PROJECT RISK MANAGEMENT

Assignment

For the successful implementation of a project it is essential that the people involved in its implementation be sensitive to the risks involved in the project and formulate the most suitable structure for the management of such risks. There are certain variables and uncertainties in common to most of the infrastructure projects. Many risk mitigation techniques are applied to infrastructure projects. Discuss in details the risk management to construction with special reference to a project currently in progress with your company.

STUDY

Risk Management of Construction Industry Managers, the lesson book complied by NICMAR

KEY

                                i.            Describe scope of project in short

                              ii.            Explain type of project

                            iii.            Note down important points of perceived construction risk, project risk, risk economic risk, insurance.

                            iv.            Risk mitigation is done in construction infrastructure development projects.

STRUCTURE

1. Name of project
2. Scope of work
3. Important details project, cost, time, type risk involved, risk mitigation etc.
4. Important points from contractor’s project managers point of view to be monitored/resolved.
5. Method followed for administer and monitor risk
6. Recommendations / Conclusion
7. Bibliography / Readings

TYPE OF PROJECT

XYZ IMPLITZ LTD is a design consultancy providing tower design solutions to the telecom and power sectors.

The scope of our work includes the following:

• Tower design
• Design checking
• Preparation of Structural Fabrication Drawings
• Building analysis for installing a roof top tower.
• Preparation of structural drawings of existing buildings (if building structural drawings are not available)
• Supporting beam design for installing roof top tower.
• Foundation design of ground based tower
• Estimations during tender stages
• Dynamic analysis and Non Linear Analysis.
• Design Checking and strengthening of towers
• Preparation of as built drawings

One of the cellular service providers by the name of TELESERVICES MH LTD asked us to design a ground based tower.

It was a 60 metre tower based on a piece of land that the client had acquired from the landowner by entering into a contract with him. The agreement was for a valid consideration and for a definite period of time. After the lapse of the period the client would either have to dismantle the tower or renew the agreement with the landowner for a further period.

The parties involved in the project were the client, the consultant, the contractor and the outsourcing companies who accomplished the work of acquiring the land for the client. The modus operandi was thus:

The outsourcing agent would acquire the land shortlisted by the client from the landowner by doing the necessary groundwork and entering into necessary legal agreements for a valid consideration. The client would then summon the consultant and give his requirements of tower height and load of antennae coming on the tower, etc. Based on this the consultant would prepare layout drawings after conducting a prelimnary survey whether the piece of land would be enough for a tower of that height. He would then furnish the layout drawings and then conduct the soil investigation of the proposed site to ascertain the safe bearing capacity of the soil. Depending upon the recommendation of the client, and the data gathered from the soil investigation and from the client the consultant would then design the tower for the required load coming on the tower along with its foundation system. He would also design the supporting beams for the shelter and the diesel generator.

On receiving the design drawings the client would then pass them on to the contractor earmarked for the project and he would then order the material required for the erection depending upon the bill of materials furnished by the consultant's drawings. The consultant would also give the fabrication drawings based on which the steel sections would be fabricated in situ. Based on the erection drawings of the consultant the contractor would then start erection of the tower and its accessories namely the shelter and diesel generator. Once the erection has been done then commissioning would commence in which the client's engineers would cross check the contractor's work by simulating conditions similar to those that would prevail under normal working of the tower. Once the commissioning is over then the site would be handed over to the client by the contractor. The client would then ask the consultant to prepare as built drawings of the site showing the views of the tower as it is standing. In all these works there are a lot of risks that each of the parties have to bear and find out ways to mitigate. Following are the list of risks that each of the parties have to bear.

RISKS HANDLED BY EACH OF THE PARTIES TO THE PROJECT

Risks from the perspective of the cellular service provider

Revenue Risk

Revenue risk is the uncertainty in relation to the revenue that a project would actually generate. The uncertainty of the revenue of an infrastructure project (as opposed to other industrial projects) is because of its public nature, which carries with it the uncertainty in the ability and willingness of consumers to pay for the benefits arising from the project. In this case the client will be bearing the risk of spending on the facility and then hoping that he gets some other operators to share the tower with him. Also that people in that region will subscribe to mobile telephones so that he can recover the costs of his erecting a tower in that region.

Design Risk

This risk relates to any defect in the design of the infrastructure facility or the design requirements stipulated for the project. This is an inherent risk in the project as it is very difficult to conclusively ascertain that the damage to the facility is actually caused due to the defect in the construction or design assumptions made by the consultant or design data supplied by the client or the very design itself. Generally, it is the design contractor who is responsible for the design aspects of the project. In the case of the project the client has to indemnity himself from any damage that may be caused by the accidental falling of the tower due to wind pressure or any other reason. In design risk itself the cellular service provider has to indemnify himself vide his purchase orders that he is not responsible for any standard laws that the design contractor may violate, whether they are labor laws or laws governing structures in that region and national building codes. He also indemnifies himself against injury to any of the workers of the design contractor during the process of conducting the survey. The client also indemnifies himself against any false assumptions that the consultant may make in the designing of the project facility. In our project the consultant had to make various assumptions based on the standard facts regarding the land strata as the land was such that it was not possible to collect site data using normal methods.

Costs as the main risk

The main risk involved in the gestation stages relate to the costs being incurred on the narrowing down on a suitable land for erection of a mobile tower. There is a high probability that the land may be dropped from the list of approved sites by the client due to practical considerations like lack of proper approach road, etc. Even if a decision is taken to develop and implement the project further, there is a possibility that the costs incurred at this stage may simply keep an increasing and may occur again at the developmental stage. There may be instances where the landowner may back out of the proposal given to him by the client.

Social impact

A prelimnary study should be undertaken regarding the impact of the installation of the tower in a particular area, the extent of hardship it may cause to people living there. There is a possibility that the owner of the building or land where the tower has been installed will not allow access to the cellular service provider for maintainance purposes in spite of the fact that he is receiving rent for the piece of land occupied by the client. This he does as he suffers harassment when the client's engineers come for maintenance work. He faces the risk that the building or landowner may discontinue the arrangement due to adverse effects of the tower on human beings.

Technical feasibility

A prelimnary study of the engineering requirements and feasibility of the project being sought to be undertaken should be made. There may be a possibility that a ground based tower may not be suitable on the land earmarked for the same. The soil conditions on the land may not be conducive to erection of a tower of a particular height. The orientation of the tower that is required to be provided by RF point of view may not be obtained due to practical conditions prevailing at site.

Financial Risk

This risk is the totality of all risks that relate to the financial developments external to the project that are not in the control of the clients. This risk is common to all the parties to the project. These risks include: 1)risks associated with the fluctuations of foreign exchange rates. 2) risks associated with the devaluation of the local currency. 3)Risks associated with the non-convertibility or non-repatriation of foreign exchange from India, and 4)Risks associated with the fluctuations in interest rates. In our case this risk was prevalent as foreign investment was brought in by the client for the project.

Political Risk

Political risks are a bundle of distinct risks that can include not only political factors but also administrative, social and economic factors. Political risks associated with a project are closely evaluated as they are generally outside the control of the parties to the project, other than the government to a certain extent. But even the government fixing the policies of the telecom industry do not have control over all the categories of political risks. It should be kept in mind that many of the political risks arise from the possibility of arbitrary action by the government and altering the framework on which the very foundation of the project rests. The main categories of political risks include

• Risk of political instability such as riots, revolutions, coup d'etat, terrorism, guerrilla warefare
• War, whether declared or undeclared.
• International sanctions
• Expropriation
• Nationalization
• Creeping expropriation (discretionary regimes, excessive taxation, import restrictions, refusal to allow or provide for collection or review of tarrifs, etc)
• Failure to grant or renew approvals and Excessive interference in the implementation of the project, thereby causing severe prejudice to the concessionaire. (in this case the TRAI)

Force Majeure Risks

These risks are regarding the events that are outside the control of any party and cannot be reasonably prevented by the concerned party. These risks generally arise due to causes extraneous to the project. The defining of force majeure events include:

• National force majeure events comprise all events that can be submitted to natural conditions or acts of god such as earthquakes, floods, cyclones and typhoons. These risks shold be shared equally among the parties.
• Direct political force majeure events are attributable to political events that are specific to the project itself such as expropriations, nationalization
• Indirect political force majeure. Events are those that have their origin in political events but are not project specific such as war, riots, etc.
• In our case this risk was considered to the extent that a storm could disrupt operations of tower erection during the construction stage and that would lead to loss of life and property.

