Topic guide 5.1: Project resources and supply · PDF file · 2014-06-105.1 Project resources and supply requirements ... mortar, with an angled fillet at the top towards the external

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Unit 5: Monitoring supplies of resources to meet project sustainability requirements in construction and the built environment

This topic guide looks at how you research the information you will require in order to begin the resource acquisition process for a project. You will need to make sure that you have all of the necessary information relating to the project in terms of time, costs and quality. Being thorough is essential.

We will examine some of the common sources of project information, most of which you will recognise from your current employment, involving estimation, tendering, planning, and health and safety.

This topic guide will cover: • project information, including:

o contract drawings and specificationo manufacturers’ data sheetso the contract programmeo the bill of quantitieso BREEAMo health and safety information.

Project resources and supply requirements5.1

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5.1: Project resources and supply requirements

1 Project informationA range of resources and materials are needed before the construction process can begin and be completed within the constraints laid down by a client. For every element of a building project, resources have to be quantified, scheduled, ordered, purchased, delivered, checked and paid for. The primary resources required on site can be classified as follows.

• Labour – the general operatives, craftspeople, supervisors, managers and professional staff who will organise and run the construction site safely and sustainably.

• Labour sub-contractors – work will be carried out by staff working for the main contractor on site; however, the main contractor may require help from labour sub-contractors. Sub-contractors may carry out more specialist work on site or fulfil a specific task as part of the overall project.

• Plant – the equipment that will be required to move, cut, mix, lay, lift and position resources on the construction project.

• Materials – the different supplies that will be delivered, unpacked, used and installed within the project.

These resources will be used to construct the elements of a building or construction project and will have maximum influence on the sustainability of a construction project.

Additional resources that have to be planned for include: • temporary works – resources such as scaffolding, hand and guard rails, access

platforms, cranes, mobile elevated platforms, props, ground works support and water pumping

• site preliminaries – site accommodation (including cabins, meeting rooms, drying rooms, offices, toilets) and welfare provisions (including fencing, gates, security, lighting, hardstandings and skips)

• stakeholder liaison – communications with neighbours, meetings with adjacent asset holders, environmental impact assessment on the surrounding area and subsequent control of construction works.

You will need to analyse a number of sources to gain the information necessary for sustainable resource procurement. Sources include:

• contract drawings • the contract specification • manufacturers’ data sheets • the contract programme • the bill of quantities • BREEAM – the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment

Method for building documents, which sets the sustainable standards required for such a registered project

• the existing health and safety file.

Contract drawingsContract drawings contain the dimensions for any building project. These dimensions govern the quantities of resources that will be required. An allowance for wastage must be added to resource quantities if excessive cutting is required on site during the installation of the material.

Key termStakeholders – the people who are affected by the construction process (e.g. end users, community, neighbours, tenants).

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Within a buying department the resource scheduler may have to take off the quantities so they can order the materials for a project. This would need to be confirmed against the bill of quantities and/or with the estimator for the project to confirm that the quantities are within the amounts included in the estimate or tender.

Figure 5.1.1 illustrates the elevation drawings of a large house. These would be used to calculate the areas of external brickwork, along with the plans of each floor.

Contract specificationContract documents will contain the specification for the materials and equipment required for the project, as specified by the client’s architect or designer. The specification will only cover those resources that will be used to construct the final project. It will not specify how this will be done in terms of labour, plant and equipment resources, which have to be provided by the main contractor.

The specification provided by the architect or designer should specify resources that are sustainable, resourced locally and which help to reduce wastage by modular coordinated dimensions.

Figure 5.1.2 shows a sample specification for an external wall. You would need to read and evaluate the specification, ensuring materials that are sourced meet any environmental impact requirements.

Figure 5.1.1: The elevation drawings of a large house.

This drawing has been prepared for the purpose of obtaining Planning and or Building Regulation approvals only. The contractor is responsible for taking and checking all dimensions and levels on site prior to commencement and reporting back any discrepancies to the client and the architectural consultant.

All materials specified on this drawing are to be used in strict accordance with manufacturers written instructions and current codes of practice. Variations to the specifications within these drawings or associated documents are at the contractor’s own risk.

This drawing is the copyright of DesignQube By Steven Brown Ltd and must not be reproduced without written constent.

©DesignQube By Steven Brown 2012

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Section 4 – External Walls

Notes Sections 4.1–4.3 relate to new cavity walls, sections 4.4–4.5 relate to the treatment of the existing boundary walls that represent external walls to the studio.

4.1 Below Ground, walls to be 100 mm dense concrete block to both skins, with a 100 mm clear cavity. Ideally final course to inner skin below DPC to be lightweight block – in order to reduce thermal bridging. All connections to existing walls to be by mechanical wall fixing (Furfix or similar). Below ground the cavity is to be filled to external ground level with lean mix (1:3) mortar, with an angled fillet at the top towards the external leaf.

