A Study on the Engineering Construction Schedule Control

Song Shihai

（重慶建工機電安裝工程有限公司 400039）

（Chongqing Construction Mechanical and Electrical Installation Engineering Co.， LTD 400039）

Abstract: In the whole process of engineering construction， its schedule control is a very important part， which not only directly affects the quality of the whole project， but also plays a very important role in the economic effect of the entire project. Meanwhile， in the particular process of engineering construction， since construction is a dynamic process， coupled with the numerous factors that involved in the engineering construction schedule control and the program is quite complex， it is so imperative to put the factors and program involved in order; and from a dynamic point of view， the construction schedule control can be studied and analyzed in a comprehensive way. The paper begins with the study of relative definitions of engineering construction schedule control and illustrates the involved factors and the corresponding influence of them on the engineering construction schedule control based on the case study of real estate project construction schedule control at Fuyuan Jiayuan of Tai'an City. And some related suggestions are put forward on the base and the author expects to make an active theoretical guidance effect on engineering construction.

Key words: Engineering Construction; Schedule Control; Measures; Factors

1 Introduction

Engineering project management is very complex and practical work， whose core contents are generally composed of project schedule management， project quality management and project investment management. In these three core contents， the engineering project schedule management is the center， which plays a vital role in the entire construction of the project. However， the engineering construction schedule management control is the core of the project; therefore， carrying out the study of construction schedule control is an important prerequisite of a good project management.

The project management content a bit numerous， including scope management， cost management， quality management， personnel management， schedule management and other aspects， and because the project subject is influenced by many factors， in the particular implementation progress， there are a great many uncertainties， so the small mistakes of management may cause schedule to delay and cost to overrun， leading to the decline of program economic benefits and even the failure of the entire project， therefore， this paper analyzes and discusses the construction schedule control and the author expects to find out the relevant factors that influences the engineering construction schedule， and on this basis， some ideas are put forward about how to control these factors and thus better control of construction schedule.

2 Related Overview of the Construction Schedule Control

2.1 Related Concepts of Construction Schedule Control

Construction schedule control mainly refers to the strengthening of management of various factors that affect the construction schedule and taking all effective measures to strictly control the construction process of the program in a certain range， to making sure the achievement of the construction schedule management goals in the process of the construction. Specifically， it means making certain plans of work content， work procedures， duration， and cohesive relations at each stages of engineering project construction. The plans should be implemented; in the course of implementation， it is necessary to check that whether the actual progress is conducted according to plan requirements; the reasons for the deviations should be analyzed， remedial measures or adjust should be taken; the original plan should be modified until the project is completed and delivered. Construction schedule control is the focus and core of the whole project management， which runs through the project from the beginning until the whole process of completion and acceptance of the tender stage.

2.2 The Contents that Included in Construction Schedule Control，

Due to the fact that construction control goes throughout the whole process of construction， it includes more contents， such as the controls of pre-construction and construction control in the progress and a control after construction progress， which mainly includes， firstly， determining the content and characteristics of the schedule control work and， control methods and specific measures， risk analysis of schedule aim achievement， as well as what other unsolved issues; secondly， making plans of overall schedule of construction organization and making time arrangement of the construction preparation work and various tasks; thirdly， making plans of project schedule; fourthly， making plans of the annual， quarterly， monthly projects.

During the period of construction， schedule control is mainly based on the changes of the duration of every construction process and the increase and decrease in construction content that caused by design changes， the changes in internal construction conditions and external conditions， timely analysis， taking appropriate measures. Schedule control after construction progress mainly refers to the work after the completion of construction work， including: organization engineering inspection， process engineering claims， data compilation， classification， cataloging and archiving of project schedule and so on.

2.3 Significance of Construction Schedule Control

Construction schedule control is an important task of in engineering construction management and an essential indispensable part of the whole project， which has a significant role in the entire engineering construction. Meanwhile， engineering construction schedule control is a relatively complex process that not only involves the duration of the project， but also includes the influences of workload of the engineering and resource consumption; and from the relational point of view， these factors of the construction schedule control are mutually affected and interrelated; therefore， to make a good construction schedule control， it is a must to control it from multiple perspectives so that the construction schedule and project implementation condition can be evaluated properly.

Conducting the engineering construction schedule control has a very important theoretical and practical significance， in theory， making good construction schedule control is the basis for project management， and it can greatly improve the project management level and acts as reference for the whole project management. From a practical sense， making good engineering construction schedule control can make full use of limited resources， improve the efficiency of the whole construction， cost savings and improve the economic benefits of the whole project.

3. Main Measures of Engineering Construction Schedule Control

3.1 The Mode and Organizational Structure of Making Engineering Schedule Management

In terms of Fuyuan Jiayuan real estate of Tai'an City， a main reason why some problems of this project come out in the process of engineering construction schedule control is that it a failure to build a progress management model and organizational structure in a good way， resulting in some issues of the emergence of labor shortages， engineering rework and uncompleted coordination work.