Construction risks

The construction risks are essentially a bundle of various individual risk factors that adversely affect the construction of a project within the time frame and costs projected and at the standards specified for the facility. Construction risks generally relate to:

• Risks related to the availability of land for the project
• Suitability of the land for the construction of the project facility
• Delay in completion of the construction
• Cost overruns in supplies, transportation, machinery, equipment, new materials, etc.
• Availability of the basic infrastructure required for the construction of the facility such as water, electricity, etc.
• Availability of workforce
• Occurrence of force majeure events, and
• Failure of the facility to meet the performance criteria and standards specified.
• In our project this risk was very important as all the above mentioned factors could go wrong during the project.

Operating risks

Operating risks are similar to the construction risks. They are a bundle of risks associated with the operation of the infrastructure facility. Operating risks generally relate to:

• Operating cost overruns
• Risks related to obsolescence
• Risks associated with compliance of specified performance criteria, quality and quantity (as the case may be)
• Force majeure risks and
• Risks associated with the inability to comply with the maintenance standards and availability of funds required for the operation and maintenance of the facility

Risks from the perspective of the contractor

Ability to implement the project in a commercially viable manner

The main concern of the project contractor would be to ensure that the contract for lease of the piece of land between the client and the landowner are without any legal hindrances i.e. the title of the land is clear and no other claimants will come when he is carrying out the erection work of the owner. He is concerned about the fact that he does not become a basket for storing all the risks simply on the basis that it is obtaining a commercial return. In our project there was a constant danger that the land acquisition team had not done their work properly and that the title of the land was not clear but still the client had to choose it as his radio frequency team had shortlisted it.

Certainty of Costs

Each obligation each risk and each uncertainty has an attached cost. The aim of the contractor should be to ensure the project can be determined and controlled in a certain manner. In our project the contractor was not paid any initial amount for mobilization and he had to do all the initial investment on his own. Hence it was very necessary that he controlled the costs that he incurred.

Return of investment

The project and the documentation should be capable of providing an adequate return to investors in the project. This is a universal necessity in order to justify any private investment in any venture. In our project the contractor had to arrange for finance on his own at a certain cost to him and hence he would expect that he earn a certain percentage more in doing the work than the rate of interest he has to pay funds to execute the work.

Distribution and Management of Risks

The documentation in relation to the project should be such so as to enable the passage of various risks that are not within the control of the contractor but it has been allocated to it under the main concession or license. The contractor should not be straddled between the various documents with risks it has no control over or is not capable of absorbing. Thus the risk allotted under the contract to the contractor should flow down to the various sub-contractors under the relevant documents with the sub-contractors. In our case there were no sub-contractors and hence the contractor had to bear the risk on his own.

Force Majeure Risks

This risk is not in control of any party to the contract and the contractor like the client is exposed to the same risks as the client. This risk is similar to that faced by the client.

Providing a level playing field

Here the contractor is exposed to the vagaries of competition. Since there would be many contractors interested in doing the work for the client, it is necessary that the tendering and bidding process be as transparent as possible. The contractor is however at times exposed to nefarious dealings of a coterie of contractors who collude with the clients for the purpose of getting the work thus leading to rigging of the tendering process.

In our project there was a great deal of transparency in the tendering procedure and three aspects were considered important by the client in awarding the contract, one being the contractors past experience in doing such works, secondly, his price bid and thirdly, his financial strength.

Financial Risk

This risk faced by the contractor is similar to that faced by the client. In our case, the contractor was paid after the work was carried out and he was given no advances for his mobilization, etc. This resulted in him resorting to taking finance from lenders at a cost. He would then pay off the debts when he got paid by the client. In such cases the timing of payment made by the client plays a very important role and the contractor must make the payment terms clear before he can take up the contract.

Physical Risks

Physical risks relate to the ground conditions, natural conditions, adverse weather conditions, physical obstructions and other physical conditions that would adversely affect the implementation of the construction activities at the project site. It happens at site that the ground conditions are not what the consultant has assumed in his design. In our project this risk was not faced by contractor as things were laid to rest in the consultant's report.

Construction risks

The construction risk relate to the factors affecting the very ability to undertake construction activities like availability of resources, industrial relations, safety during construction, quality of raw material, workmanship, delay in supplies, strikes by transport operators, shortage of material required for the project construction techniques, failure to comply with construction milestones, cost of construction, etc.

Design Risks

The design risks relate to, as the term itself suggests, the risks associated with the design of the project facility. These relate to incomplete design, design life, availability of information, compliance with standards, completion of design, viability of design, etc. In some cases even there may be a change of the standards being followed in designing such project facilities. The contractor in his contract with the client indemnifies himself against any errors made by the consultant by stating that the erection has been done based on the drawings supplied by the contractor.

Risks from the perspective of the consultant

Risk of revenue

In this type of risk the consultant may give the total design to the client, but may not get paid for it due to the inability of the client to pay up. In certain cases the client may get insolvent and the consultant may have to make do with whatever he offers as payment. In our project we had no such risk as the client was very strong financially and this risk did not arise.

Risk from the contractor

The contractor may misinterpret the drawings given by the consultant and consequently do erroneous work of erection of tower. In our case the consultant had to guard against this risk as the client had given work to contractors who were not experienced in erection of tower. This led to more consultant visits on the site to inspect the erection.

Force Majeure Risk

This risk affects the consultant also and covers all the risks explained earlier in case of client and contractor.

Risk of change in standards

The consultant may have to face the risk of change in standards by the statutory bodies like national building codes, Indian standard codes, etc.

Risk of wrong data from clients

In the project of tower erection the consultant has to perform a survey to collect site data for incorporating into the design. At this time the consultant is also given data from the client like load of the batteries placed in the building, etc. This data may be erroneous and the consultant has to guard against such an eventuality.

Risk against statutory bodies

The consultant faces the risk of cancellation of his license by statutory bodies like the Municipal Corporation, etc for violating general standards of design. The consultant had obtained the ISO 9000 certificate for quality work and there was a necessity to document whatever the consultant did. The quality council could cancel the award for non conformance with its laid out standards.

RISK MITIGATION IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS.

Risk response and mitigation is the action that is required to reduce or eliminate the potential impact of risk. There are two types of response to risk-

One is an immediate change or alteration to the project, which usually results in the elimination of the risk, second is the contingency plan that will only be implemented if an identified risk should materialize.

The risk manager is responsible for identifying the risks that arise, taking suitable action to mitigate or avoid them and evaluate the consequences of his actions. Using adequate contingency plans risks that are unavoidable are mitigated thus ensuring that the overall project objective of time, cost, and quality is not jeopardized.

The options of responding to risk are the following:

• Risk avoidance
• Risk reduction
• Risk transfer
• Risk sharing
• Risk retention
• Insurance
• Allocation of risks

Risk avoidance

This is perceived as the ultimate mitigation strategy implying that the project may be aborted. This may be caused by eliminating the cause of the risk. Alternative courses of action are examined. Other examples of risk avoidance include the use of exemption clauses in contracts, either to avoid certain risks or consequences of risks. In certain cases the project may be aborted. An example of risk avoidance in our projects is that the client who gives work of as built drawing to the consultant mentions on his purchase order to the consultant that he be indemnified from any wrong assumptions made by the consultant or any wrong policies followed by the consultant and which are against standards laid out by the statutory bodies.

Risk reduction

This method adopts an approach whereby potential exposure to risks and their impact is alleviated. Here one considers alternative solutions for risk reduction, examining in detail and obtain more information. Take management or design action. In our projects the client used to employ this strategy by giving other cellular operators the use of the tower installed at his cost by charging a monthly fee for the same from the operator. This will reduce his risk to the extent that his cost of maintaining the facility will become less to that extent.

Risk transfer

This method involves the transfer of risk to other project participants. Commonly, risks are transferred through the placement of contracts, the appointment of specialist sub-contractors or suppliers or by taking out an insurance policy. In our projects the cellular operator used to transfer the risk on the project company, by not paying it any mobilization charges or advances for the work commencement. The project company in turn was transferring the risk to the contractors by paying them when they completed the work on a particular tower site. Thus they used the method of risk transfer to mitigate the risks. Secondly the client used to transfer the risk of damage to his expensive tower equipment by taking out an insurance policy for the same.

