Monitoring Works

Works monitoring is necessary in order to check progress in relation to plans and budgets. When deviations occur, the management needs to establish the reasons why works are not reaching set targets, and devise remedial action which puts progress back on track again. The effect of these management decisions needs to be carefully monitored to ensure that they lead to the intended results.

Monitoring Progress

In order to effectively evaluate the data recorded, the engineers and supervisors must be aware of the productivity and performance targets. Production targets are initially set during the planning stage, but need to be reassessed on a regular basis during the course of the project. The quality of works is defined by technica l drawings and work specifications.

Apart from field inspections, the most

important monitoring activity is the desk review. On a regular basis, the site manager needs to carefully analyse the information provided from the work site and compare the actual progress with the most recent plan.

When actual performance differs from the plan, it is important to investigate the possible implications of targets not being achieved, in terms of both cost and time over-runs. The findings should be discussed with subordinate staff in order to decide on the corrective action to be applied. The corrective measures decided upon will only be

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effective if they are understood and agreed upon with those involved in carrying them out.

The management needs to concentrate on the failings in performance that have a significant impact on overall targets and objectives, and not waste time on activities which have a limited effect on overall work progress. For rural road construction, the most significant operations are the earthwork, surfacing works and structures. These operations have a major impact on both progress and costs incurred on the project.

Cost Monitoring

Monitoring costs is necessary to avoid cost over-runs and to prevent unauthorised expenditure. Every civil works project needs to operate within the budgetary limits set in contract agreements and annual work programmes. The three most common reasons for cost overruns are poor work organisation, inefficient utilisation of available resources and inaccurate estimates of the quantities

of work. There may also be unforeseen circumstances at the project site, which increase the overall cost of the works. Whatever the reason are for incurring cost increases, it is important that it is detected at an early stage. The reasons for the change in costs need to be examined and on this basis new projections should be made. With the new projections, there may be a need for adjusting contract agreements and budgets. This involves major decision-making by senior managers, and can only be done on the basis of reliable cost monitoring and projections.

A project may also have cost savings. When this occur, the senior management should be informed at the earliest possible so that the unused funds can be redirected to other activities. In some cases, savings on certain work activities can be used for covering cost increases on other work operations. If it appears that the entire works project will cost less than originally estimated, unused funds

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can be transferred to other projects. The majority of costs incurred on a civil works project are related to the individual work activities. The bill of quantities provides the budget, which the project needs to work within. Each line item in the BoQ provides the detailed budget available for each work activity. Although there may be deviations from the quantities of work estimated in the BoQ, the final outputs of work should not change too much from the original estimates. In any case, the unit rate provided for each work activity acts as a budgetary limit for that specific type of works.

This implies that the cost monitoring needs to look into the detailed costs of each activity. All inputs such as labour, equipment and materials used for a particular activity need to be closely monitored and costed, and compared to the original estimates.

Special attention must be paid to overhead costs (supervision, administration, transportation, etc.). The percentage of funds spent on overheads can easily become excessive if it is not controlled.

When production is running at a low level, savings in overhead costs should be looked for (such as reducing the site administration, rationalising the use of vehicles and sharing of office facilities). Vehicle operation is expensive and should therefore be carefully monitored and controlled. High fuel consumption, frequent repair costs and vehicle misuse are common causes of over-expenditure on vehicles.

As with performance monitoring, all relevant information must be carefully scrutinised when costs are monitored. For example, the proper utilisation of hauling equipment cannot be found from the vehicle cost reports alone. It is necessary to cross check with the quarry operations, haulage distances and equipment availability for the same period in order to obtain a clear picture. Equally, it is important to focus attention on the large work operations, which carry the largest quantities of works. This work incurs the highest costs, so any savings and productivity increases here have a higher impact on the overall project cost. 15 R E P O R T IN G A N D C O N T R O L B U IL D IN G R U R A L R O A D S 4 5 1

All civil works projects are described through a set of drawings, which graphically describe the works to be carried out. The level of detail in the drawings may vary, depending on the complexity of the works and to what extent the works adheres to common building practices and design standards. Drawings for road works normally refer to a standard design used for the specific type and class of road the authorities have decided to build. Road works drawings therefore concentrate on how these designs are applied in the terrain through which the alignment passes, describing the levels of the road and its curvature.

A further description of the works in terms of quality requirements for materials and the completed works are contained in the work specifications, in which detailed instructions are provided on how the various work activities should be carried out. In addition, the specifications describe how to measure and pay for completed works.

Specifications are either prepared by prescribing the quality of all inputs and specifying the work methods or by describing the features of the end product. The most common method of describing the works is by issuing design and method specifications. This implies that the works are described in terms of quality of materials to be used and by specifying the work methods. Method specif ications often also include minimum requirements and the type of equipment to be used. The opposite of such specifications are performance-based specifications, where the results or intentions of the finished product are described. In this type of specification, the details of materials and how to carry out the work are left to the contractor to decide, only ensuring that the end product meets certain performance requirements. If the selection of materials and work methods prove to be inadequate, the fault is then entirely with the contractor who will need to redo the works using higher quality materials and improved work methods.

The advantage of using performance- based specifications is that it is then possible to fully utilise the experience and knowledge of the contractor in terms of executing the works. In most cases, the specifications consist of a combination of the two principles, i.e. prescribing specific work methods and materials as well as the end result.