When it comes to the establishment of mode and organizational structure of the project schedule management model and， it firstly needs to establish an efficient management team which plays an indispensable role in the construction schedule control， such as the staff assignments， operating mode， operating procedures， operational systems of project construction and a high standard of management objective are better achieved through an efficient management team， making a variety of units in charge of construction such as the civil engineering， strong power， weak power， air conditioning， steel structure， installation well coordinate during operation an the whole progress of the project is well controlled. In the second place， making the mode and organizational structure of project schedule management needs to establish an efficient project team at the beginning of project construction.

3.2 Working out Feasible Construction Schedule Plans

In terms of the Fuyuan Jiayuan real estate of Tai'an City， another important reason why some problems emerge in the process of construction schedule control is that the lack of feasibility of the construction schedule plan， leading to a big difference between project time of the overall plan chart of Tai'an City Fuyuan Jiayuan real estate project and specific construction time. Fundamentally speaking， working out feasible construction schedule plan is to make the schedule possesses the feasibility and suitability and project department needs to draw up and verify according to some actual conditions such as project scale and fixed duration for the days for construction. For instance， in terms of Fuyuan Jiayuan real estate project of Tai'an City， in the preparation of the construction schedule， it is necessary to take full account of the relevant factors， such as to give full consideration to the time factors of Spring Festival as well as harvest.

The schedule are mainly worked out and verified from the following aspects: firstly， whether the total project goals and sub goals meet the contract requirements; secondly， whether the subentry project of construction has the phenomenon of omission; thirdly， whether the project construction arrangement meets the requirements of the construction sequence; fourthly， whether the project construction process， materials， labor， machinery， parts， equipment， and other supply plan meet the needs of the engineering phase; fifthly， whether the co-ordination of various professional articulations are in place in the process of project construction; sixthly， the condition of funds supply supplication of owners in the project construction process.

3.3 The Implementation of the Construction Schedule

In terms of Fuyuan Jiayuan real estate of Tai'an City， the bad implementation of construction schedule is a significant reason that leads to the failure of construction schedule， at the same time， in the process of construction of the project， some construction schedule that has not been well implemented are not given related adjustment measures， but allows the duration of the delay， for example， in the course of implementation， since coordination is not in place， strong electrical construction has not completed， leading to delays for air conditioning installation.

From the point of view of construction schedule control procedures， the implementation of the project construction schedule is actually a kind of fulfillment of construction schedule. Therefore， the project manager should regularly and frequently conduct inspection and supervision of the construction schedule implementation. In the meanwhile， in the inspection and supervision process， if a problem occurs， it is necessary to adjust the construction schedule and construction programs according to the actual situation of construction in a timely manner， ensuring the implementation of the whole days for construction. Adjustment methods include two kinds: one is to shorten the days for construction by compressing the duration of the construction period. The other is to shorten the days for construction through the organization of overlapping jobs or parallel jobs. According to the project situation， the above two methods can also be adjusted in the same construction segment.

At the same time， the coordination work of construction project should be done actively. Specifically speaking， mainly based on the master of implementation of the plan， the relationship among various units should be coordinated to so exclude contradictions timely， overcome weaknesses links and ensure the aim achievement of the operational plan and schedule control.

3.4 Focus on Technical solutions

From Fuyuan Jiayuan real estate project of Tai’an city， the reasons why the construction schedule is not well implemented and why there are trouble in schedule control are that relevant technical solution are not paid attention to， causing the whole construction control to be in a chaotic state， which can be strongly reflected through the owner’s suggested change of the construction design. Since technical solutions are not paid attention to， drawings review and design disclosure are not well done， therefore， it leads to the owner’s vague ideas of this project and thus affects the progress of the project.

When it comes to paying attention to the technical proposal， firstly， it is necessary to do a good job in drawings review and design disclosure， and find out whether there are problems in drawings and design， and put forward corrections of the problems and the requirements of both sides in time. The second is to optimize the construction organization design and technical solutions， such as the construction site layout design， deployment of balance of earthwork excavation， fundamentally dealing with processing construction sequence and the mutual restriction relations between civil engineering and installation. It is necessary to be serious and optimized， and to reduce duplication of invalid construction slowdown phenomenon; thirdly， it is necessary to vigorously adopt mature and feasible new technology and craft and use advanced equipment to replace the backward one.

4 Conclusion

In conclusion， the schedule control of project construction is not only an important part of the construction management control but also the realization of the project quality and the most cost effective means， which can not only make the engineering project delivered and put into use on time and with high quality， but also avoid economic losses caused by the delays of parties duration. Therefore， in the construction process， the project schedule control must be applied as a key link to grasp. In the meantime， as the engineering project involves a great many link and factors are complex， in the specific construction process， these links and factors must be taken into consideration， ensuring effective conduct of engineering construction.

References

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