Risk sharing

Where a portion of the risk is transferred whilst some risk is retained this is known as risk sharing. This approach may be adopted where the risk exposure is beyond the control of one party. In such instances it is imperative that each party appreciates the value of the portion of the risk for which it is responsible. In our project of tower erection once the tower erection and commissioning was complete then the cellular service provider would share the facility with some other operator so that he could earn some money in the bargain and thus share the risk that he bears against the owner of the land.

Risk retention

Once all the risk mitigation strategies are exhausted and there are still some risks remaining, then this method is adopted to nullify this risk. This means that when the estimate is being done for tower erection then some contingencies are always considered in the estimates to eliminate the residual risks that remain after applying all the risk mitigation strategies that are elaborated earlier. In our project the consultant employed this strategy to mitigate the risk that he faced from his staff i.e. he used to bear the burden of wrong design and assumptions made by one of his employees in designing the tower. The consultant paid compensation to the client for any such eventuality.

Insurance

This is a technique of risk transfer or risk reduction depending upon the nature of the contract between the insurer and the insurance company. This is a technique to minimize the cost of loss due to specific risks for a certain consideration. This technique was adopted by the cellular services providers to transfer the loss due to damage to their towers to the insurance company for a specific consideration. The contractor who was executing the projects was also resorting to this method of risk management for covering his loss due to any damage to his equipment used for execution.

Allocation of risks

This would entail a third party to undertake the measures to control or mitigate a risk, and bear the adverse consequences, if it is not able to redress the risk, thereby insulating the other parties to the project from the direct impact of the risk.

The main principle for evaluating an adequate allocation or risks is that the party which is best placed to control or redress the risk or the circumstances that may arise if the risk occurs should be allocated the risk.

CONCLUSION

Thus we see that risk can be managed, but to do so, requires a deliberate and structured approach. A pragmatic approach to risk management should be followed depending upon the project success depends ultimately on a combination of honest intention, rigorous analysis and professional judgement

References:

1. Project financing in corporate sector by C.G. Karandikar / G.M Dave
2. Construction Finance management ( NCP 29 ) by NICMAR
3. Project formulation and Appraisal ( PGPM – 21) By NICMAR
4. Website: http:/indiabudget.nic.in
5. Website: Census of india
6. NSS 63rd Round ( July 2006 – June 2007)

PROJECT MANATEMENT - 1: POWER PLANTS & ENGINEERING

Assignment

Enhancing the level of energy consumption, particularly in less developed and developing countries, is a global challenge. 20% of world population living in industrialized countries consumes 60% of energy and remaining 80% of population has to manage within 40% of total energy. This has obviously resulted in wide disparities between the standard of living and quality of life of high energy consuming countries on one hand and those who do not have the opportunities of adequate access to energy on the other. It is precisely for this reason that development of different sources of energy and increase in its consumption has become a priority agenda of all the developing countries.

In the light of the above, prepare an assignment on how to solve the problem of energy deficiency in India by alternate sources of energy.

INTRODUCTION

India is one of the five fast developing countries.
Energy is the primary and most universal measure of all kinds of work by human beings and nature. Whatever happens in the world is only the expression of flow of energy in either of its forms. Energy is a crucial input in the process of economic, social and industrial development. Energy consumption in the developing countries is increasing at a faster rate. As conventional energy sources are depleting day by day, utilization of alternative energy sources is the only solution.

India has made rapid strides towards economic self reliance over the last few years.
 Although we have seen an impressive increase in installed capacity addition, from barely about 1,350 MW at the time of independence (1947) to about 160,000 MW today, over 90,000 MW of new generation capacity is required in the next seven years. On the energy demand and supply side, India is facing severe shortages.

The increasing appetite for energy that has developed in the recent past has been further complicated by rapidly diminishing conventional sources, like oil and coal. To further add to the problems of increased demand and constrained supply, there are serious questions about pursuing a fossil fuel-led growth strategy, especially in the context of environmental concerns. The challenge facing a developing nation such as ours is to meet our increasing energy needs while minimizing the damage to the environment.

BENEFITS OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY OPTIONS

Alternative energy options enable local institutions to manage their own energy needs and thus provide rural development opportunities. This situation encourages decentralized decision making, which has far-reaching implications for the governance of a community. In addition, dissemination and popularization of energy-efficient devices and alternatives to conventional fuels can do the following:

1. Provide better lighting. Better lighting enables the poor to stretch their period of economic activity; their children can help them in daily chores and then study in the evenings. 
2. Help the environment. Efficient use of conventional sources of energy or use of renewable energy helps save the environment from further degradation and gives it an opportunity to regenerate. 
3. Provide sustainable fuel systems. A-forestation and agro forestry, combined with the introduction of energy-efficient devices, can help to create a sustainable fuel-use system within the rural community and sustain the ecological balance of a region. 
4. Benefit women. Lower dependency on fuel wood and other household fuel sources reduces the drudgery of women by shortening or eliminating the distances they travel for fuel collection. The improved cook stove, for example, has been associated with an average net annual saving of seven person-days of labour a year in India. 
5. Benefit human health. Use of improved cook stoves and biogas plants, for example, helps reduce or eliminate health problems associated with using conventional cook stoves, including respiratory diseases and eye problems. 
6. Enhance income. Alternative energy sources can provide local employment opportunities through direct use of energy in small-scale industry and agriculture, through construction, repair, and maintenance of energy devices, or through the sale of energy to local utilities. In India, for example, biomass gasification systems are used to dry horticulture produce (such as large cardamom and ginger). Another example is the use of solar water-heating systems to meet the hot-water demand of hotels and hospitals.

THE MAJOR AREAS OF INTEREST IN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

• Wind energy 
• Solar energy 
• Biogas / Biomass 
• Energy From Waste 
• Other alternative sources of energy such as fuel cell, hydrogen energy, tidal, geothermal, energy management, etc

ENERGY SCENARIO: Supply and Demand

Fig1: Sources of forms of energy supply

Fig 2: Demand

India's energy Balance

Conventional energy supply scenario

Non-conventional energy supply scenario

Table shows the status of renewable energy technologies in India.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES

As seen from above facts, the alternative sources of energy provide us with huge advantages in our struggle to solve our energy crisis. Now let us look at how exactly we stand in terms of these sources and evaluate the current pattern of development.

Wind energy

Wind power is known as ‘Green Power’, because of its technical and commercial viability and its environment-friendly nature. The special features of wind energy that makes it attractive are zero cost fuels, low gestation period, quicker benefits and usefulness for sustainable economic development.

Wind Electric conversion System

Present Scenario of Wind Energy in India

With an installed capacity of 2,483 MW as on March 31, 2004, India is now the fifth largest wind power producing nation in the world after Germany, USA, Spain and Denmark. Today, India has earned recognition as a new Wind Super Power.

The capital cost of wind energy projects in the country ranges from Rs. 4 crore to Rs. 4.5 crore per MW. The cost of power generation is estimated to be Rs. 2 to Rs. 2.50 per KWh, depending on the site. The cost per unit of power comes down to 50 KWh, five years after the project commissioning due to the cost of fuel being nil.

Thereafter, for the next 15 years, it would stay at this level, as the only recurring cost would be on the operations and maintenance of the plant. Therefore, wind harvested power is both cheaper and reliable than other conventional sources of power.

Need for the use of energy through solar, wind and biomass sources in remote areas is increasing and will put the nation at the forefront of renewable power used; with the government recently proposing renewable energy standard for the nation.

A press release on the Web site for the Press Information Bureau (PIB) in New Delhi outlines the renewable resources that are currently utilized in India, and the Government’s Common Minimum Program to establish enough renewable energy sources to electrify all Indian villages by 2010.

Under the program, an additional 4,000 MW of power from renewable sources would be added to the nation’s current power generation by 2007, and the government has set a goal of elevating the share of renewable energy sources to 10% by 2012.

Currently, according to the Bureau, renewable energy contributes about 5,000 MW of the nation’s power needs. That is only 4.5 percent of the total installed generating capacity from all available power sources in India Wind power alone accounts for 2,483 MW, which makes the nation’s wind energy program the fifth largest in the world. The features of wind energy that makes it attractive are zero fuel costs, and quicker benefits and usefulness for sustainable economic development. Gross wind energy potential in the country is estimated at 45,000 MW, and the states with high wind power potential are Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

The development of infrastructure facilities, will expedite the process of economic development. Energy is the most crucial input for power generation projects and this will certainly contribute to the socio-economic development of the country. Even after rapid industrialization, India is still dependent on agriculture, which is the backbone of Indian economy. To increase the agriculture production irrigation facilities, for which electricity is needed, have to be installed.

