Management of Construction Works

Code:

MPRINCE13

Acronym:

GOC

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Construction and Civil Engineering

Instance: 2024/2025 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Civil and Georesources Engineering
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Integrated Building Design and Construction

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MPRINCE	10	Syllabus	2	-	6	56	162

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

Part A - Strategic component (Jorge Moreira da Costa - themes 1 e 8)

Understand the actions, framed under the concept of Lean Construction, that can be implemented in order to obtain greater efficiency and less waste in the construction process. Simulate a process of interactivity and collaboration for the development of a work plan (Lean Room - Weekly Work Plan).

Analyze the productive activities from the perspective of Risk Analysis and manage to hierarchize them within this perspective. Apply FMEA as a tool to identify potential risk levels in the development of a project.

Part B - Operational component (José Amorim Faria - themes 2, 3,4,5 and 6)

This component of the course aims to train the students in some common tasks performed by engineers in Contractors.

The first part of this component of the course is the more theoretical one and aims to acquaint the students with the different models of development of Construction Contracts and also to give them a synthesis of the importance of the contractual issues in Construction Management, including the analysis of some concrete situations (Subject 3).

Subjects 4,5 and 6 refer to specific aplications in Construction Management processes seen in an operational perspective. Practicing on a concrete construction project the course aims that the students obtain specific operational management skills such us: budgeting and economical control; Technical control (quality/conformity); Production factors Operational management (Labour, Materials, equipments).

Part C - Productivity and present trends (Hipólito Sousa (themes 7, 9,10 and 11)

This part of the course aims to:

- present and understand the importance of productivity assessment from the perspective of construction management and the tools for output assessment in site of the future.

- present several information systems for construction and their use in design and execution management.

Part D - Multiculturality (theme 12)

Lecture by Eng. Manuel Aroso on the importance of integrating and understanding different cultures and working modes in decision-making, negotiation and leadership processes.

Learning outcomes and competences

Taking into account that the course will be addressed to students having already attained a degree providing professional competence (graduates of 1st cycle or Master), the teaching methodologies seek to balance the more lecturing-focused stages with applications in which the concepts put forward can be tested, and to encourage the offering of personal views from the students, particularly by those who already have some work experience.

On the other hand, these will be also favourable occasions for the appraisal of the perspectives of engineers and architects, since their diverse academic paths and reasoning models for tackling of the problems which may occur in the construction process give origin to frequent conflicts.

In this sense, some activities will be proposed in which one will have to analyse, propose and advocate solutions to problems put forward by the teachers. This strategy connects strongly to the reality of the Construction Industry, inherently collaborative and where several points of view have necessarily to be balanced so as to obtain the best possible result given the existing conditions.

In a second aspect, students will have to perform individual works during and between classes, with the goal of challenging them and encourage them to focus in the search for specific results and a capacity for synthesis which can be translated by an output of limited scope and size. This is also a frequent situation in the context of Construction Industry companies – for consultants as well as construction companies – as working in a production environment with high changeability requires that professionals have to find quick and efficient solutions to cope with last-minute problems.

Students should adquire specific skills and competences that they can apply in contractors: preparation, planning and control of production factors and of estimation and control of task and project durations and of task costs.

It is intended that students acquire professional skills in the perspective of design and construction management with respect to important aspects of the assessment of outputs and productivity.

Working method

B-learning

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

Approval in the first year of the graduation (MPRINCE)

Program

1. The approach of Lean Production and its application into the construction industry. Notion of waste in production. Lean tools and attitudes. Lean Production and Construction. Lean Construction techniques and application areas at IC.

2. Actors in Construction - builder's vision. Responsibilities and insurance in Construction. Guarantees.

3. Preparation and control of work from the perspective of the general contractor (approach by functional areas). Work direction - approach by management of productive resources.

4. Preparation and control of work from the perspective of the general contractor (approach by functional areas). Work direction - approach by management of productive resources (continued).

5. Site management - Complementary aspects.

• Construction Budgeting. Economic Control of Contractors. 


• Organization of construction sites.

6. Site management - Complementary aspects (continued).

• Planning and control of deadlines. 


