CONTROL OF PROJECT TIME IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

INTRODUCTION: The construction industry has evolved into an ever more intricate web of linkages between ever more rapid processes, choices, and actions. On the other hand, there is a movement in the direction of more sustainable practices (Boussabain, 2022).

A construction project, like any other project, consists of many phases of development that are distinct from one another in terms of the amount of time and financial resources that are required for its successful completion. When it comes to money, the construction phase of a building project is by far the most important one. Research has shown that sometimes as much as 95% of the total project cost is spent on the completion of this particular phase. Because of this, the costs incurred during the construction deserve special attention in terms of cost dynamics, which can be defined as the allocation of costs in relation to time (Bromilow, & Davies, 2021).

In the context of building projects, doing an assessment of how costs are distributed in light of available time is an urgent matter. It relates in part to the examination of the regularity of the connection between these two variables across the different phases of the project, or, to put it another way, it relates to the analysis of the potential of employing the s-curve approach in relation to specific activities and issues (Boussabain, 2022).

When a building contract is finalized, the entire cost of the works is determined; however, the data on the monthly allocation of cost, which is often presented using the s-curve approach, remain unclear. In Croatia, relatively little academic work has been done in relation to the application of the scurve technique or its further development. An examination of the relevant published works reveals that the authors primarily concentrate their attention on the investigation of curve trend analysis and the development of an information system for planning and controlling project cash flows. This was discovered through an examination of the relevant published works (Hudson, 2021).

The data on building projects carried out in Croatia that were created as a result of the study that was carried out and examined subsequently on the basis of statistical methods for the processing of database systems and system theories. Several conceptual approaches to construction organization and planning, as well as project management, were utilized during the course of the research's execution of certain aspects. In order to develop a methodological proposal for modeling the cost scurve, regression techniques and best-fit analyses were utilized. In particular, quantitative and qualitative assessments of the theory of risk management were utilized as part of this process (Hudson, 2021).

The part of a project known as "time control" is the component that ensures the project will be completed on schedule and without exceeding its allotted budget. Controlling the amount of time spent on a project starts early on with planning and continues all the way through to the completion of the project with a post-implementation evaluation. This control requires active participation at every stage of the process. The right level of control should be determined for each project; maintaining an excessive amount of control requires an excessive amount of time, while maintaining an inadequate amount of control is highly unsafe. In the event that project time control is not successfully implemented, the associated costs to the company should be broken down into the following categories: mistakes, repairs, and additional audit fees (Boussabain, 2022).

Cost, risk, quality, communication, timing, adaptability, procurement, and human resource management all require their own separate control systems. In addition, auditors need to take into consideration the significance of the projects to the financial statements, the degree to which stakeholders are dependent on the controls, and the total number of controls that are in place. Auditors are obligated to conduct a thorough evaluation of the procedures and processes involved in the development process (Boussabain, 2022). If it is necessary or desired to do so, an evaluation of the development process as well as the quality of the finished product is possible. A company could ask an auditing firm to be engaged in all stages of the process in order to identify any issues at an earlier stage, when they are more straightforward to resolve. An auditor may participate in a project either as an independent auditor or as a controls consultant as a member of the development team.

Businesses may employ formal systems development methods. These factors contribute to the success of the system development process. It is more effective to create robust controls through a formal process, and auditors should assess this process to ensure that it is effectively planned and that it is implemented in practice. A solid documented strategy for the growth of the system outlines (Bromilow, & Davies, 2021).

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE  STUDY

According to the results of the survey, the majority of projects have budget and schedule overruns (Williams Ackermann, Eden, 2002,pl92). According to the findings of the study that was conducted by Wright (1997), a decent rule of thumb is to add a minimum of fifty percent to each time estimate, and fifty percent to the first estimate of the budget (Bromilow, & Davies, 2021). It is an indication that the endeavor is extremely difficult and full of obstacles. There will be a great deal of unforeseen problems that cause the project to run over budget and behind schedule. As a result, a great number of different technologies and methods are created for efficient monitoring and control so that the project may be completed successfully. In this post, we will explore how a project manager may be effective in the building phase in terms of time and money control. In the next section, we will talk about the challenges that the manager will have while trying to keep track of and maintain control over the project (Boussabain, 2022).

