"Pointers" in Implementation of Construction Plans (I)

As civil engineer the first thing the we have to ensure is the strength of the structural plans. It is a must that a design must withstand specified load. But in reality, in construction business that is not the only thing that would make the project successful. In a sense a project is successful if it generate more profit than loses. This lies in the hands of the project engineer / project manager. This blog will present some of the pointers based from the blogger's perspective and experience.

Procurement of Materials

Building materials cover 60% - 70% of the project budget therefore coordination of the procurement and delivery of materials is critical. In my case, most of the reason of the delay of the project is the delay of material delivery. When the materials are delayed that would not only backslash your project schedule. The engineer must think of some program of works that could be done while waiting for the materials or force the project to temporarily suspended. For the project-in-charge the latter option is NO NO situation because it might gain bad reputation to the company once the workers complain to the DOLE Philippines. Lucky for other countries since they are not that strict toward the construction worker's right.

So what to do to avoid this scenario? (1) Have a procurement plan. Procurement plan is just like a gantt chart in which it shows the schedule of the materials to be ordered also the budget allocated each week/month within the project duration. This will also help the accounting department of the company to think and find budget for each week/month.

(2) You must have established relationship with your suppliers. One thing that can delay the procurement of the materials is acquiring quotations for the materials from the suppliers. Before the project, there must already have chosen supplier and back-up supplier for every materials that would be needed. Most of the time you have different suppliers depending on the price and terms for the materials that you would need. "Establish relationship" means that you already have a credit line on them.This means that you order not in cash basis, but rather in terms (post dated check). Usually it take almost two (2) weeks max to acquire credit line.

(3) You must have transportation unit for the materials. We must understand that we are not the only client of our suppliers. Thus, they have system and processes for the delivery schedule. So in case that there are materials that needs to be rushed, it better to have a back plan - transportation unit. 

So far, this are the scenarios I have encountered during the course of project implementation. If you have other experience, you can share it through the comment for discussion.