Rural electrification is very essential for the social development. Energy generation by wind reduces the generation cost and will help in balancing the cost of energy.

Wind energy is pollution-free as wind fans have potential to reduce CO2 emissions. Wind energy is inexhaustible, environment-friendly, emits no pollutant? or waste heat and needs no cooling water.

India is one of the few countries in the world that has made significant attempts to harness these indigenous energy sources.

Wind power potential of the country is estimated to the tune of 20000 MW. By the end of 20th century energy production through non-conventional energy sources is about 6000 MW through biomass, followed by 5000 MW from wind energy and 2000 MW from solar energy. Of all these sources, wind power is found to be most cost effective and economically viable. In collaboration with Pioneer Asia Wind Turbines, a division of Pioneer Asia Industries, Chennai, is offering 850 kw wind turbines in India. An independent wind farm developing in India is also proving to be successful with the achievements of Chennai-based Indio Wind Energy Ltd.

A special mention has to be made about, Muppandal in Tamil Nadu, which has the highest number of wind farms in Asia and the third highest in the world. Its highest capacity utilization of 42% has been achieved in a commercial project followed by Jogimattic in Kamataka. The industry average is 20%.

Based on the capabilities the ministry of non-conventional energy sources, it is planned to get an additional 15,000-MW wind power capacity during the 10th Five Year Plan. Faster growth of wind power generation in the country is necessary to dose in the gap between the real and potential, as envisaged by wind industry and environmentalists.

Gujarat is one of the many potential states in India for development of wind power projects.

There are 18 wind-monitoring stations in operation and 12 sites have been identified with annual mean wind speed of 18 KMPH (Kilometer per hour) and above. Many companies are engaged in the field of manufacture and installation of Wind Turbine Generators. NEPC MICON Ltd, a Chennai based company is the pioneer and leader in India for wind energy technology. The company has created wind farm of 178 MW with 711 Wind Turbine Generators and has created Asia’s largest wind farm Another company, which is harnessing the wind for power is Windia Power Ltd, a joint venture company promoted by Weizmann Ltd. and Ned Wind Rhenen of Netherlands. They mainly manufacture and market Turbine Generators (WTGs) in India.

Some of the world’s most prominent names in wind power industry like NEG, Micon, Vestas, Enercon, Ecotechia, GE wind etc. are also in India with fully owned subsidiaries or as joint ventures with Indian partners.

Here special mention has to be made of the Project Pawanshakti (means wind power) in Gujarat. Pawanshakti is the joint venture of Indian initiative and expertise with Danish technical and financial assistance. With the help of Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), Department of Non-conventional Energy Sources, Ministry of Energy, Government of India (DNES) and Gujarat Electricity Board, the Gujarat Energy Development Agency has executed the project in a record time of eighteen months. It is situated in Lamba village, 50 km north of Porbandar on the Saurashtra coast in Gujarat State. Project Pawanshakti with its sophisticated technology can easily provide power to irrigate 10000 hectares of land. The project generates 20 million units of electrical energy every year.

A notable feature of the Indian programme has been the interest among private investors/ developers in setting up of commercial wind power projects. The gross potential is 45,000 MW (source MNES) and a total of about 1869 MW of commercial projects have been established until March 2003. About 8.8 billion units of electricity have been fed to various State grids from wind power projects.

The breakup of projects implemented in prominent wind potential states is given in the Table

Present Scenario of Solar Energy in India

India is blessed with abundance of sunlight, water and biomass. To accelerate the momentum of development and large-scale utilization of renewable energy sources, the Indian renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) was incorporated in March 1987 under the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES), Government of India. By 2010, IREDA hopes to add about 3000 MW of power generation capacity through renewable energy projects it funds. More and more possibilities are being explored in environment friendly energy fields. IREDA estimates a potential of 5,000 trillion kwh per year of the solar thermal energy.

3 million square meters of solar thermal systems have been installed providing 15 million liters per day of hot water. In addition, there are 372,293 solar cookers. The public sector units CEL and BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd) are the major manufacturers of solar cells in India. In the private sector, RESPV and TATA-BP Solar (India) are the major players. In addition, Pentafour Solec Technology Ltd is a new and promising entrant in the field, setting up a solar cells manufacturing line of 3 MW per annum. Production efficiencies of 13 percent are being obtained for cells manufactured in India for single crystal silicon.

The demand in India of single crystal PV modules in 1994 was 5.6 MW. The Indian Department of Telecommunications still forms 70 percent of the domestic market.

There are also 954 PV community lights/TV and community facilities; 85,000 PV domestic lighting units/Lanterns; 32,872 PV street lights; and 1,373 PV water pumps. India receives a good level of solar radiation, the daily incidence ranging from 4 to7 kWh/m2 depending on location. Solar thermal and solar photovoltaic technologies are both encompassed by the Solar Energy Programme that is being implemented by the MNES. The

Programme, regarded as one of the largest in the world, plans to utilize India’s estimated solar power potential of 20 MW/km2 and 35 MW/km2 solar thermal. The country has also developed a substantial manufacturing capability, becoming a lead producer in the developing world.The principal objective of the Solar Thermal Programme is the market development and commercialization of solar water heaters, solar cookers etc.
Solar water heating has been applied in a wide variety of circumstances from individual residences to hotels to industrial processes.

The MNES has been promoting the sales of box solar cookers since the early 1980’s. In
March 1999 the world’s largest Solar Steam Cooking System was installed at Mount Abu, Rajasthan. It is a hybrid system with back-up oil-fired boilers and is designed to prepare food for 10 000 people. There is also a separate Solar Buildings Programme aimed at creating an awareness of the potential for solar-efficient buildings. The passive solar design concept is a climate-responsive architectural practice that is now being researched developed and implemented throughout the country.

A Solar PV Programme has been developed by the MNES for the past two decades, aimed particularly at rural and remote areas. The MNES has instituted a plan for establishing solar PV power generation of 1 MW for use in specialized applications, voltage support at rural sub-stations and peak shaving in urban centers. At the present time 15 grid-interactive solar PV power projects have been installed in seven states and further 10 are under construction.

Solar water heaters (SWHs) have proved the most popular so far. A conservative estimate of solar water heating systems installed in the country is over 475000 sq. meters of the conventional flat plate collectors. Solar water heaters are cost competitive in most applications when you account for the total energy costs over the life of the system.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) for decentralized power supply are fast becoming popular in rural and remote areas. Today, solar PV systems are at work converting the radiation of sun directly to electricity. PV generated power has three main advantages over all other types of remote power generation- free inexhaustible power, simplicity and low maintenance. PV power is practical and extremely handy where access to conventional electric lines is difficult and costly, and for low and portable power needs.

Conclusion

The future is bright for continued PV technology dissemination around the world. PV technology fills a significant need in supplying electricity, creating local jobs and promoting economic development in rural areas, while also having the positive benefits of avoiding the external environmental costs associated with traditional electrical generation technologies. People who choose to pursue a renewable and sustainable energy future now, are the ones showing the way for the future. Solar energy is presently being used on a smaller scale in furnaces for homes and to heat up swimming pools. On a larger scale, solar energy could be used to run cars, power plants, and space ships.

ENERGY MANAGEMENT -THE BIGGEST ENERGY SOURCE

Over the last few years it has been observed that present and up-coming trends in industrial as well as business demands, strenuous competition, growing population, mechanized living styles are causing increase in energy demands. Advanced technological developments, which are changing at a very fast rate, are adding to these demands substantially.

The ease of use and low cost, petroleum-based fuels gained dominant position as energy sources over a long period. Due to the continuously increasing consumption of these energy sources, the natural stocks of these sources have considerably reduced with time.

