Types And Specifications Of Project Plan, Equipment And Plant Classifications, Elements Affecting Project Costs, Material Quality In Construction Essay.

1.What types of project plans and specifications may be read and interpreted?

2.What types of plant and equipment may be estimated and costed for a building/construction project?

3.What unit costs may be determined and applied to estimated projected costs?

4.What breakdown of costs may be included in completed estimated project costs?

5.What is meant by cost estimation and under what circumstances would you estimate the cost?

6.What consideration must you take into account when calculating the net cost of a construction project?

7.How will you determine the quantity of the materials required for a construction project? On what basis will you determine the material requirements?

8.List the specialists you may need to consider while preparing cost estimation.

9.Outline the steps involved in preparing an estimate.

10.List the relevant documents, legislations and codes that are application to a building site

11.Define bill of quantity and explain its purpose with suitable examples.

12.Provide a list of materials and physical resources required at a building site for a building project. Provide at least 10 items.

13.How will you determine the labour requirements at a building site and estimate the cost?

Project Plan Types

1. 

There are different types as well as specifications for the project  and these are mainly discussed as follows

Project plan is defined as the overall systematic analysis and specifications of the activities to be carried in a project. The various types of the project plans include

1. Strategic project plan- it mainly entails all the aspects and analysis which are conducted with an objective of establishing all the mechanisms and strategies in a project.
2. Evaluation project plan- mainly defined as the project planning which can be used to appraise whether or not the set objective have been achieved
3. Operational project planning- gives all the activities to be carried out or the tasks performed in line with the project.
4. Financial planning- typically deals with all the costs and funding sources for the project. It also entails the costs estimated to the building and construction as well as the overall implementation activities.

Projection specification is defined as a detailed analysis on how the project outline will look like and it contains the objectives as well as the various functions which will be carried out in a project. (Ma, Liu & Wei, 2016). Some of the common elements which the project specification consist of include

1.Introduction which gives the overall project description
2.Project objectives to be achieved at the end
3.Project scope
4.Site users as well as their role and responsibilities
5.Capacity requirement as far as the user role is concerned
6.Design specifications and the overall outlook
7.Flow and logistic diagram for all the analysis including the applications and the checkouts.
8.Success criteria mainly entails checking whether or not the site for the overall job is working in line with the specifications
9.Site map giving all the details in line with the project and the site exploration
10.Content plan which gives the appraisal on which type of the content to applied at each stage
11.Makeable work schedule
12.Financial managements and constraints in the projects
13.Quality management
14.Channel of communication in the project
15.Overall resource management
16.Management changes in the projects
17.Overall site maintenance requirements

2. There are different equipment and plants in the construction projects whose costs can be estimated decisively. The different plant and equipment used in the construction broadly classified into two categories and these include the specific as well as the general equipments  

Specific Equipment

1. Tractors: they are primarily designed and used for the construction to carry out haul, loading as well as in dumping of loose materials.
2. Scrapers: used for the overall heavy pulling and pushing more so during the compaction process
3. Front shovels
4. Loaders essentially utilized to perform activities such as transportation of materials, backfilling, excavate the earth as well as to perform the hauling unit related tasks.
5. Compactors used in performing all the related soil compaction activities

General Equipment includes the air compressors, the cranes as well as pumps and forklifts. This equipment mainly classified and provided by the subcontractor.  

3.There are various rates utilized in developing and determining the overall estimated costs in the project. The elements used determine the costs and the overall project estimations include

1. Labour rates:  it is defined in terms of the costs paid each craftsman per hour in line with the operations they perform in the project.  
2. Material prices involve also the costs related to the purchasing of various materials to be used in the construction exercise.
3. Equipment Cost: all the amounts estimated in line with the purchasing and hiring for the construction equipment.
4. Subcontractor quotes refers to the costs which the individual offers in the construction and may involve both the general and specific equipment costs as well.
5. Indirect cost: entails all the costs such as the fees, the permits, administration costs, mobilization, temporary construction and staffing
6. Also the profit amount is fundamental cost rate to be considered in the analysis

4.First and foremost, it is important to note that the breakdown cost is an essential element when sourcing and soliciting for the funds to be used in the construction process. In essence, it used to appraise whether or not the stipulated cost proposed is realistic and achievable in the long run. Some of the costs include in the breakdown costs include travelling, equipment as well as asset costs.