• Management of subcontractors

6. Planning and control. Value-Added Analysis.

8. Construction Risk Analysis.

9. Productivity and Output. Traditional approach.

10. Productivity and Output. Monitoring and the building sites of the Future - (collaboration Dr Eng. Diego Calvetti).

11. Information systems in construction for design and execution work (collaboration Eng. Pedro Meda).

12. Multiculturalism in management: from decision-making to negotiation and leadership (lecture Eng. Manuel de Sousa Aroso).

Mandatory literature

Frank Harris; Modern construction management. ISBN: 978-0-470-67217-4
Francisco José Loforte Teixeira Ribeiro; Construction management of large scale building projects
Gransberg, Douglas D.; Construction equipment management for engineers, estimators, and owners. ISBN: 0849340373

Complementary Bibliography

Sixto Ríos; Decision theory and decision analysis. ISBN: 0-7923-9466-6
Daniel W. Halpin; Construction management. ISBN: 978-0-470-50593-9

Teaching methods and learning activities

The syllabus aims to cross the full production cycle of any type of building, and after having addressed in the Management of Construction Projects module the coordination and integration of the various components that involve the design stage, in this module we will stress the importance of creating collaborative partnerships in the supply chain for construction work. Taking into account that construction is an increasingly globalised activity, and that the industry and its main actors must be prepared for that, the topics will be addressed whenever relevant not only in a national perspective but also with an international one.

Under this scope, the processes of budgeting, planning and control of site works will be analysed, as well as the operational procedures for site preparation and supply management.

Apart the fact of being an industry often identified as being late in the adoption of information systems and technologies - in some degree reflecting the specific conditions in which it operates – several resources are at the disposal of its professionals, even in site conditions, so the processes for the management of digital communications will be addressed.

The specific characteristics the construction product, together with the complexity and constraints of creation of the construction site – in fact, creating a factory in each place of work – and the fact that it is an industry with a high component of manpower recommends that a particular attention is given to the setting up of the construction site and the deployment of preventive and mitigation measures for work accidents.

With a particular stress on the execution stage, we will address the concepts of the so-called Lean Construction, an approach seeking to transfer to the construction environment several strategies for waste reduction and efficiency improvement, these concepts originally developed in manufacturing companies. In addition to the models themselves, several tools – some of which that have been specifically created for the CI – will be presented and tested.

With a workforce of profile and education of wide diversity, it appears as essential to be acquainted to the more relevant laws that provide the framework for the needed competencies to perform the various professional actions. On another side, and taking into account the liabilities that are connected to these last ones, the procedures for procurement and the design of the contracts that will be awarded, will also be addressed.

Risk Analysis will provide a set of tools that enable the preventive assessment of the level of severity and probability of occurrence of the numerous tasks that take place at all stages of the construction process.

The teaching methodology aims to give the students specific operational skills. Therefore, the students will be guided and oriented, as soon as possible, in the direction of the group work to be developed. General instructions will be given and informatic simple tools will be provided to be applied in the development of the specific work of each group which will be apllied on a real construction project which the students already are familiar with since they have worked on it in the first year of this Graduation.

On the other hand, there will be a mix of presentation of notions and basic information that will allow to launch challenges and pass to applications developed in group, which guarantee the sedimentation and deepening of knowledge

Software

EXCEL
MS Project
Autocad

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	40,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	60,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	60,00
Trabalho escrito	40,00
Total:	100,00

Eligibility for exams

In accordance with the actual rules of FEUP.

Calculation formula of final grade

Classes of 4 hours (2+2 presencial), joining lecturing parts supported by audio-visual presentations (slides, videos) to periods of discussion and application to small works, to be accomplished in class in order to materialize the covered ideas. In these, case studies specifically developed for the module will be used.

Semi-continuous assessment, including group works to be carried out in a perspective of Team-Based Learning, individual works of small size to be carried out between classes and focused on several themes, complemented by a final exam (60% +40% relative weights).

Continuous assessment with final exam
 
3 * TG (Group work 10+25+25%) + 1 * Exam (40%)

Minimum grade for the exam = 3,2/8,0 points

Examinations or Special Assignments

Not applicable

Internship work/project

Not applicable

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Not applicable in the context of this CU.

Classification improvement

Only the exam can be improved.