PLANNING OF

CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
“In preparing for battle, I have always
found that plans are useless, but
planning is indispensable”
Dwight David Eisenhower
 Introduction
Construction is the art and science of building or assembling
of infrastructure involving multitasking from conception to
completion.
Effective planning is essential, for the successful execution
of a project. Those involved with the design and execution of
the Structure/infrastructure must consider all the features of
the job.
Stages of Construction Projects
Pre Award Stage
Post Award and Pre Execution Stage
Execution Stage
Closure Stage
 Construction Stages

Pre Award

Post Award
& Pre Execution

Execution

Closure
 STAGE -1
PRE- AWARD
“Always plan ahead. It wasn't
raining when Noah built the ark.
“
Richard
Cushing
 Pre Award Stage

The stage which involves understanding of the project and

its scope for effective planning of process of execution to
be followed for achieving the desired result in pre defined
Time and Cost complying to the Quality.
 Project Details
 The Project history

 Client/Customer Requirement

 The Project and its features

 Identifying requirements of project

 Identifying the Project Scope

 Procedure of Works

 Method of approach

 Constraints/Risks involved

 Assumptions

 Quality Plan
 Project Quoting

Rate Analysis

Rough schedule & budget

Specific Outcomes
“It's not the plan that's important,
it's the planning.”
Dr. Gramme Edwards
 STAGE -2
POST AWARD & PRE-
EXECUTION
 Post Award and Pre Execution

The stage where in effective planning and execution

process will be defined in order to achieve the project
in compliance to its scope, Quality , Cost and Time.
It is also called as the initiation phase of the project
construction.
Process involved in Post Award &
Pre Execution Stage
Project
WBS
Details
Logistics

Documenting & Reporting

Plan
Legal Method Base Line
Compliances Statement Master
Schedule
Risk

System
Analysis
Budgeting

Resources
Key Team &
Procurement
Administration
Plan
 Potential Barriers for Project
Initiation
 Client Indecision

 In complete Details

 Management Non Commitment

 Project Team Frustration

 Estimating Time for Baseline
Master Schedule
 Develop a systematic approach to include these factors.

 Difficult to estimate the length of time that an activity will

take(Particularly true if it is a new activity)
 Normal to underestimate the time need to complete the activity
 High priority activities must be carried before immediate activities
 Unexpected or unscheduled high priority work that is forgotten
 Accidents and/or emergencies
 Meetings
 Holidays and sickness
 Break downs in equipment
 Delays and Interruptions
 Rejections due to quality or quantity
 Etc. (If it can, it will and it will at the most inconvenient time.)

Rely on your experience

 Estimates for Resource Planning
Work Items. (Activities)

Material Quantities. (Units of work)

Work Rate. (Man-hour Tables)

Standard Work Effort (Labor). (Quantity x Work Rate)

Efficiency Factor. (Represented as a Percentage)

Team Effort (Total Labor Hours). (Standard Effort /

Efficiency)
Duration (Hours, Days, Weeks, or Months). (Team Effort /
Crew Size)
 Build Budget & Spending Plan
Budgeting involves assigning the cost estimates to all
the tasks creating a cost baseline.
Cost estimating: developing an estimate of the costs
and resources needed to complete a project.
Cost budgeting: allocating the overall cost estimate to
individual work items to establish a baseline for
measuring performance
B u dg e t/S p en din g P la n
Jan F eb M ar June S o on
Internal La b or 5,0 00 5,000 5,000 6,000 10 ,0 00
E xternal L abor 7,000 15,000 15 ,0 00
HW /S W 3,000 20,000 20 ,0 00
C o ntra cts 9000 30 ,0 00
Training 5,0 00 5,000 5 ,0 00
T o tal 10,000 10,000 15,000 50,000 80 ,0 00
 The Procurement Plan
Procurement planning involves:
Analysis of Deployable Resources (based on available &
Required)
 Manpower
 Material
 Machinery
Identifying Main Sources of Resources Supply
Procurement planning determines:
 whether, what, and how much,
 how and when,
 how to manage solicitations, selection, contract
administration, and closeout
 Project Scope

Qu
st

al
Co Within

ity
Available
Resources

Schedule
Project Risk
(Known, Unknown & Unknowable)
 What Is Risk?
“Any threat to project success is called as Risk.”
Project Risks Include
 Quality & Safety
 Cost Management
 Time Management (Schedule)
 Scope & change Management
 Procurement & Contracts
 People Management
 Information Management
 External Influences
If Risks are ignored the project will suffer from :
 Increased Costs
 Loss or Reduction in Profit
 Damage to Brand /Reputation
 In Worst Case Disposal of Business/Insolvency
 Legal Compliances

