Discuss key features of the modern construction industry.

There are a number of key and important features that must be put into consideration in the modern
construction industry, these are discussed as below;

1. Multiplicity/Variety of agencies. These are support authorities basically that enable

construction to be carried out as by the laws of the land and in line with laws for that specific
area where the construction is to take place. For example in Uganda we have the NEMA
(National Environment Management Authority) which issues certificate after identifying the
impact of the building design to that area/site. This authority approves what they call an
‘environment impact assessment (EIA)’ report that reveals the suitability of the site for that
project. The report is then considered by town councils to approve building plans in order to
issue building permits.

2. Uniqueness of each project. Most of the time, many individuals especially ‘clients to-be’ assume
two projects that have similar features and requirements are the same. This is never true
because they ignore other factors like nature of the site soil, site gradient, weather conditions,
the construction teams etc simply because they concentrate on the shell and components of the
project. In this case, each project must be treated as unique as possible to determine the right
quantity of materials, construction technique and labour to complete the project.

3. Complexity of the modern construction industry. Many of the modern designs incorporate
open floor plans, use a lot of concrete, steel and glass. These designs to be constructed require a
lot of skilled workforce from technical to the onsite labourers, productive equipment like earth
movers, cranes etc to achieve the best quality of the project within deadline.

4. Organization. This categorises stakeholders involved in the success of a construction project.

The process of construction as always starts with the owner of the project who has the idea and
type of project that he wants to invest in. This owner will advertise to attract tenders from
prospective contractors who will bid for the project. The organization and the number of
workers is based on the size/ larger scale of the project. These organization is made-up of the
owner, engineers team and the contractors group who as a unit interact to create a quality
standard of the project within the agreed timeline.

5. Finance. There are no successful construction activities without funds/money in particular.

There are number of financial actions taken like investing in fixed assets like tools, machinery etc
which are expected to be used by the contractor on various projects. The other actions like short
term finances, investment in education and other expenses relate more to the growth and
welfare of the company in order to have it updated in resources and knowledge for upcoming
bigger and challenging projects for example investing in training, education, research by the
staff. Forexample in my county Uganda the Uganda Society of Architets (USA) a board that
governs architects work in Uganda always organizes and invests in quarterly CPD’s (Continuing
Professional Development) programs to equip architects, engineers and members with new
technologies and innovations in the building industry. This example explains how investment in
training and education has been embraced.
Outline the duties of a construction supervisor.

A construction supervisor plays a big role in ensuring the success and quality of a construction
project. The duties of a construction supervisor vary and are outlined as below;
1. A construction supervisor motivates workers to perform their tasks with the best quality
as fast as possible as scheduled in the contract.
2. A construction supervisor being administratively superior on site handles and resolves
conflicts between workers who could be having onsite misunderstandings.
3. With the supervisor’s daily schedule of work, he directs workers on the tasks that they
have to perform that day.
4. One of biggest success of construction is teamwork, therefore it is necessary for the
construction supervisor to instill team work spirit within his workers.
5. The construction supervisor also ensures discipline of workers like time management,
listening to instructions and doing them among others. There should be signing in and
signing out of workers so that the time discipline is embraced.
6. Workers usually move to new places especially when they get new projects to work on,
it is the responsibility of the construction supervisor to promote a good relationship
between them and the general public of that new area where they are performing their
duties.
7. There are changing needs for the construction sector that requires the supervisor to
constantly train and equip his workforce with knowledge to meet upcoming challenges.
8. The construction supervisor must also coordinate plans and schedules of work to ensure
that quality of work is not compromised.

What is the quick method of approximate estimate? Discuss the estimating procedure in detail.

Quick method of approximate estimate is the method were the total units of constructing a structure
entirely are based on physical dimensions such as area, length or volume and these are multiplied with
the cost of structure per unit. For example in Uganda the government unit cost per cubic meter of
concrete is approximated to about 160 usd. This unit price is used for measure all reinforced concrete
components to estimate the cost of materials and further calculate the quantity of materials required
for all the reinforced concrete parts of the design.