Hence these sources have lost economic leverage leading to increase in the use of alternatives, such as biomass, solar and wind energy, which have become attractive

Present scenario regarding wastage of energy

It is observed that much of the energy is wasted in various ways which results in decrease of the energy sources without any service to the mankind. A few of these are,

• Poor road condition results in more fuel consumption, more wear and tear of vehicles, higher maintenance cost of vehicles, more replacement of spare parts, more accidents etc. Accidents alone result in further energy loss besides other serious losses. This energy loss is continuous and very big.
• Poor maintenance of machinery and equipments in industries, other companies, offices etc. result in wastage of energy. One can imagine total energy loss in this form.
• Municipal Corporations, Nagar Parishads and Gram Panchayats work include electricity and water supply. There are many reasons we can observe how a great amount of energy is wasted. Water supply needs a huge energy right from construction of dams till it reaches the consumer. Hence waste of one drop of water is a great energy loss. Same is the case with electric energy. In the year 1990 in a seminar on energy crisis, one paper was presented which stated that in a city the cost of electricity wasted due to early switching on and late switching off of street lights was Rs. 64,00,000. Hence, total wastage in this type is of the order of crores.
• Wastage of energy in the domestic use is of a high order. Much of the energy is lost due to misuse or non-required use.
• Wastage of energy in the form of electricity and water is of a very high order. Along with usual known wastage there is a great deal of indirect wastages. For example poor quality seeds will consume energy but will not give expected yield.

There are so many such practical losses which call for better energy management. Due to the continuous increase in consumption of these energy sources, the natural stocks of these sources have considerably reduced with time. Hence these sources have lost economic leverage leading to increase in the use of alternatives, such as biomass, solar and wind energy, which have become attractive.

Methodology to develop energy conversion system

To make a system almost wastage free, right from initial stages the system should be developed adopting Design For Six Sigma (DFSS) methodology. Steps involved will be-

Define: details including purpose, elements involved like machineries, transmission, distribution, use should be minutely decided.
Measure: Details of measurement system in all the phases should be decided.
Analyze: The elements of the first two phases be thoroughly analyzed so that the system could effectively designed.
Design: Based on the above phases system should be completely designed.
Verification: Design is to be verified using problem redefinition technique and after practical verification final implementation is to be done.

Methodology to use energy
Use of energy should also be based on Six Sigma methodology.
Define: Define the purpose of energy use clearly.
Measure: Measure the performance.
Analyze: Analyze the performance.
Improve: find ways to improve the performance.
Control: decide the parameters to be maintained for the future and see that they are within the control limits.

Conclusion

Along with the methodologies suggested here overall planning of the energy sources should be done using these methodologies like which source of energy is to be adopted for which purpose.
In hilly areas wind energy may be the best choice. Solar energy is best option for streetlights.
Biogas energy may be the best alternative in remote villages.
Adoption of these methodologies will definitely lead to cost effective use of energy. It will also help conventional sources to last long and the alternative ones be the most useful to the mankind But this definitely needs a complete cultural change. Let us all work towards making it possible and make India more energetic.

References

1. M.L. Mckinney and R.M. Schoch “Environmental Science” -Systems and Solutions Web Enhanced Ed. 1998, Published by Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
2. W.P. Cunningham & B.W. Saigo “Environmental Science” 1999 Published by WCB/McGraw- Hill “Down to Earth” -Science & Environment fortnightly Various Issues
3. “Indian Express” Newspaper -Wind Power Supplement
4. Website: www.windpowerindia.com and other related websites
5. Ashok V. Desai, “Bioenergy”, Wiley Eastern Ltd. New Delhi, India, 1990, pp 6.
6. Kai Yang- Basem El- Haik, “Design for Six Sigma, A Roadmap for Product Development,” Mc Graw Hill, New York, 2003, pp1-35
7. Greg Brue, “Six Sigma for Managers,” Tata Mc Graw – Hill Publishing co Ltd. 2002, PP 79-131

CONSTRUCTION QUALITY, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT

Assignment 

You have been selected as a project manager for a prestigious high rise building in Mumbai, which will be housing very rich personalities from industry and film world.

Your company management has asked you to formalize Quality Management System (QMS) for interior finishes, Plumbing and prevention of rainwater seepage so that the overall quality standard and image of company is raised.

INTRODUCTION to QUALITY

"The level of quality of a civil work (or part of it) can be measured by the degree of fulfillment of its construction specification and standards with in time.

Construction is one time activity. It affords no second chance of modification, repair or rejection once the construction work is completed.

With the increase in complexity and the size of construction operations, the responsibility for ensuring quality has gradually shifted from worker to supervisor of inspection and later to the quality control department.

It is well known fact that the quality can not be constructed. It has to be designed in to a project system. QMS therefore starts from the design stage itself.

QMS is the responsibility of the project authority. The owner or his representative formulates the policy, determines the scope of the quality planning & management.

STANDARDS & SPECIFICATIONS for making & transport concrete

CONCRETE MAKING STANDARDS & SPECIFICATIONS    

The quality of construction depends upon right material used. the correct method followed and produce end product of acceptable performance. The means of quality control are tests, inspection, supervision and analysis of data etc. Quality tests are conducted in laboratories and inspection and supervision are carried out on the site and data analysis done by experts in the office.

SPECIFICATION:

The standards and specifications for concrete and various ingredients are universally standardized and they are required to be in conformity with same. Indian Standards IS for concrete and its basic ingredients viz cement aggregate coarse and fine, water admixtures and various of concreting, its placement and final acceptance should be as per IS specification.

Concrete Making:     

Raw material for concrete is Cement, Aggregate & Water. Now all the standards and specifications for making of a particular concrete are according to ASTM or BS or IS.Testing is to be done at each level for quality control i.e. in the following order:

Cement test:

Ø Setting time
Ø Soundness
Ø Strength
Ø Fineness and grading
Ø Chemical composition
Ø Specific Gravity
Ø Heat evolution
Ø Water retention
Ø False set
Ø Adulteration

Aggregate test:

Ø Photographic Examination
Ø Grading & surface area
Ø Bulk unit weight
Ø Specific gravity
Ø Absorption and surface moisture
Ø Chemical stability
Ø Resistance to freeze and thaw
Ø Abrasion resistance
Ø Crushing
Ø Impact value
Ø Sampling aggregate

Water test ( for impurities):

Ø Organic
Ø Inorganic
Ø Sulphates
Ø Chlorides
Ø Suspended matter
Ø Hydrogen ion concentration
Ø Seawater
Ø sugar

Concrete testing

The following European standard test methods for concrete have already been published as BS ENs:-

BS EN 12350 Testing fresh concrete

Part 1 : Sampling
Part 2 : Slump test
Part 3 : Vebe test
Part 4 : Degree of compactability
Part 5 : Flow table test
Part 6 : Density
Part 7 : Air content – Pressure methods

BS EN 12390 Testing hardened concrete

Part 1 : Shape, dimensions and other requirements for specimens and moulds
Part 2 : Making and curing specimens for strength tests
Part 4 : Compressive strength – Specification for testing machines
Part 5 : Flexural strength of test specimens
Part 6 : Tensile splitting strength of test specimens
Part 7 : Density of hardened concrete
Part 8 : Depth of penetration of water under pressure

EN 12390 : Part 3 Compressive strength of test specimens has been approved at second formal vote and will be published by BSI in due course.

CONCRETE TRANSPORTING STANDARDS & SPECIFICATIONS:

Ø Moisture Content
Ø Segregation
Ø Setting time

SQC:   

Statistical Quality Control is based on data calculated with all the specifications so that to get the relevant workers either skilled in different works or unskilled to transfer the load etc. Which in return would give quality in the project.

 INSPECTION & CHECKLISTS:

Why are they:        

Preparation of inspection and checklists are very important at each stage to control the quality work in time also. If no inspections or checklists are prepared then there may be a blunder in construction either in specification or in structural details.

Checklists

are prepared for the record of inspection done at different stages. To prepare checklists, is an essential and legal for any type of work. Checklist of all services – sanitary fittings, Electrification work- wiring, surface and conduit wiring, Air Conditioning, cable laying, Ducting.

How much use is made of them:

Use of an inspection or checklist could be after a short time or along time period if any uncertainty happens. At that moment the authorities can calculate the conditions that what could have been happened on disaster time and that where was the fault.       

In my experience & opinion:

There should be regular inspections and preparation of checklists at the start of the event, then in midway of the activity and at last and at the end of the event.

HOW TO ASSURE QUALITY:   

Assurance of quality is done at managerial level with the use of MIS having support system at each level. For the given project the following authorities would give the assurance:

Ø Architect
Ø Interior designer for specifications
Ø Civil engineer (Structural)

CREATING QUALITY ASSURANCE ORGANISATION/UNIT AT THE SITE

Person/Officers- their qualifications & experiences:

Building In charge with a min qualification B.E. Civil and an experience of 10 yrs in the building industry
Site Engineer with min qualification as diploma in civil engineering
Surveyor with min qualification as diploma in civil engineering
Resident Architect with min qualification as B.Arch.

