[Life on the Construction Site] Department of Civil Engineering University Curriculum Connection Construction Work Series - Construction Management

When I was in college, I always had an illusion. After I studied construction management, I went out to the society to do management.

Construction management mainly talks about several things. At present, I still remember scheduling and financial management. These two topics were the main subjects I learned in college. Scheduling is very helpful for drawing the overall progress network diagram. I almost never encounter it before I arrive at the director. Even if I arrive at the director, it has nothing to do with the complex financial models learned in college. Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing will be enough. What MDD, present value, and those that don't exist, are used for investing in stocks. Rather than doing engineering.

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Several major projects of construction management during the university period

It may be because the time is only one semester. The construction management in college was mainly about scheduling and finance. It was taught by two professors. It can only be said that there is a specialization in the technical field, but the actual construction site cannot be separated. Look, the director only knows that the schedule does not know the money, and the project will lose money; he only knows that the cost control cannot schedule the construction period, and there will be fines for overdue, so the two must be taken into account.

Schedule management

The most important thing to learn in university is the arrow chart and bar chart. The one used for the overall progress network chart is the arrow chart, which is the method of connecting the end of one work item to the front end of another work item. For details, please refer to this article【Construction life】Overall progress network diagram drawing SOP (Excel file free download) .

However, the arrow diagrams taught in college are not so complicated. The main thing is the relative relationship between time and work items. The overall progress network diagram needs to use the cost progress calculation method, which means that money should be linked to time, and it will be spent when it reaches the point. The amount of money is pre-arranged, and it should be fun to use in personal finances, forcing you to spend it.

The most complicated thing about scheduling is some repetitive construction problems. After leaving the society, you will find that the structure is grouting upstairs and the water and electricity pipes are being distributed downstairs. Foreign scholars will make it into something as free-floating. Time, total floating time, these terms, Balabala floating time, increase the difficulty of cognition to make them noble and noble.

The point is to complete the project with quality within the construction period, on schedule and in good quality, just a few simple words, not so complicated.

Financial Management

The financial engineering I learned in college is really more likely to be used as a boss and to invest in stocks. Let me give an example of the problem it wants to solve. Suppose you buy a strange hand today, and it can earn you XX million every year in the future, and then The maintenance and operating costs are XX million, so it is not worthwhile to buy this strange hand at XXX million. The financial engineering is calculating this matter.

Because it's too complicated, I'm lazy and don't want to use it. When you buy a car, you won't calculate its current value and then decide whether to buy it or not, and there are still many subjective feelings that can't be calculated. Otherwise, rationally speaking, buying a Mercedes with such a large discount is not economical, but will you consider this when you can afford it?

In fact, the cost progress is not a matter of financial engineering. The cost progress is just a simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. For example, the cost of earthworks accounts for 10% of the total cost and takes 60 days. The progress on that day is 0.16%. It is the basic concept of cost schedule, is it just multiplication and division, not so complicated.

The actual construction management after leaving the society

In a broad sense, construction management is used every day, and the management of construction sites is also a category of construction management, but it is very different from learning in schools. It should be the same in all walks of life. The following are several management categories that will be encountered in practice:

Duration management

Whether it is a private case or a public project, there will be a "contract construction period" when signing a contract. Overdue fines are required. The common fine is 1/1000 of the total project cost. For a project of 10 million yuan, the fine is 10,000 yuan per day. A 1 billion engineering fine is...it's not easy to be a boss.

In principle, when bidding, the construction period will be scheduled first to determine the contract construction period of this case. The construction site will be adjusted according to the contract construction period, and the contract construction period will be a little wider. After all, there are too many force majeure factors: epidemic, rainy days, strong winds, typhoons There are also some things we can't think of. If the owner steps on it hard, the fine is terrible.

In practice, parallel construction is something that these directors try to coordinate and arrange. After all, rushing for a day is a day, and the accumulation is a lot. This is the difference between an experienced director and an inexperienced engineer (that is, me and myself). Once I arranged a monthly schedule, and after the director helped me overlap some work items, the construction period was shortened by three days.

If the construction schedule is not well arranged, you will be scolded by the work class, because the work class does not only need to do the work of your construction site. If you don’t do it well, they will be idle for too many days, and they will not be able to do it if they are too rushed. Things that don't come out happen more often than before.

Some builders will advertise that it is their responsibility to complete the project on time. This is a good thing for consumers, but it is also related to their own interests. The earlier the loan is repaid, the interest will be reduced by one day. Don't watch them when they advertise The speech is very high-sounding, and in turn, when faced with the completely intolerant face of the construction factory, you will feel that this person is a bastard at all.

Material management

At the construction site, some materials have to be called by ourselves, such as steel bars, concrete, tiles, bagged concrete, sand, red bricks, etc. What we have to do is: decide how much to call and when to call, too much is a waste. , if you call it less, you will be scolded by the master. The seemingly simple work is actually not easy.

