CAPÍTULO I: JUSTIFICACIÓN DEL ESTUDIO
1.3 Estado de la cuestión
1.3.2 Marco Común Europeo de Referencia para las lenguas
Model
The structure of the ABCC model, at the bottom part of Figure 3-2, represents the construction industry and four types of construction projects (refer to Section 2.3), such as residential building projects, commercial building projects, infrastructure and heavy engineering projects, and industrial building projects (Hendrickson and Au, 1989; Ostwald, 2001; Gould, 2005; Sears et al., 2008; and Gould and Joyce, 2009). However, according to Kirkham (2007), the construction industry is classified into two types: construction building and civil engineering. The ABCC model represents the contractor’s point of view that is developed and associated in commercial building construction projects during the construction stage as discussed in Section 2.3.5.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) identified the construction stage which is one of the important stages of the discreet project phases. Figure 3-3 represents the five (5) stages of work strategies involving eleven (11) terms of project phases which have been established recently (Philips, 2009 and Cartlidge, 2009).
82
Figure 3-3: The Project Phases
Source: Modified from Philips (2009) and Cartlidge (2009)
The project phases are outlined in the chronological ‘RIBA work stages’ as represented in the outline plan of work (refer to Philips, 2009): (i) preparation, i.e., (1) appraisal, (2) design brief, (ii) design, i.e., (3) concept, (4) design development, (5) technical design, (iii) pre-construction, i.e., (6) production information, (7) tender documentation, (8) tender action, (iv) construction, i.e., (9) mobilisation, (10) construction to practical completion, and (v) use, i.e., (11) post practical completion. The process of designing, organising, managing, administering, servicing, and fees for the operational building works are usually based on detailed stages as explained in Table 3.1 below.
Table 3-1: RIBA Outline Plan of Work
Discreet
Phases Stages Work Explanation
2009 2013 0 St rat eg ic Def in itio n 1 Pr ep ar at io n 1 Pr ep ar at io n & B rief 1 Appraisal
Identification of client’s needs and objectives, business case and possible constraints on development.
Preparation of feasibility studies and assessment of options to enable the client to decide whether to proceed.
2 Design Brief
Development of initial statement of requirements into the Design Brief by or on behalf of the client confirming key requirements and constraints. Identification of procurement method, procedures, organisational structure
and range of consultants and others to be engaged for the project.
Preparation
Pre-
Construction
Use
construction
Design
1. Appraisal 2. Design brief 3. Concept 4. Design development 5. Technical design 6. Production information 7. Tender documentation 8. Tender action 9. Mobilisation 10. Construction to practical completion 11. Post practical completion83 2 Desig n 2 Co nce pt Desig n 3 Concept
Implementation of Design Brief and preparation of additional data.
Preparation of Concept Design including outline proposals for structural and building services systems, outline specifications and preliminary cost plan. Review of procurement route
3 Deve lo ped Desig n Design 4 Development
Development of concept design to include structural and building services systems, updated outline specifications and cost plan.
Completion of Project Brief.
Application for detailed planning permission. 5
Technical Design
Preparation of technical design(s) and specifications, sufficient to co- ordinate components and elements of the project and information for statutory standards and construction safety.
4 Tec hn ica l Desig n 3 Pre -co nst ru ct io n 6 Production Information
6.1 Preparation of production information in sufficient detail to enable a tender or tenders to be obtained.
Application for statutory approvals.
6.2 Preparation of further information for construction required under the building contract.
7 Tender Documentation
Preparation and/or collation of tender documentation in sufficient detail to enable a tender or tenders to be obtained for the project.
8 Tender Action
Identification and evaluation of potential contractors and/or specialists for the project.
Obtaining and appraising tenders; submission of recommendations to the client. 5 Fab rica tio n Desig n 4 Co nst ru ct io n 6 Co nst ru ct io n (Of fsit e & On sit e) 9 Mobilisation
Letting the building contract, appointing the contractor. Issuing of information to the contractor.
Arranging site hand over to the contractor. 10
Construction to Practical Completion
Administration of the building contract to Practical Completion.
Provision to the contractor of further information as and when reasonably required.
Review of information provided by contractors and specialists.
5 Use 7 In Use 11 Post Practical Completion
11.1 Administration of the building contract after Practical Completion and making final inspections.
11.2 Assisting building user during initial occupation period. 11.3 Review of project performance in use
Source: Modified from Philips (2009) and RIBA (2012)
Construction stages are based on the construction contract agreement which delivers the completed project in a stipulated period of time. The development of the ABCC model is concerned with the measurement of cost performance during the construction stage, namely project planning and operations on site (refer to Smith et al., 2006). Therefore in Figure 3-3, the construction stage refers to Philips (2009) and Cartlidge (2009), i.e., mobilisation and construction to practical completion. These two construction activities are the source of acquiring
84 information on developing the ABCC model for improving the cost management and controlling practices – the CMCPs of project overheads during the construction stage.