4.2 A DPC must be installed to both inner and outer skins at 150 mm above external ground level. If necessary, install an oversized inner DPC to allow to tape internal ground floor door DPM to. If the internal floor level is greater than this, then a DCP should be installed in the inner skin at this level (possibly instead of lower DPC, depending on height difference, discuss with building inspector on site).

4.3 Walls above ground – external skin to be reclaimed brick – it is advised that due to the relatively soft nature of reclaimed bricks, a slighter weaker mix mortar is used for this wall, i.e. 1:1:5 cement, hydraulic lime, sand. Inner skin to be 100 mm lightweight Masterblock (or similar) with lambda of 0.59, with 12.5 mm plasterboard dot-and-dab to inner face (skimmed if required). Cavity insulation to be 50 mm rigid board insulation (Celotex CW4000 or similar) clipped back to inner skin with proprietary clips attached to wall ties at 450 mm vertical and 750 mm horizontal spacings. Ties to have min. 50 mm embedment in mortar. To use slate (manmade or natural) to cap cavity at eaves level and proprietary insulated cavity closers to all openings in wall.

4.4 To all existing outer boundary walls, including existing wall between new studio and garden store – fit 50 mm rigid board insulation (Celotex or similar) direct to brickwork. Tape joints with silver foil tape to form vapour barrier.

4.5 Fix back to wall with 47x25 mm tannelised battens. Install horizontal top rail at top of wall, and bottom rail 25 mm clear of base of wall – to take base of plasterboard. Fix back with min 112 mm masonry frame fixing screws (e.g. Toolstation p78). Fit vertical infill battens (between base and top rail) @400 c/c in same fashion. Use 12.5 mm plasterboard (+skim if required) to inner side, all to achieve U-Valve of at least 0.28 w/m2 K.

Figure 5.1.2: A sample specification for an external wall.

Manufacturers’ data sheetsData sheets from manufacturers will provide the necessary details for contractors to sustainably source the required materials. They contain information relating to:

• location of distribution supply chains – to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from transport

• pack sizes – to reduce transport, weight and wastage • dimensions – to reduce cutting • embodied energy – the amount of energy used in the manufacture of the

material • sustainable characteristics of the material – its raw materials, production/

processing emissions • recyclability • life cycle costs.

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Figure 5.1.3 shows a manufacturer’s data sheet for a dense concrete brick and contains full details of the product’s properties.

BRICK TECHNICAL DATA SHEET DENSE CONCRETE COMMON BRICKS

APPEARANCE: Greyish colour with variable texture. The colour may vary depending on the supplying works. No guarantee can be given in respect of colour or texture consistency.

DIMENSIONS: 215 mm x 100 mm x 65 mm 215 mm x 100 mm x 73 mm – made to special order by certain works

TOLERANCES: Category D1 (+3–5mm in all directions) CONFIGURATION: Solid or Frogged depending on the manufacturing worksCOMPOSITION: Dense Aggregates and Portland Cements DRY DENSITY: Average 2200 kg/m3

DRY WEIGHT: 2.85–3.2 kg approximately for 65 mm size COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH:

> 22 N/mm2 mean. Air dry. Available in strengths up to 35 N/mm2

THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY: Protected Exposed 1.59 W/mK 1.70 W/mK (As CIBSE Guide A, Table 3.1)

DURABILITY: Based on tabulated values from BS 5628-3, Table 12, common bricks are classed as frost-resistant.

WATER ABSORPTION BY CAPILLARITY:

<150 g/m2/s0.5

MOISTURE MOVEMENT: < 0.45 mm/mWATER VAPOUR PERMEABILITY:

5/15µ (Tabulated from EN 1745)

REACTION TO FIRE: Euroclass A1SHEAR BOND STRENGTH: 0.15 N/mm2 (Tabulated from EN 998-2: 2003, Annex C) BUILT WALL WEIGHT: 225 kg/m2 (Unplastered Single Leaf Wall) GREEN GUIDE RATING: A+PRESENTATION: Self-contained packs, shrinkwrapped in most

instances to non-returnable pallets, or void packed and shrinkwrapped, depending on supplying works.

Contract programmeA contract programme for the project will be included in contract documents. This must be evaluated in terms of when resources will be required on site. It is pointless delivering materials too early because they may be damaged or deteriorate in quality. Often, the just-in-time (JIT) ordering method is used and this has high sustainable value in reducing wastage, packaging and transport costs.