5.The cost estimation refers to the overall project capital required to implement the proposed idea or used in the construction of the building.  In essence, cost estimation is an imperative element in the cost estimating analysis. The project mainly estimated in terms of the cost when the overall analysis on the project is more than half. Under that circumstance, one can estimate the overall project cost by double the existing cost established.

6.The following are some of the considerations which one need to consider when designing and coming up with the overall net cost for the makeable construction

1. .Quantity take off
2. Material Costs
3. Labor Costs
4. Labor productivity and forecasts
5. Work Methods.
6. Construction and equipment costs
7. Indirect costs in line with jobs
8. Subcontractor quotations
9. Quotations for the various  material to be supplied
10. Estimated unknown site cost
11. Location Factors
12. Escalations costs arising with time
13. Staging as well as project start up costs.

Overheads

7. Quality of materials to be used for the construction process is an essential and fundamental portion of the project construction and thus, need to be taken into consideration. (Brook, 2016). There are various criteria which are often used to determine the material quality and requirements in the construction process and these are mainly discussed as follows

1. Material delivery process which is broadly classified as bulk, fabricated as well as standard off-the-shelf materials
2. Durability of the material is also an essential aspect to consider as this define the storage duration
3. Material purchasing term is also an important element as this is used to define  the interest charges associated with materials  
4. Site location is also an important aspect and this determines the specifications of the materials to be used in the construction process.
5. Material dimension is also an essential aspect which must be explored and appraised accordingly as it defines the transportation mode for the materials to be used and the quality.
6. Labor and handling is also a viable aspect which needs to be considered as far as the material quality of materials is concerned.

8. The following are some of the experts which may be required while designing and preparing the cost estimation budget

1. Commissioning provider to perform all the tasks related to project initiation
2. Design team to perform all the required design works related to the project
3. Architect to carry out the oversight role of ensuring that there is coordination within the design process
4. Client who works closely with the architect to come up with the design structure
5. Contractors perform the bidding process by specifying both the technical as well as the non-technical costs for the building.
6. Subcontractors who will perform the overall functions in line with construction tasks.

9.There are nine steps to be followed in developing the estimate costs in line with the project. These steps mainly discussed as follows

1. Commission process which entails the verification of the various tasks to be performed in line with the project.
2. Determining requirements essentially comprise of the all the pre-designs and planning activities which are to be carried in the construction.
3. Formation of a design team with an architect to carry out the design specifications of the proposed building.
4. Designing of the structure: the architect designs a number of houses proposal and presents them to the client for census
5. Bidding: this is where the documents prepared are released to the overall contracts to place their prices for the proposed house.

10. In any construction site, there various plan, approvals and documents which are used in carrying out the overall works at the site. They include

1. Development Approval
2. Estimate cost document  letter
3. Elevation plan
4. Alternative solution approval
5. Site pan
6. Floor plan
7. Section Details for  Wall, Floor Ceiling and  Roof 
8. Demolition Plan
9. Footings as well as  Concrete Slab Detail
10. Retaining walls analysis

11. A bill of quantity is a document which is prepared and contains all the material specifications, description quantity as well as the rates for carrying out the construction process in engineering. The bill of quantity plays a vital role in construction by helping the contractor to place its bid on the contract document.  Furthermore, it is also used in developing and planning for the overall post construction activities.

12. 

1. Concretes
2. Bricks
3. Electricity water supply
4. Timber
5. Frames
6. Doors
7. Steels
8. Retaining walls
9. Pumping and pipes
10. Cements
11. Sand  

13. Both the labour requirements as well as the estimated costs in the construction mainly appraised by considering

1. task to be performed
2. skilled labour required
3. work and nature of the job
4. time required for the work to be completed 
5. as well as the capital estimated to be paid to each worker

References:

Brook, M. (2016). Estimating and tendering for construction work. Taylor & Francis.

Ma, Z., Liu, Z., & Wei, Z. (2016). Formalized representation of specifications for construction cost estimation by using ontology. Computer?Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, 31(1), 4-17.