According to PMI (2008) the project cost management and controlling tools and techniques are introduced, and include: Earn Value Management (EVM), Forecasting, To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI), Performance Reviews, Variance Analysis, and Project Management Software. The EVM method is commonly used to monitor three key dimensions for control cost accounts, such as a planned value, earned value, and actual cost. The Forecasting is developed for estimating cost of completions as the project progresses. The TCPI is the calculated projection of cost performance on the remaining works to achieve the management goals. The Performance Review is used for comparing cost performances overtime (e.g., overrunning or under-running budget). The Variance Analysis is a cost controlling tool used to assess cost variation versus the original cost bases. Project Management Software is often used to display the three dimension trends of the EVM graphically, and to forecast final results of project monitoring (PMI, 2008). These methods are applicable for monitoring project costs related to all construction activities. However, none of them have been exclusively applied to control the project overhead costs. Therefore, it is important to investigate the ABC system for cost management and controlling practice relating to construction project overheads.
The ABC system was initiated to serve higher complexities of manufacturing production systems in assigning overheads accurately to particular jobs, products, and services on the basis of diverse cost drivers (Cooper and Kaplan, 1988; Hicks, 1992 and 1999; Cockins, 2001; Daly, 2002; Kaplan and Anderson, 2007; and Drury, 2008). These activity cost drivers may replace direct labour bases (Mansuy, 2000; and Cockins, 2001). Construction projects tend to have higher complexities, have an intricate nature, are fragmented packages, and have diverse operational activities. This requires robust methods of distributing project overheads
85 accurately to every activity with relevant cost drivers. These activity cost drivers may replace percentage allocations which are described in RICS (2009) and CIOB (2009). The ABC system would be suitably implemented in assigning project overheads accurately to jobs, activities or project packages in construction projects (Jaya, et al., 2010a and 2010b). The unique feature of the ABC system provides cost accounting and management that includes individual cost accounts, certain hierarchy cost pools, diverse cost drivers, multiple cost objects, and transparent cost tracers (Jaya et al., 2010b and 2010c). The ABC system provides appropriate tools and techniques to enable assigning overheads accurately to every activity of construction projects (Giammalvo, 2007). In order to trace costs transparently from one point to the next, the ABC system can visualise costs to cause-and-effect relationships between overheads, activities, and projects. In this way the ABC system can be considered as a robust method to develop a cost controlling model. Therefore, the ABCC model (presented in figure 3-2) has been developed for improving the management of project overheads during the construction stage of construction projects in the construction industry (Jaya et al., 2010c and 2011a).
Construction operations on site may face a higher variability of overhead costs which can affect project benefits substantially. Project overheads must be effectively planned and controlled during construction. The standard requirement of monitoring the status of project processes and performances are increasingly important. A project’s planned costs have to be effectively used to support construction activities. Financial transactions (e.g., invoice, and payments) should be properly recorded and regularly reported to update the day-to-day or weekly progress of project expenses. The physical overhead activities must be reported accordingly in order to measure the cost schedules for these activities which have progressed. The value of the activities and comparison with actual project expenses are used to examine cost changes, and indicate cost performance levels. These practices are quite challenging roles for project managers in implementing
86 the ABCC model as a robust tool for managing and controlling project overheads, during the construction stage.
The requirement of monitoring the status of project progress and cost performance to analyse the relationships between cost scheduled, physical-activity progress values, actual expenditures, and project benefits are expected to be resolved with the application of the ABCC model and improve the management of project overheads. The implementation of the ABCC model should consider the concepts and procedures for the cost management and controlling practice, which include:
‘... influencing the factors that create [cost] changes ..., ensuring that all change requests are acted [upon] ..., managing the actual change ..., ensuring that cost expenditures do not exceed the authorised funding ..., monitoring cost performance to isolate variances ..., monitoring work performance against fund expenditures ..., preventing unapproved changes ..., informing appropriate stakeholders of all approved changes ..., and acting to bring expected cost overruns within acceptable limits ...’ (PMI, 2008, pp. 179-180).
After discussing the development of the ABCC model, the following section explains project cost measurement through an application of the activity-based costing to improve the Cost Management and Controlling Practices (CMCPs) of project overheads during the construction stage of construction projects.