Project plans and record-keeping on construction sites in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The main part of this thesis involves an investigation into the ways in which contractors and supervising engineers deal with the programme of works for their projects. A secondary strand concerns the problems of record-keeping, in particular the records needed to assess claims for delay. A final chapter is included to describe a new model for teaching the principles of CPM, which developed from the research. Little is known about the procedures adopted for specifying project plans, for checking them or for using them to assess contractual claims. By interviewing contractors and consulting engineers using a questionnaire, this area has been opened up and information obtained to allow sensible recommendations to be made. The problems of concurrent delay have been examined and new ideas as to how they may be dealt with put forward. Some of the procedures used for this section of the work are considered to be novel and original. In considering the problems of assessing delay claims, it soon became clear that an 'as-built' record of progress would be, most helpful, and a computer program to generate such a record has been written. The author is not aware of any such similar program.

Finally, the model for teaching CPM is an innovation. it uses a recognized format, that of the time-scaled diagram, but adds another dimension in allowing the activities to move on the diagram within the logic of the network. Throughout this thesis, the capitalized forms of engineer and contractor (Engineer and Contractor) have been given special meanings. Two separate questionnaires were used: one for the professionals involved in contract supervision and one for those involved in the construction of the contract. The particular interviewees questioned using the first of these questionnaires have been described as Engineers and those questioned using the second questionnaire as Contractors.