Labor License
Registration of Establishment under Contract Labor Act
& Building & Other Construction Welfare Act
Letter of Commencement of Business
CAR Policy
WC Policy
Public Liability Coverage
Productivity is never an accident, It
is always the result of a commitment
to excellence, Intelligent Planning &
Focused Effort -Paul. J. Meyer
 Key Team & Administration
The Project Success mainly depends on the Key team
involved
The key team are those who are the decision makers which
will have a direct impact on the project progress & success
“So, the success lies not only in Identifying the Key team
but also knowing their decision making ability and the
authority given to do so. “
The Selection of Key Team depends on :
The Project Scope
The Client’s Requirement
Risks Involved
Productivity Required
Contd.,
 Key Team Mainly Comprises :
At Site
 Project Leader/In charge/Manager(For Execution)
 Quality In charge
 Planning In charge
 Quantity Surveyor
 Safety In charge
Off Site
 Legal Advisor
 Administrator & HR
 Accountant
 STAGE -3
EXECUTION
Plans are only good intentions unless they
immediately degenerate into hard work.
- Peter Drucker
 Scheduling
 Planning and scheduling of activities (Monthly
programming)
 Sequencing Phases of work based on priorities (Pour
Schedules)
 Allotment of available resources based on the priorities
defined
 Preparation of Comparison Chart for available, allotted
and required Resources on daily basis.
 Preparing daily and weekly programs which consist of
the following
1. Activities to be achieved on each day
2. Location of the planned activities (Grid Wise Location
3. Resources required for the planned activities-lead
time and quantity
“Think ahead. Don't let day-to-day
operations
drive out planning.”   Donald
Rumsfeld
 Monitoring
 Updating Status of work on daily basis (Daily Progress
Report)
 Progress of work updating in comparison with the schedule
Prepared
 Updating the Resources utilized, balance Available on daily
basis.
 Collecting and documenting the hindrances /constraints
affecting the project.
 Reporting all the above in a defined format to the
concerned authorities.
 Documenting changes in quantities and design thru
maintaining change orders
Monitoring is a burden, but beneficial as
 It is the early warning system
 Detecting a problem early gives you more flexibility to
manage the problem
 Planning and Site Execution Team
Involvement of Site Team in Planning starts during the
Execution stage. Understanding of Scheduling and
Monitoring by the Site Team is required for smooth execution
of the project. Brief about the same has been given below in
concurrence with the responsibility of concerned site
Personnel.

Assistant project manager:

 The time duration considered for the activities
 Revised/Recovery Schedules
 Schedule Variation & its Reasons
 Weekly Programme for the project as per the schedule
 Reviewing of Project Progress (Planned / Achieved)
 Resource Progress
Senior site engineer:
 Daily target based on the weekly programme
 Labor usage
 Material Usage
 Plant and machinery usage
 Daily progress report

Site engineer:
 Awareness of the targets required to achieve the
schedule
 Daily activity planning
 Daily progress(planned/achieved)reviewing
 STAGE -4

Closure
“The only real mistake is the one from
which we learn nothing.”
John
Powell
 Closure

• In this phase, we will formally close your project and

then report its overall level of success to your donor.
• Project Closure involves handing over the deliverables to
your customer, passing the documentation to the
business, cancelling supplier contracts, releasing staff
and equipment, and informing stakeholders of the closure
of the project.
• After the project has been closed, a Post Implementation
Review is completed to determine the projects success
and identify the lessons learned.
 Closure Report
 Identifying the project completion criteria
 Listing any outstanding activities or deliverables
 Planning the handover of project documentation
 Ceasing supplier contracts and agreements
 Releasing projects resources to the business
 Communicating the closure of the project
 Review Project Completion
 Measuring the benefits and objectives
 Deciding whether the project was within scope
 Assessing the final deliverables produced
 Reviewing the project against schedule
 Comparing the expenditure against budget
 Stating the final outcome of the project
Conclusion
 Planning is avoided due to
following
 It takes time.
 You have to think.
 It involves paper work.
 You are bound to systematic procedures.
 You are committed to achieve a specific result
within a specified time period.
 Reasons Why Plans Fail
 Corporate goals not understood lower down in the organization/company
 Plans encompass too much in too little time
 Poor financial estimates
 Plans based upon insufficient data
 Insufficient time allocated for project estimating
 No attempt made to systemize the planning process
 Planning was performed by a planning group
 No one knows the major milestone dates
 Project estimates are best guesses and are not based on any standards, or
history
 People not working towards the same specs
 Constant shuffle of personnel in and out of the project with little regard for the
schedule
 Failure to adequately identify, document and track requirements
 Inadequate communication, including progress tracking and reporting
 “Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is
deciding how you will go about achieving it and
staying with that plan. “
Tom Landry