Don't let the workshop decide how many materials to order, especially this kind of small package contract that only contains OEM and no materials. Because there are few materials, you have to wait. The masters usually don't want to wait, so they will ask you to order more materials. It is not a problem if other construction sites are consumed. The problem is that sometimes these materials are not loved or loved by fathers and mothers, and they do not know where they will be consumed.

Quality management

Quality management is the most important job for a rookie engineer when he just started his career. He takes the self-checklist to the construction site to check the construction quality, whether there is construction according to the drawing, and whether there is any part that needs to be adjusted. This is the most basic work. There are quality control engineers, but there is always a gap between the system and the practice.

In public works, all projects will be required to write a construction plan, and there will be a self-checklist in the construction plan. Although many old directors don't like to do public works, for newcomers who have just entered the industry, I highly recommend going for a walk in public works, you will have a lot more basic knowledge of quality management.

In private construction projects, the self-checklist will not be specially formulated by anyone. At this time, the construction standards come from two things, the first is the drawing, and the second is the contract bid. A serious architect will write in the drawing. The construction specifications or construction standards are listed, and the construction plant will also write the specifications for the use of various materials when bidding. The construction plant with integrity will implement construction according to the contract.

cost management

Cost management should be the most important thing for every construction plant owner. Whether a project will make money or not depends on whether the cost management is good or not. On the construction site, it is to see whether each project can be completed within the budget, even if it is not possible. , but also depends on whether it can make up for the loss.

Considering the situation in recent years, many builders are calling for the rise of construction materials, so the price of houses will increase. If the builders and the construction factory are divided into two companies, there is no such problem at all, and the decision is made at the beginning of the contract. If the price is good, even if the price really increases, you will not absorb it, but what does it mean to collect money from consumers.

As for the builders who have their own construction plants, the increase in the cost of materials may really affect the unit price of the house. When many builders began to call for the increase in materials last year (2021), the increase in materials was still high. It is considered to be relaxed, but this year (2022), when the production and materials really double, no media is reporting. I don’t know why the Taiwanese media do not like to report the real situation.

For our construction plant, we have to finish the case that we have already received and make no money. As for the new bidding case, the total price will be adjusted upward. Metal materials (stainless steel, copper, aluminum and other materials, excluding steel bars) , the steel sign is futures) Because the relationship between Ukraine and Russia has really become more expensive due to the war, consumers who want to buy a house this year will have a harder time.

Purchasing management

I have never learned this project in school, and I have never encountered a construction factory or a construction company. There will be a special procurement and contracting department in the company. Their task is to issue contracts that are the same as the contract unit price, or higher than the contract price. The unit price is low, so it will make money, but this has nothing to do with the site director or the engineer, it is the internal work of the company.

In practice, there is a situation where the director will come into contact with procurement management: sporadic small-scale work items, such as construction site monitoring, air-conditioning installation or the issuance of additional emergency work items, it is too late to wait until the procurement contract is issued, so the director will directly Find a familiar manufacturer for construction.

The skills that will be used here are the skills that mother-in-law and mother-in-law will also use when they go to the vegetable market to buy vegetables: "bargaining the price". Haggling is a skill, but the school will not teach it, right?

Usually, the manufacturer can negotiate the price after the quotation. It is related to the eloquence of the director and the eloquence of the manufacturer. You can take the initiative to ask the director to do this kind of work, after all, do more The more you learn is yours.

Risk Management

This matter is more about occupational safety. The construction site is a high-risk workplace, so this matter is very important, but I have never encountered such a course in school. Maybe the professors think that graduates from the Department of Civil Engineering will develop into the design consulting industry. .

There is a department in the university department specially opened for occupational safety and health management, but its scope is wider, including all walks of life, chemical, medical, factory operations, etc., not only in the construction industry, but also in the construction industry. Occupational safety management personnel are also under a lot of pressure, the master is difficult to manage, and they have to be responsible for accidents. It can be said that it is quite a thankless job.

The seniors in the past would tell me that there is no need to develop in the direction of the occupational safety personnel, but the construction site is always needed, and it must not be left unattended. In places with fewer people, there will be less competition. Instead, this is a good entry point, and there will never be no work. , Friends who are interested in changing careers can consider taking a look.

Epilogue

Many construction plant owners will come back to build the on-the-job classes of the Construction Management Institute after they have started their businesses for a long time. It will not be too late to study again at that time, at least when the position is high enough, they will be able to apply what they have learned. The fledgling little Maotou is going to do construction management, who will take care of it for you?

The engineering-related articles I wrote are all organized in this " Engineering Series Articles ", and will continue to be updated in the future, I hope to be helpful to you.