The number of resources that are anticipated to be utilized on an activity is one of the factors that must be considered when developing an estimate of the activity's duration. The estimate need to be ambitious while also being grounded in reality. During the execution of the project, there will be certain activities that require much more time than their expected duration, others that will be completed in significantly less time than their projected length, and some that will precisely adhere to their predicted durations. These kind of delays and accelerations have a tendency to balance one another out throughout the course of a project that encompasses a large number of operations (Hudson, 2021).

It is important to pick the projected start time as well as the needed completion time for the entire project in order to construct a base from which to generate a timetable utilizing the duration estimates for the activities. Once this has been done, the schedule can be calculated. These periods determine the total time frame, sometimes known as the "envelope," within which the project needs to be finished. Specifying the requisite amount of time for a project's completion as part of its overall purpose is often required under the contract. After you have determined the projected length of time needed to complete each action in the network as well as an overall time frame within which the project must be finished, you will need to decide whether or not the activities can be finished within the required amount of time (Boussabain, 2022).

Measuring the project's actual progress, comparing it to the project's planned progress in a timely and consistent manner, and taking any required corrective action as soon as possible are the keys to successful time management of a project. The practice of controlling the amount of time spent on a project requires routinely acquiring data on project performance and comparing it to the performance that was intended. This procedure needs to be carried out on a consistent basis over the entirety of the project.

To get started, you will need to create a baseline plan that outlines how the project scope will be completed on schedule and without exceeding the allotted spending limit. The customer and the client must first reach an agreement on the project's baseline plan before work can begin. It is important to create a consistent reporting period in order to compare the actual progress made to the progress that was expected. Depending on the intricacy of the project and how long it will take, the reporting schedule might be once every day, once per week, or once per month. In the course of each reporting period, it is necessary to gather two distinct types of data or information (Boussabain, 2022).

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS

Ackermann, Eden, Howick and Williams (2000) point out the pitfall of using 0. They are:

a) When a network is resource-constrained, there is no agreed definition of what a 'project time control ' actually is.

b) Many effects, such as change orders, impact many activities simultaneously. In such cases, single-activity analyses in PRC  do not really work, and more sophisticated analyses or network simulation is needed.

c) PRC  cannot take account of soft factors such as demotivation. Disruption affects productivity in a fashion that means it varies over time, PRC  times do not usually take account of changes in productivity, let alone when it is a variable factor.

d) project time control (PRC)   does not take into account management actions to deal with delays and disruptions.

 Adding resource

Adding resource is most common methods for shortened project time. But there are limits, such as some of activities cannot be shortened by adding staffs and equipment and some time the relation between staffs size and time shorten is not linear. Adding resource, you cannot achieve as your want.

Overtime

This is the easiest way to add more labour and not add more staffs. But need to face the challenge of team numbers' antipathy and the low efficiency in the overtime work.

Outsourcing

This is also a common method to shortening the project time by subcontracting the activities. The issue is most of the time, the subcontractor need to warm up before start their project jobs.

 NPV

The problem that exists within the field of NPV is that after getting a project authorized.

There will be no further consideration given to the project's NPV until a post investment appraisal can be carried out. However, at this point the damage has been done (Gardiner and Stewart, 2000, p252).