You will need to find out the delivery periods for the resources you require. If some have long delivery periods these resources will need to be ordered early so they arrive in time for their incorporation into the programme. For example, some specialist glass may be manufactured in Germany and take three weeks to be delivered and clear customs.

Figure 5.1.3: A manufacturer’s data sheet, produced with the permission

of PD Edenhall, www.edenhall.co.uk.

LinkHNC in Construction and the Built Environment: Unit 4 Management principles and application for construction and the built environment, learning outcome 3, assessment criterion 3.1.

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Bill of quantitiesA bill of quantities is often produced for larger contracts because it contains all the resources involved within the project, along with the associated unit rate against each item. For each item description in the bill of quantities there will be a specification. You will need to read and understand the requirements for each element that needs to be ordered.

A bill of quantities will provide you with the initial ‘design’ quantities that were calculated using the dimensions from the ‘tender’ set of drawings. These quantities should always be checked against the ‘construction’ set of working drawings and their current revisions, to ascertain if any variations have been made to the quantities.

BREEAM BREEAM is an environmental assessment method that places great emphasis on the sustainability of a project. It measures against key performance indicators and applies a rating to the completed building project. In order to meet the obligations imposed by the scheme, you will need to read and understand all the factors that contribute to the sustainability of the construction project, with particular reference to the procurement, use and installation of resources.

Existing health and safety fileAny project that is covered by the requirements of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 must have a health and safety contract file. This contains all the data on materials, colours, as-built drawings, etc. It will also detail any hazards associated with the resources that have been installed within the project. It is a vital tool when ordering resources, particularly for refurbishment projects when this information is required to obtain a ‘match’.

The health and safety file is prepared by the main contractor and checked by the CDM (Construction (Design and Management)) coordinator. The client requires this document as it has to be retained for the life of the building.

Figure 5.1.4: The acquisition of resources often involves many different suppliers or

manufacturers.

Key termBREEAM – the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, which is used to rate a building’s performance in sustainable terms.

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Portfolio activity (1.1)Using some or all of the contract data sources examined above, obtain the following from a project you are working on in order to develop an acquisition plan in Topic guide 5.2:

• An outline programme of works so you can establish where and when resources are required for the acquisition plan schedule.

• The quantities of each resource that need to be scheduled (you can obtain these from the bill of quantities or from dimensions from up-to-date drawings).

• The specification of each resource (so that it meets the agreed contract requirements). • An indication of any resources that have a ‘long delivery period’ associated with them, in which

case alternatives may have to be considered.

Keep records of the above in your portfolio.

Opportunities for economies of scaleWhen the contract specification, contract drawings and bill of quantities have been analysed, you can look for opportunities within a buying department to combine resources across several different contracts.

Why do this? There are several economies that can be made by combined ordering, including:

• economies of scale – obtaining a greater overall discount on a full load rather than a partial load of materials and resources

• a reduction in the number of loads required to transport materials and the associated amount of carbon produced – full loads reduce the transport costs that are associated with part loads

• a reduction in wastage as a result of using modular components that do not require excessive cutting.

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Portfolio activity (1.2, 2.2)Undertake an analysis of two current contracts and provide:

• a list of common materials for both projects • a summary of opportunities for economies of scale that were not taken • information on areas where modular dimensions could have been used to reduce wastage.

ChecklistAt the end of this topic guide you should be familiar with:

the sources of project information and data relating to the acquisition of resources

the different types of project resources

the efficiencies that can be made when acquiring resources.

Further reading and resourceswww.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/31979/10-1257-guidelines-for-managing-projects.pdf

www.projectsmart.co.uk/project-plans-10-essential-elements.html

www.breeam.org

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AcknowledgementsThe publisher would like to thank the following for their kind permission to reproduce their photographs:

Alamy Images: Alex Segre (6); Designqube By Steven Brown Ltd: (3); © Rough Guides: Helena Smith (1)

All other images © Pearson Education

We are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:

The Complete Building Regs Service for the table ‘Sample specification’ from Section 4: External walls’ notes 4.1–4.5 on p. 4, www.completebuildingregs.co.uk/#/specification/4573558557. Reproduced with permission; The BRE Group for details about BREEAM on pp. 2 and 6, www.BREEAM.org. Reproduced with permission. BREEAM is a registered trademark of the BRE Group; Brick Technical Data Sheet, Dense Concrete Common Bricks on p.5. Reproduced with the permission of PD Edenhall, www.edenhall.co.uk.

Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders and we apologise in advance for any unintentional omissions. We would be pleased to insert the appropriate acknowledgement in any subsequent edition of this publication.

Documents

Topic guide 5.1: Project resources and supply · PDF file · 2014-06-105.1 Project resources and supply requirements ... mortar, with an angled fillet at the top towards the external