Functions & Duties:

Every day development at the site for the various jobs need to be checked as per the bar chart submitted by the builder at the beginning of the activities. Everyday the surveyor will go at the site and measure the various quantities of the items /jobs done. After noting down he shall handover the same to the site engineer employed. Site engineer shall accordingly go to the site, check the quality of work and can recheck the detail of the quantities submitted to him by the surveyor. This shall continue for a week .At the end of the week this information shall be made in a tabular form and shall be sent to the building in-charge duly signed by the surveyor and the site engineer. Along with this report will also be sent mentioning the bar chart followed for the jobs to be done.

A representative from the architects firm (Resident architect) shall visit the site at least on the alternative days. Resident architect will check that the details of the design submitted by them, are being followed or not.

Reporting to whom: The surveyor at the site shall submit the detail of quantities to the site engineer.

The site engineer shall make his weekly reports of the works done and the requirement of the drawings needed at site and submit it to the building in charge. 

The building in charge shall accordingly make his own summery of the project and shall instruct the builder and the architect according to the requirement. He shall be visiting the site often or make surprise visits.

 Methods of quality assurance:

Testing of incoming materials: already discussed in specifications and standards for making concrete.

In process inspections & testing: for the quality assurance of the various jobs being done at site by regular visits of the site engineer and the building in charge at different stages.

Testing at finishing stages: At finishing stage for all the different activities, one needs to check the alignment of the internal finishes with the walls and floors respectively. The slopes and the finishes are in compliance with the specifications submitted by the construction agencies.

Penalties for non-compliance & incentives for compliance: As I have already mentioned earlier that the bar chart for all the jobs to be done shall be prepared in the beginning of the project. After all the discussions of the builder, architect & building in charge, a flow chart shall be made duly signed by all showing that which job is to be completed at which time. While the construction is going on if the building in charge notices the delay in any activity will send a notice to the concerned agency. It then becomes the duty of the agency to look into the delay and cover up till the next stage of the bar chart. Now if this agency fails to do so, the building in charge/employer shall have all the right to impose the penalty clause according to the agreement.

Conclusion

Civil engineering projects and construction companies have begun to attract the attention of social scientist and management experts. Social scientist argue that it takes more than just SQC and technical skills to produce quality. It requires the restructuring of the project organization the way they think, work and interact. Management expert suggests that quality monitoring evaluation and management information systems should be built in to the construction process at all stages from design to execution.

Books Referred:

NICMAR study material

PMBOK

PROJECT PLANNING AND CONTROL

Assignment

A New International cricket facility is to be constructed outside a mega city over a piece of land. Facility to include:

1. Capacity of Spectators : 80,000
2. day/Night play facility
3. TV Camera platform in six directions
4. Safety of players from spectators
5. Pavilion for VIPs to sit : 300 seat
6. Parking (adequate space for all above)

Time available is 16 months including monsoon. Cost of construction need to be recovered in 5 years. Average cost of Ticket is 100/-. Approximate 4 matches per year.

Submit the Project Report:
1. Identification of Project
2. stages in development of Project
3. work break down structure to undertake the project
4. Milestone and CPM chart for corporate control
5. Cost of project.

PROJECT IDENTIFICATION

The primary thing about the any project is its necessity as well as its feasibility. Now the necessity of the project like a cricket stadium is created by the people of the city as well as a mega city demands a cricket stadium in its vicinity. The feasibility demands a deep thought like for a location of stadium i.e.

(a) Where can the plant be located?
(b) What is the present and future projected cost of resources?
(c) The sources for Financing of the project?
(d) Are there enough raw materials as well as skilled and productive labour available in the area or can be created?
(e) Are there adequate electricity and communication facilities available?
(f) What political or institutional factors may cease or impede the development and operation of the facility?
(g) What will be the sociological, economical and environmental impact of entire project on community, like mushrooming of good hotels and restaurant in the vicinity of the stadium?

In short, what do all these factors taken as a whole mean for the technical and economic feasibility of the project?
The project can be defined as,” Organization and performance of resources such as men, machinery, money, material, space, and technology into logical sequence of activities.’’ So, when we deal with the project, we are primarily dealing with resources like time, money, equipment, technology, space usage, material and last but not least people. We have to organize these resources and platform activities in their logical sequence to complete the project. So one thing must be clear in one’s mind that whether it is to construct a small house or to construct a cricket stadium costing several crores of rupees or any other multi crore project of construction of Dam etc. the general pattern remains same.

Projects are usually a part of an overall strategic programme. A programme at the micro level comprise one or more projects. A programme is managed in a co-coordinated way to achieve its overall objectives through the implementation of its projects. 

Project Report

Project report is a basis for communicating what has been planned for the project. In this project I have assumed the site in Punjab as there is no other such type of facility is available yet. Following are some important points for the report;

• Feasibility of the project is to the calculations 
• Internal money of the state would remain with in the limits. 
• City itself is an attractive place.

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

From conceptualization to implementation the stages in the development of construction projects fall into broadly consistent patterns but in timing and degree of emphasis each project takes on its own a unique character. 

Conceptualization

Most projects start with a need to have a new facility long before designers start preparing designs and drawings of the projects and certainly before field construction work can commence. Considerable thought goes into broad scale planning. Elements of this phase include
(a) Conceptual analysis
(b) Technical and feasibility studies
(c) Environmental impact reports

Engineering and design

Architects and design engineers primarily handle these phases. Increasingly, however, the client operation and utilization of Knowledge and field constructors’ experience are more strongly injected at this stage through direct participation and stringent review procedures. There are two phase of engineering and design:

(i) Preliminary engineering and design
(ii) Detailed engineering and design 

(i) Preliminary engineering and design stages

(a) Architectural concepts, like form of the stadium, capacity of the stadium, functions fully filled state of the all art facilities etc.
 (b) Evaluation of alternatives in regard to the ecological process, size and capacity.
 (c) Economic feasibility studies : For instance of a high – rise building, the owner specifies the area he would like to utilize. So, Architect will make preliminary planning of floor of the building required, taking into consideration all the prevailing laws of the area. He will also go through requirement of general functional areas such as parking and service areas and also overall design approach. Similar is the case of cricket stadium, here architect will make preliminary planning for general site lay – out , form of the stadium keeping in mind the sitting facility , day- night facility with proper camera platform , proper entrances and exits for the manual as well as vehicular traffic with adequate parking facilities etc. 

 (ii) Detailed Engineering and Design

The process involves successively breaking down, of the project in to the parts that is the different type engineering requirements such as structural design, HVAC, Electrical plumbing & other services for analyzing and designing the structure in to its elements so that it complies with all the recognized standards of safety and performance. This is most important for a project like stadium where people are very large in number and secondly due to the structure of the stadium which should be column free and light weight as well as sound in aesthetic sense . so , a set of drawing and specifications are prepared for use by the constructors covering civil, electrical , mechanical , interior drawings etc. as the case may be. 

Procurement

Procurement involves two types of activities. One is to contract and subcontract to several parties for different types of work activities. These contractors and subcontracts make arrangements or supply of all men, materials and machines required to complete the part of the work allotted to them . The other is to take responsibility to procure all resources to complete the project. 

Construction

It is the process whereby the Designer’s plans and specifications are converted into physical structures and facilities. It involves the organization and co-ordination of all the resources time, money, material, technology, people, equipment etc. The target will be to complete the project on schedule and within stipulated costs complying all the standards of quality and performance specified by the designers, as in this case the total time allotted is 16 months including monsoon period.

 Commission

Most structures and facilities of any significance involve commissioning phase . During construction large amount of testing is done, so as to be sure that all components function will individually and together as a total system. Electrical and mechanical systems are tested, adjusted, corrected as required to bring them to a level to perform at an optimum output, like in this case of stadium having a day/night facility all the electrical systems are tested repeatedly and it should match the international standards. 

Maintenance

This is the phase where we need maximum attention and here we lack which is the main cause for the failure of the project. For instance PCA stadium, Mohali that is a state of the art cricket stadium but there is no regular maintenance, but whenever there is a much of international standards a huge amount of money is expended for its renovation like 85lakh rupees were spend for the test match between India and England, so whenever the project is handed over to the owner either to operate or utilize where he takes services of all production engineers, maintenance engineers, service people and people of different trades as required to have a smooth functioning of the project over its lifetime.

