016 communication in construction sector

COMMUNICATIONON SITE

[email protected]://www.construction-productivity.co.uk

mailto:[email protected]

COMMUNICATIONON SITE-BRE GUIDE Every year defects in the UK construction

industry cost at least £20 billion to repair or rebuild

Some of the defects are as the result issues such as:

Poor communication; Poorly detailed drawing; Incorrect instructions or technical information

not being available on time;


Meeting types and frequencies; Method's of drawing transfer; Use and control of revised drawings, or

unconfirmed drawings; Reporting and tracking of defects; Lack of knowledge in detecting defects on

time.

COMMUNICATIONON SITE-DEFERNT PHASESPhase-1 Communication on site Who should accept and check deliveries of materials

to the site. Employment of a site engineers, clerk of work,

supervisors or securities. Setting their communication responsibilities and

methods. Setting the authority of the Clerk of Works to instruct

operatives. Communication with, and supervision of sub-

contractors.


Drawing provision and distribution The role of accurate drawings in producing

good quality work. Careful attention must be paid as to: how drawings are going to be produced; Checked; distributed.


The following points must be considered: provide drawings as complete as possible; at all relevant stages; with high accuracy; remove older version drawing immediately; make sure everyone involved with the project

knows about the new version.

COMMUNICATIONON SITE ensure drawings are adequately detailed, and mistakes are all picked up before site

work starts. The drawings with high presentation-could

be produced to help building work progress smoothly. Drawings such as:

colour coded by trade or element laminated small or large sized.

COMMUNICATIONON SITE The correct level of information is needed on

any drawing, for it to be successfully built from.

Where the drawings to be kept? It is going to be in the site office?

How to prepare and return amended drawings back to site as quickly as possible.

Is there a role for the manufacturers to help prepare drawings?

COMMUNICATIONON SITESingle points of contact Consideration should be given to appointing

defined, single points of contact at suppliers, design offices and contractors.

This should help to avoid delays, confusion and duplication of effort.

COMMUNICATIONON SITETrade supervisors Assuming that the size of the project requires

a supervisor on site for each trade. This often brings benefits to the project

communication and the quality of build. Ensure that the role of the supervisor links

with the project requirements. Is the supervisor required only to schedule

work for the operatives?

COMMUNICATIONON SITE Or is he/she directly involved with "setting

out", examination of drawings and quality of build.

To be effective, the trade supervisor must have authoritarian style of management.

May be a problem as the position can be considered as not bering "operative" or "management".

COMMUNICATIONON SITEPhase 2: Pre-start meeting The project manager should ensure that a pre-start or

"kick off" meeting is held. There are several benefits to site communication

which may arise from such a meeting, Including the following: It allows people to get to know each other; This is likely to lead to better communication and less

confrontational attitudes as the work progresses.

COMMUNICATIONON SITE It provides the opportunity to decide on how

communication will operate through out the organization.

It provides the opportunity to define points of contact at each level.

It can be used to ensure that all people have the contact details for every person working on the project.

Ensuring all relevant people attend the kick off meeting.

This may include: project management team; major suppliers.

COMMUNICATIONON SITETechnical literature and advice Large numbers of best practice information

and documents are accessible on the internet on:

Design material selection Construction

COMMUNICATIONON SITE They are also available from a variety of

sources including the following: Manufacturers Construction site communication-guidance British Standards Institution BRE MCIOB RICS ETC

COMMUNICATIONON SITEBuilding regulatory authorities such

as: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Scottish Executive;Trade associations;Insurance companies (e.g. Housing

Association Property Mutual (HAPM).

COMMUNICATIONON SITENational House Building Council

(NHBC));Consultants and research

organisations (e.g. Building Research Establishment;

(BRE), Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA)).

COMMUNICATIONON SITEProvision of technical advice Arrangements should be made to provide

technical advice to site operatives. In circumstances such as:

If there is a complex detailing to be built Operatives are inexperienced; New materials/products are in use; Providing the best practice information

including the following:

COMMUNICATIONON SITE Introducing technical issues into the standard

induction procedures. Sample panels and mock-ups. Best practice posters on display (e.g. in the site

canteen, head office). Manufacturers visit the site to demonstrate best

practice or new products. Manufacturers visit design team to introduce new

products. Supply operatives with relevant parts of good practice

guidance.

COMMUNICATIONON SITEUpwards feedback Establish means by which

information can be effectively fed back up through the formal management structure.

Two key areas where this can be particularly important are as follows:

COMMUNICATIONON SITE1. operatives to site office (e.g.

reporting on an incorrect drawing);2. Site office to head office (e.g.

where an incorrect detail is discovered;

3. this should be reported back to the design office and the drawings corrected).

COMMUNICATIONON SITEProject Meetings The success of formal meetings (e.g. the

monthly progress meeting) is helped by being structured, including the following:

Chairperson Agenda Set start and finish times Minutes recorded.

COMMUNICATIONON SITEKeep people informed at all time.Advice all people involved across

the whole construction project.Take care and time with

communication.Communication must be

"supported" (i.e. ensure that someone given an instruction).

COMMUNICATIONON SITEHas the back up, resources and

knowledge to complete the task properly.

Make sure the method of communication used is the most appropriate.

COMMUNICATIONON SITE Make sure the message is clear and all

people who need to know are informed. Provide instructions as early as possible, Do not assume that actions identified in a

memo, fax or e-mail will always have been carried out.

Always follow up to see if the message is received and followed,

Find a productive way to check if any one has been forgotten to get the message,

COMMUNICATIONON SITE Some sort of follow up or checking may

still be necessary. Learn from previous projects that you

have been involved with where the communication was either particularly good or bad.

Learn from mistakes. Suggest improvement and follow up.

COMMUNICATIONON SITENew communication technology The use of new technology to help

communication should be considered. Consider full benefits of items such as:1. mobile phones2. two way radios3. digital cameras4. on site internet- on site and at the head office

intranet5. e-mail

COMMUNICATIONON SITE For example, drawings can be e-mailed

between the site office and the architect, as can digital photographs of defects and progress.

The internet can be used to access information such as:

Building Standards good practice guidance documentation.

COMMUNICATIONON SITE On large scale construction projects the use

of project "intranet" systems has been shown to be valuable.

These systems are based on project wide access via a network of personal computers to electronic ("virtual") project documents such as:

Drawings Specifications correspondence.

Communicationon site

Contractorsub-contractor

site engineers,clerk of work,..

communicationresponsibilitiesand methods

Suppliers1-2-3

Suppliers4-5-..

Single points ofcontact

Head Office

Subcontractor BSubcontractor A

Web Browser

General Contractor

Web Browser

Web Browser

XML XML

XML

Message Agent

Message Agent

Message Agent

Platform: IBM PCOS: Window 2000 ProfessionalFTP server: IIS 5.0

Platform: IBM PCOS: LinuxFTP server: WuFTP


DataSynchronization

Subcontractor BSubcontractor A

Web Browser

General Contractor

Web Browser

Web Browser

XML XML

XML

Message Agent

Message Agent

Message Agent

Message Agent

Message Agent

Message Agent


Platform: IBM PCOS: LinuxFTP server: WuFTP


DataSynchronization

External communication

Indirect

Direct

Client

016 communication in construction sector

Engineering