantities again. If the client and contractor quantities differ, the financial consequences are accessed by the contractor. In some cases, the contractor provides the bidders with their estimates. This provides guideline to the less experienced bidders (Mortledge, Smith and Kashiwagi, 2006). The contractor should also be provided with specifications which help in determining project duration and quality (Ashworth, 2002). The specifications provide the contractor with more information on what the project requires where most of the requirements are based on quality. In tender documentation, specifications are very important. It is through specifications that the contractor is able to know the characteristics of the required products or services (Gordon, 1994). There are two types of specifications; functional and technical. Functional specifications describe the functions that are to be fulfilled by the sought goods and services and expected performance. Technical specifications shows the technical requirements of the goods and services to be supplied based on the accepted standards. The specifications should show the expected output though not necessarily how it will be achieved. This prevents the offering costly solutions that the potential suppliers would. For example, it would not be reasonable to specify for a sports car if a family car can do the job to satisfaction. The quality standards to be met must be specified to avoid ambiguity (Ashworth, 2002). This makes it possible for the contractor to determine the appropriate cost. The two types of specifications tests provided are; performance specifications and descriptive specifications. The client is in some cases obliged to give the contractors detailed instructions on how the work is to be conducted to ensure quality (Skitmore and Marsden, 1998). Conditions of contract are stated in the forms of contract. These are listed with compliance with the legal framework (Ashworth, 2002). The contract should be able to describe the expected contract duration and deadlines, tasks for each party, payment method, price fluctuations, conditions for extensions, record keeping and provisional sums. The contract period states the completion dates for the contract. There are also deadlines for different milestones (Mortledge, Smith and Kashiwagi, 2006). Lastly, the contractor may be forced to look at the special conditions for the contract. These are new clauses that augment the standard form and deals with subjects not in standard form. This will ensure that the contractor is aware of any changes that may affect the project deadline and costs. The special conditions form may include special terms of payment, applicable laws, wages to be paid, workforce union membership, noise levels, payment of local taxes and control of demolition and explosives. Some of these contents may increase the initial costs for the project. Through checking these resources, it will be possible for the contractor to access the anticipated completion of work along with the costs (Ashworth, 2002). References Ashworth, A., 2002. Pre-contract studies: development economics, tendering and estimating. Wiley-Blackwell. Davis, P. Love, P. and Baccarini, D. 2008. Building Procurement Methods: Research Project No: 2006-034-C-02. Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation. Gordon, C.M. 1994. “Choosing appropriate construction contracting method”, ASCE Journal of Construction, Engineering and Management, Vol.120, no.1, pp.196-210. Meredith, L.G. and Bjorg, S., 2003. Contracts and types. Communications of the ACM, 46(10), pp.41-47. Mortledge, R., Smith, A., and Kashiwagi, D.T. 2006. Building Procurement. Blackwell, Oxford, UK. Skitmore, R.M., and Marsden, D.E. 1998. “Which procurement system? - towards a universal procurement selection technique”, Construction Management and Economics, Vol.6, no.1, pp.71-89. Read More