Construction Activity Documents

Tutor Copy

There are construction documents that are designed and formulated to aid in planning, organising and coordinating all the various work activities and operations necessary to complete a job of work within an allocated time and within an agreed budget.

These documents are therefore very important to both the builder and to the person requiring the building, the client.

Whatever level of planning is involved, there are four main questions to be answered:

1. What is the work or task to be done?

2. When is it to be done?

3. Where is it to be carried out?

4. How is it to be done?

Finding the answers to these questions is the most important part of the planning process.

Not knowing the answers will:

• Make it difficult to organise work activities.

• Lead to lost time and money.

• Result in failure to purchase materials and equipment.

• Have an effect on the planning and organisation of an efficient workforce.

The construction activity documents are known in the trade as the contract documents, and they are designed to control building activities. They are:

• Architect’s Working Drawings

• Programme of Work

• Specification

• Bills of Quantities

• Schedules

Scaled building drawings or plans called the architect’s working

drawings which include:

• Survey maps.• Layout or block plans.• Site plans.• Location drawings.• Assembly and component drawings.• Construction details.

Programme of workThis often in the form of a bar chart showing:

• The work to be done.

• The order in which it is to be done.

• The estimated time allowed to do the work.

Here is a simple programme.

Specification

These are detailed descriptions of the construction processes, giving precise information about materials and workmanship. The specification provides additional information that cannot easily be shown on the working drawings.

Example of a door lining schedule

A typical specification for this lining would be:

150 x 38mm wrot rebated door lining in European Redwood, moisture content 8% to 12%, fixed to preinstalled slips with two 62mm brad nails. The nail heads to be well punched below the surface, and the surface being free from blemishes. The surface of the lining is to be prepared to receive a priming coat of paint. The lining is to be protected from other trades.

Bill of Quantities (BQ)A quantity surveyor prepares this document. As the name suggests, it contains a description and the measurement of quantities, labour and any other items required to carry out the work. All the work is measured from the working drawings, specification and schedules.Within the bill, there are certain sections that relate to specific information.

The Preliminaries section deals with:• Names of the client and architect.• Name of the builder and where they operate from.• Any other interested parties.

The Preambles section outlines:• What kind of materials that should be used.• How they are prepared and stored.• The quality of the materials.• The quality of the workmanship.

The main section concentrates on the measurement of all necessary materials. This document is NOT kept on site.

Here is an example of items that relate to the

work of the carpenter.

Schedules

On most contracts, there is work which may be repetitive, such as hanging doors and fitting ironmongery, fixing and fitting radiators, installing windows, fixing and fitting sanitary ware, and finishes. These repetitive items are identified from the working drawings, and set down in the form of a table. The schedule will contain certain information such as:

• A brief description of the item.• The location of the item.

Grouping like items together makes it easier to determine the number and types of components needed.

On most contracts, items such as doors are identified using the prefix ‘D’ for Doors’ and ‘W for windows’ Therefore D1 will be Door1 and W1 will be Window1 and so on.

An example of a door schedule.

Hatching / symbols are used to cut down on lengthy wording.