PROJECT PLANNING & CONTROL

The construction planning process is stimulated through a study of project documents. These documents include- but are not limited to the available technical and commercial studies and investigations design and drawings, estimate of quantities, construction methed statements, project planning data, contract documents, site conditions, working regulations, market survey, local resources, project environment and the client’s organization. The planning process take in to the account the strength and weakness of the organization as well as the anticipated opportunities and risks.

(i) Planning is the creative and demanding mental activity of working out what has to be done, how , by when, by whom and with what – ‘ doing the job in the mind .’ plans are not just pieces of paper . Plans represent the result of careful though, comprehensive discussions, decisions and actions, and commitments made between people and contractual parties.

(ii) Planning techniques form the planner’s toolbox. They assist in the analysis of the plan, organizing the information, and have a crucial effect on the way in which the plan is communicated to others. Taken together, these to elements of planning produce “the plan” a strategy and tactics for the execution of the project. In terms of activities, time quantities, resources and perhaps costs and values, now the point is how and by whom this planning and planning techniques use to convert all these theories of planning and planning techniques in to a practical shape. Planners cannot plan without managers. It is the manager’s task to plan: that is to decide on strategies and tactics, to break down the work to be done into tasks and sub-tasks and to assign the responsibility for completing these tasks to individuals or organization. So in short, planners and implementers should go side by side for any project and act as a team. 

CONTROL

Planning can be described as a process of thinking in advance. It is based on experience, sound judgment and some quantitative techniques. It deals with the future and as such there are bound to be uncertainties, which may cause deviations from the target proposed to be achieved. So, one should not hope that everything will be fine, because plans and schedules do not work by themselves. It is rightly said that we must plan the work first and then work the plan. So for working the plans and schedules effective controlling is necessary. “Planning is looking forward while controlling is looking back.”

Project Control covers:-
(i) Deviation: Deviations occur due to following reasons 

While doing original planning and scheduling activity duration might have been over estimated or under estimated.
1. Some activities are delayed due to reasons beyond control like change in foundation condition, bad weather, monsoon as in this case, non availability of certain resources, labour strike, break down of equipment etc. So covering these risks the total time allotted to complete the cricket stadium is 16 months.
2. Natural calamities like floods, earthquakes, epidemic etc., festivals etc.
3. Addition deletion or major modification in the work by client.
4. Introduction of new material, equipment or construction techniques. It is necessary to review the actual progress against the predetermined targets. By assessing the reasons of deviations and decide whether a new network is necessary for the remaining work. If not, what is the effect of this deviation on the remaining portion or what remedial actions are possible to retain the target date of completion unchanged.

Updating Network

It consists of review of the planning and scheduling at regular intervals. But for that updating, the information required will be, period at which review is taken either in terms of days or weeks. List of activities completed and partially completed with the period required to complete the balance of the activity etc. Now after getting the required updating should be done at regular intervals, which depends upon magnitude of work, rate of progress etc. At short intervals as the scope of absorbing delays is limited as the period advances, for small projects. At certain stages such as foundation level, plinth level, sub structure and super structure etc. Whenever new techniques or equipment are available , when work has stopped for a long period for some reasons the updating of a project also helps in rescheduling of the activities which are delayed or lagging behind so that the project can be completed within the stipulated time. 

Calendaring the Network

While preparing the network we consider the working days while on work sits there will be holidays such as weekly of day, festivals etc. these holidays have therefore to be incorporated in calendaring the network. 

Cost control

 Project control must be linked up with the cost. The objectives of the cost control are the method must give the program of expenditure so that requirements of fund can be assessed. At the time of review we should have a clear picture of , actual expenditure incurred vis-à-vis program expenditure, actual expenditure vis- a vis the expected returns. In case deviations, what are the reasons and what will be the estimated cost of remaining portion of the work . Improper Cost estimation & Controlling can bring a project to a stand still , if the project is under budgeted the project will be stopped mid way , similarly proper planning is to be done stage wise requirement of the funds for the various stages of the project & the sources for the same 

PROJECT WORK BREAKDOWN

Project work breakdown is the division of the project into the small Identifiable activities or events with some milestones also. These activities are also called as levels, which can be classified very well. For instance the activities of the cricket stadium are:

Pre Construction Phase

- Selection of land
- Preliminary design
- Final design & preparation of working drawings
- Selection of the vendors for the execution of the work & supply of equipments & materials

Construction Phase

- Demarcation of the field area.
- Construction of foundation for the stands and other sitting areas.
- Construction of boundary walls.
- Construction of steps with proper risers.
- Construction of roof.
- Provisions of services application of wall, floor and ceiling finish.
- Completion of electrical and mechanical works.
- External works: drainage etc.
- Parking facility etc.
- Structure for Lights.
- Road work.

Commissioning & Handing Over.

- Testing & Commissioning of the Electrical Equipments.
- Testing & Commissioning of the HVAC system.
- Testing & Commissioning of the other services such as Fire Fighting, security system, fire detection system etc.
- Final Handing over of the facility to the client. 

Work Breakdown Methodology

The project is divided into activities and events. In the preparation of the network for the project, the arrows indicate the activities and events are identifiable instantaneous stages they are represented as Nodes in a network. So, arrows of the network are joined in accordance with the interdependence of the activities, which they represent. In small and simple work this interrelationship is obvious but in a large project it is necessary to establish it systematically. The Work Breakdown Break Methodology involves the breaking down of the project into Major activities involved & further these activities are broken into further smaller activities & so on. The interrelationship of the dependent activities is worked out & a sequence of the execution of the activities involved is prepared, this interrelationship is represented in the graphical from & is called as network. This project can be broken down into activities as Civil work, Electrical work, Plumbing work etc., further the Civil work can be further broken down into Foundation work, Superstructure work, Road work etc., similarly the foundation work can be broken down into layout, excavation, PCC, RCC etc & further these works can be fragmented as RCC work will involve the following activities
- Preparation of form work.
- Cutting , bending , laying& binding of steel.
- Pouring of concrete.
- Curing.
- Removing of shuttering.

PART OF A WORK BREAK DOWN STRUCTURE

Assessing Duration

Once the Work Breakdown structure is formed, all the activities are assigned time duration and logically interrelationship of activities is formed as the following activity can start how many days after the preceding activity

How to evaluate the total time taken to complete the project? In construction work, estimates of activity duration cannot be anything other than approximation. In repetitive construction where the activities and trades follow in sequence, any delayed in the planned completion of an activity will result in the following trades waiting unproductively for its completion. Therefore it is prudent to make some provision for late completion by planning a short delay or buffer between each activity. For example in this case of cricket stadium , the monsoon period can delayed the project to complete according to its actual planned completion so that’s why covering the risks there is a provision for late completion by planning a short delay or buffer between each activity. So, 16 months of time to complete the stadium covers the short delay (either natural or due to human failure) as well as a little buffer between each activity.

Now what is this buffer stands for? The estimate of buffer time is related to the project manager’s assessment of the reliability of the estimate of activity duration ; where the reliability is poor , large buffer must be used . Taking the case of foundation of a simple house,

Activity; Foundation ---------------time taken 5 days
Buffer time ---------------time 2 days
Total time taken = 7 days .

So, project manager assess the total time for foundation as 7 days (not 5 days) including the delay period or buffer time .

Costing activity

The discussion above considered only the direct cost of activity (or project ). Actually activity ( project ) cost consists of direct and indirect costs. These comprise of the following components;

(a) Direct cost: 

(i) Cost of material
(ii) Wages paid to labor
(iii) Expenditure on tools and equipment used on the activity.

(b) Indirect cost: 

(i) Supervision charges
(ii) Administrative charges
(iii) Interest n capital
(iv) Revenue due to early completion of work and loss due to delay.

Indirect costs is worked out per day of the project execution or it is allocated on the basis of certain stages of work packages e.g. foundation, sill level, lintel level in the case of building or foundations substructure super structure, approaches etc.

Indirect cost increases as duration increase and direct cost goes on decreasing as duration increases. Now in this case of cricket stadium given data,

(i) Capacity of spectators 80,000
(ii) Capacity of V.I.P stands 300
(iii) Time available 16 months (including monsoons)
(iv) Cost of construction to be recovered in 5 year
(v) Average cost of ticket is Rs.100
(vi)Approximate matches in a year is 4

So, total cost of the project:

Total earning of tickets for a single match if pack to full capacity =80,000 X 100
(Excluding any other earning received from sponsors or telecast right)=80, 00,000/-
Total earning in a year having 4 matches per year
=80, 00, 000 X 4 =3, 20, 00,000/-

Now as given earlier that the cost of construction to be recovered in 5 years,
So, total cost of the stadium =3, 20, 00,000 X 5 =16, 00, 00,000/-

So, a total cost of construction of stadium is nearly 16crores and total time taken to complete is in 16 month duration.