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

Erel and Raz (2000) state that the project time control cycle consists of measuring the status of the project, comparing to the plan, analysis of the deviations, and implementing any appropriate corrective actions. When a project reach the construction phase, monitor and control is critical to deliver the project success. Project monitoring exists to establish the need to take corrective action, whilst there is still time to take action. Through monitoring the activities, the project team can analyze the deviations and decide what to do and actually do it (Gardiner and Stewart 2000,p252). The purpose of monitor and control is to support the implementation of corrective actions, ensure projects stay on target or get project back on target once it has gone off target (Erel and Raz, 2000,p253).

a) Do unstarted activities really have to await the completion of other activities before they can start? If no, start the activities

b) If an activity has to wait for the completion of other activities, can that activity be broken down into sub-activities and some of the sub activities completed at an earlier date? If no, break down the activity into sub-activities and start the urgent one at once.

Herroelen and Reyck (1999) also state that managers have to tackle the challenging problem of scheduling activities to minimize the project duration, in which the activities (a) are subject to generalized precedence relations, (b) require units of multiple renewable, non-renewable and doubly constrained resources for which a limited availability is imposed, and (c) can be performed in one of several different ways, refected in multiple activity scenarios or modes.

 Optimal timing

Considering optimal timing of project monitoring and control points is significant to success (Falco and Macchiaroli,1998). Falco and Macchiaroli suggest that we should determine the optimal frequency of the monitoring and reviewing to different activities in different stages. It can help us to efficient monitor and correct control so as to reach time and cost target.

Crashing

In recent years, network crashing was developed along with the project time control  method (PRC ) for planning and controlling large scale project. The purpose of crashing is the minimization of the pessimistic time estimate in PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) networks by investing additional amounts of money in the activities on the project time control . Sometimes, crashing methods are required to combine in the monitoring and controlling process when the duration of the activity that has to be completed within a specified time (Abbasi and Mukattash,2001,pl81).

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION

Is Probabilistic moment of risk: An activity (task) in most real-life processes is not a continuous uniform process. Tasks are affected by external events, which can occur at some point in the middle of the task.

Why is it  that event chains: Events can cause other events, which will create event chains. These event chains can significantly affect the course of the project. Quantitative analysis is used to determine a cumulative effect of these event chains on the project schedule.

Critical events or event chains, is it the single events or the event chains that have the most potential to affect the projects are the “critical events” or “critical chains of events.” They can be determined by the analysis.

Project tracking with events: Even if a project is partially completed and data about the project duration, cost, and events occurred is available, it is still possible to refine information about future potential events and helps to forecast future project performance.

1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The best means of ensuring that the costs are kept to a minimum during any project is by utilizing a commercial construction costs management service. This is an establishment which is able to realistically look at the capital costs for any commercial building construction project. They not only look closely at the planning costs but also cost control services. Plus this service will ensure that the proposals provided on the construction project are documented as well as being completed within the pre-arranged costs and time framework. They will also establish the most economical means of ensuring that the project does not run over budget. Each construction project should employ an independent and professional cost manager or quantity surveyor who can police as well as have a clear overview of everything that is going on. This is to protect the financial interests of the individual who is having the construction project done. These people use their engineering skills and experience which they then apply to scientific principles and techniques.  This allows them to analyze and develop the best action that should be taken in order to provide a good estimation of the costs involved. This will also enable them to control the commercial building construction costs once the project starts on site. By using a good set of cost management principles the cost manager or quantity surveyor will ensure that the construction project stays within the budget limits and still meets performance and quality targets. When a commercial construction project is being prepared the cost manager or quantity surveyor is an integral part of the team and can bring added value to any construction and design team. However if there are  problems relating to commercial building construction costs exceeding the budget, then this may well cause problems for the person who was asked to control the costs initially.

1.6 SIGNIFIANCE OF THE STUDY  

Engaging a general contractor or construction manager earlier in the process is a good way to control time in the initial planning phases. These experts understand all legal requirements and can ensure all documentation is filed methodically and in a timely manner, reducing schedule delays early on. Some building owners are taking a more active role in the overall process and are functioning as a team member to streamline communications and drive faster completion of projects as well. Developers and business owners should encourage these approaches and work with general contractors, who have good relationships with established suppliers.  This enables them to increase their aptitude to project and budget construction costs accurately through to the end of the building construction process.