Quick method of approximate estimate works best if the construction supervisor records data for the
cost of materials, and other site activities for various projects for example residential, commercial,
institutional, industrial, heavy duty projects like dams etc. because when faced with similar projects in
those categories, these costs can be a reliable rate for computing the approximate estimate for them.
With accurate recorded data, the cost estimator can easily adjust prices for different materials and
resources based on new information of new structure and the other important requirements to check
will be site location, design methods, construction methods and equipment because these might change
dependent on the new sites. For example when estimating for a new project, you can categorize the
estimation in phases of foundation, super structure for instance if you’re working on just a ground floor.
With the foundation you can estimate the volume in cubic metres of the concrete footings with column,
slab and these can be multiplied with the unit area per cubic metre. The square metres of the plinth will
be calculated but all in all these may be calculated in phases by the known cost of the structure per unit.
Discuss the factors involved in equipment selection? Write the advantages and disadvantages of
purchasing equipment?

Planning for equipment selection entails many factors to get project done in time, without
compromising the integrity of the building structure.

The factors that you must consider while selecting the equipment are discussed as below;

1. Equipment productivity. The equipment should be suitable for the job conditions which means
it must meet the requirements of the work, climate and working conditions. To identify the
suitability, the supplier must provide information of equipment performance under various
operating conditions. Also one should choose equipment that are easy to operate and maintain
because high productivity to operate it means operator’s wages will be expensive in the long
run. When the size of the equipment is large, it may remain idle for most of the work or rather
shall work on part loads which makes the production costs more.
2. Cost. Construction projects span over longer periods of time which makes it important to
consider costs of operation, servicing, maintenance and repairs and reselling. To bring down cos
one way can be to opt for fuel efficient equipment which could save money in the long term of
the project construction lifespan. For example the other way to cut cost would be to invest in
training company staff with knowledge to operate the machines especially the heavy equipment
like cranes and lifts cut costs on skilled operator wage in the long run of the project under
construction.
3. Supplier support. The supplier must be in position to offer service guidelines on how to use the
equipment on the work site. If the supplier is in position to provide service after sale of the
equipment it can also be a criteria for selection of equipment.
4. Product features and attachments. When choosing an equipment, it is important to evaluate
the impact of extra devices on the overall performance of the equipment at the time when you
hope to enhance it. If possible the supplier should be in position to give advice of the merits and
demerits attached to having these features in place. For example the features should be
available at reasonable price throughout the working life of equipment on the site.

The advantages of purchasing equipment are as follows;

1. When you own the equipment it very possible that it will be well maintained because of the fear
for any future repairs due to poor maintenance.
2. When the equipment is purchased by company there will not be any charges on costs per day
meaning that the frequency of usage will not be limited by anyone making it higher than that of
a hired equipment.
3. The equipment can be used over and over again because it will be readily available. This will
make it regularly available for work any works it can perform on site.

The disadvantages of purchasing equipment are as follows;

1. Investing in heavy equipment can be an expensive affair of a company though good in the long
run.
2. Equipment invested in may become outdated over a period of its life time because over the fast
movement in innovation.
3. There is a temptation to use the equipment beyond its expected lifetime resulting in lower
productivity basically because the company will not be willing to invest in hiring or purchasing
the same equipment if it still works.
4. Purchasing equipment may create risk in maintenance and repair incase the equipment breaks
down or needs to replace with spare parts. This might coincide with money coming into the
company making all this to be used up.
5. There are opportunity costs of using personal finance to purchase equipment. This means
investing in machinery may coincide with investing in other activities of the company which may
cash flow into the company. For example If one invests into a company truck and ends up using
up all the company money before workers are paid their wages, it may interfere with quality
and speed of the construction thus affecting cash flow.
6. The value of the asset may depreciate overtime and making the equipment worthless if the
owner decides to resell.
7. If you don’t have good product knowledge and experience at the point of purchase of the
equipment, you could make a wrong selectin of the equipment and end up buying that you
don’t need.
8. You may need to use a loan to fund the equipment and in some cases early pay back of loans
can be demanded.