After the preliminary planning of the project the detailed estimates of the cost is prepared for the project which involves the land costs, project construction cost, fee for the consultants, indirect cost such as supervision cost, administration cost etc. 

CPM/ NETWORK ANALYSIS

Network elements

Network is defined as the pictorial representation of the activities of a given project in the form of arrows, which form an essential element of network. Arrow represents an activity, task of operation of the work since activity consumes resources. Arrow has a directional sense, which can be represented by an arrow head it is used to indicate the general direction of flow of work. It is conventional to show arrows directing from left to right. Tail of arrow indicates the start of the activity and its had indicates the completion of the activity. Beginning of completion of an activity marks a phase or stage of work. This is represented by a suitable geometrical figure like circle, triangle and rectangle. This is known as event. Events naturally do not consume any resource by itself. There is another type of activities, which do not require any resources and which are basically imaging activities called dummy activities, these activities only show the interdependency of the activities but doesn’t consume any resource.

Development of network:

Network can be developed in two ways,

(i) Preceding and following activities:
Some activities cannot be started unless certain activities are completed. For e.g. excavation of foundation must be completed before foundation concrete is poured. These types of activities are known as sequential activities

(ii) Concurrent activities:
a few activities can be carried out concurrently. For e.g. excavation for foundation of four walls of a room can be started simultaneously. Let us take the case of erecting steel framework (for lightning) on cement concrete foundation in a cricket ground, the following operations are identified in the network:

• Clearing and leveling the site. 
• Giving lineout. 
• Procuring material for concrete. 
• Procuring steel for foundation. 
• Excavation-1 
• Excavation-2 
• Formwork foundation steel -1 
• Formwork foundation steel -2 
• Concreting-1 
• Concreting-2 
• Backfilling-1 
• Backfilling-2 
• Erection & painting of steel work 
• Clearing & leveling site 
• Preparation of ground& pitch 

These are the general activities for the development of Master Control Network (MCN), however we can divide each activity in to sub activity to develop a sub- network .e.g. concreting can be divided as conc. In foundation, in boundary wall, in superstructure etc. the activities of excavation, formwork, concreting and backfilling are divided in to two parts to make these activities concurrent to further reduce the time o completion and thus cost.

The logic table is as shown below:

Activity no	Activities description	duration	Preceding activity	Following activity	Concurrent Activity
A	Site clearing & leveling	30		B	C
B	Layout	15	B	D	C
C	Procurement of material	180		V
D	Excavation for foundation	45	B	E,L
E	Foundation work	60	D	F,H,I,J	L
F	Waterproofing	21	E	G	H,I,J,M
G	backfilling	15	F	X
H	Construction of boundary walls	90	E	S	F,I,J
I	Construction of super structure	150	E	K,N,P,R,T,U	F,H,J
J	Construction of toilets	60	E	Q
K	Services work(electrification, AC, plumbing)	90	I	V	G,N,P,R,T,U,Q
L	Foundation for light structure	25	D	M	E
M	Fabrication of structure for lights for d/n facility	90	L	V	F,H,I,J
N	Construction of drains	100	I	O	G,K,P,R,T,U,Q
O	Construction of Roads	120	N	S	V
P	Construction of parking area	90	I	S	G,K,N,R,T,U,Q
Q	Finishing works in toilets	50	J	S	G,K,N,R,T,U,P
R	M/S railing works	60	I	S	G,K,N,R,T,U,P
S	Painting work	90	H,K,N,P,R,T,U ,Q	V	O
T	Structure of welded wire mesh around the Ground for safety of players	60	I	S	G,KN,P,R,U,Q
U	Preparation of Ground and pitch	150	I	X	G,KN,P,R,T,Q
V	Installation of Gadgets	15	S,c	W
W	Commissioning of Services	20	V	X
X	Handing over	5	W

Analysis Procedure

The project can be analyzed in a no. of ways, through precedence network and PERT/CPM networks. Precedence network is the way of representing the project through the activity-on-node approach. In precedence network, an activity is shown on the node, which is represented by a box. The precedence diagram is shown as a straight line, called connectors, if an activity a is followed by another activity B, it is known as

 Sequential Activity

 

              

Sequential activity and it will be represented in CPM/PERT network as in the figure given below. However if the some activity A is followed by another activity B, then it will be represented in precedence diagram as:

Sequential Activity

Precedence network is easier to understand than arrow networks to draw as well as to understand . It is also easier to explain to a non technical person who does not have much knowledge about a network. Now time analysis in both the networks (precedence and PERT/CPM) is done on the same lines. Every event is associated with two timings,

Earliest occurrence (ET) and Latest occurrence (LT) Similarly each activity is associated with four times:
Earliest start time (EST)= The earliest time by which an activity can start.
Latest start time (LST)= The latest time by which an activity must start.
Earliest finish time (EFT)= The earliest time by which an activity can be finished.
Latest finished time (LFT)= The earliest time by which an activity must be finished.

So far the networks were discussed with respect to only time and it is assumed that resources required for carrying out various activities are as and when needed. But such a situation is rarely possible and even if possible is neither desirable nor it will be economical. So, the aim should be to use the resources in the optimum manner and at uniform rate as is possible. But at times there are constraints on availability of some resources such as some equipment or some special type of labor. So, activities have to be planned and schedule in such a way as to satisfy these constraints without extending the project duration: however if the constraints are of critical nature even project duration has to be altered to satisfy them. In the end let us give a look at step –by – step procedure for large network,

(i)Prepare project network.
(ii)Calculate event timings, activity timings & Floats
(iii)Prepare a bar chart to suitable scale. List the activities in a proper scale.
(a) The activities should be listed in increasing tail event number
(b) If there are more activities with the same tail event number they should be so arranged that head event numbers in increasing numbers
(iv) First schedule all activities at EST and work out resource requirements. If the distribution is not satisfactory find out sum of the squares.
(v) Reschedule the activities. Start with the last activity. It should be shifted towards LST stage by stage
(vi) Next activity is then taken up and same procedure is followed till we finish all the activities.
(vii)While scheduling activity from whose head event more than one activity is emanating, care is necessary. The latter are rescheduled; hence the preceding activity must be over by the earliest time worked out by rescheduling. Of subsequent activities. 

CPM Network:

Essentially it was a problem concerned with obtaining tradeoff between completion time of work and the cost. The method known as critical path method is therefore based on the assumption that the time required by various activities is known. It is deterministic in nature and is not concerned with uncertainties. CPM is more suitable in construction situation where some experience in handling similar activities in the past is available.
Once a commitment to CPM is made the implementation should be thoroughly planned in advance, with frank and open discussions and involvement if success is required. It must be understood that no amount of good office planning will cover up lack of production and efficiency in the field. Critical Path Method is capable of serving on the basis of an integrated company-worldwide management, ranging from pre bid feasibility studies though estimating, planning, cost accounting, progress control and financial control.
Critical Path Method is the path of events having longest duration i.e. A-B-D-E-I-N-O-V-W-X having duration 482 days=16 months, which is required completion time. This means that any delay in completion of any activity in critical path is not having Float. 

CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

For various projects, irrespective of their magnitudes, network techniques are very useful aids for project planning and controlling. Some of the features and characteristics make them powerful and flexible tools of decision making. They are useful at various stages of project management from early planning stages, when various alternative programs of procedures are being considered to the scheduling phase, when time and resources schedule are laid out and finally in the operational phase, when used as a control device to measure actual versus planned progress. They also make it possible to evaluate the requirement of the resources such as Man, Money and Material at the various stages of the Project. They are straight forward in concept and easily explainable to the layman. Data calculations, although tedious for large projects, are not difficult. Computer programs are readily available for large projects like a cricket stadium as in the case. It is very useful tool in the hands of the construction managers because it is very well suited for taking care of the peculiar relationship within the construction projects. 

BOOKS REFERRED

• Nicmar Study Materials 
• Lt. Col. K.K.Chitkara “Project Management” Tata Mc. Graw,1998