Course: HND in Construction and the Built Environment
Introduction
The construction industry encompasses product manufacturing, professional services and contracting as well. The industry has a turnover around £370 billion in 2016 and has billion in value to the UK economy. Almost 10% of the total employment within the UK construction industry contributed towards better revenue generation. Further growth in the industry is also recorded, thus, it is important for the industry to be inclined towards implementing modern methods for enhancing outcome of micro and macro construction projects. Referring to this, the study would be focusing upon modern construction practices including Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Health & Safety, in response to this different government legislation and its impact on the industry would also be delineated.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Main body
- LO3
- P6 Modern construction processes and sequences used in the industry in accordance to meet sustainability needs
- P7 Contract planning techniques used within micro and macro construction projects
- P8 Impact of BIM upon operations and construction companies
- M3, D3
- LO4
- P9 Indulgence of Health & Safety as an integrated part of constriction process
- P10 Government legislations which has benchmarked Health & Safety within construction
- P11 Role of collaboration and communication to ensure safe working practices
- Conclusion
- References
Unit 4 Construction Practice & Management
Assignment - The integration of Building Information Modelling (BIM), Health and Safety and modern methods of construction, into construction planning, practice and procedures.
LO3
P6 Modern construction processes and sequences used in the industry in accordance to meet sustainability needs
With the growing population, negative impact on the environment has also increased and thus it is important to get advanced and simultaneously meet sustainability needs. Environmental, social and economic pillars are the three major components upon which sustainability is dependent. The industry is required to adhere to the Triple Bottom Line, in relation to the environmental aspect, the materials required in the procurement process must be environmentally-friendly. Awareness, participation and equity are the social benefits of sustainable development and for the economic pillar, support developers to take up sustainable projects (Juta UK, 2020). There have been different modern methods used in the construction industry like, "3D volumetric modules, flat slab construction, twin wall technology, health and safety and BIM". Considering BIM, it is observed to be a highly significant method in construction. This is an intelligent 3D model-based process which supports construction professionals in order to acquire insights and accordingly adopt different tools in order to complete their work with greater planning, managing buildings and infrastructure. The pivotal advantage of the mentioned technique is that although it is a recent development, it is an effective tool for sustainable construction and design. In order to maintain safety and health aspects, OSHA's Safety and Health Regulations for Construction: OSHA 29 CFR 1926 can be implemented in order to form the baseline for health and safety aspects within the industry (Nnaji et al., 2020). Furthermore, different innovative ideas like virtual reality, stay safe apps, wearable, augmented reality and site sensors can be used in order to support health and safety within the industry. For example, organisations like Turner Construction Co, Clark Group, DPR Construction implements modern methods of construction like BIM as a viable option for the construction professionals in developing overall experience of design. It also supports appropriate flow of communication among the project experts regarding enhancement of the construction process (Martínez-Aires et al., 2018).
Also read: Get effective assistance with your Building Information Modelling assignments for Pearson Higher Nationals in Construction and the Built Environment.
P7 Contract planning techniques used within micro and macro construction projects
Major phases of construction management include initiation, planning, execution, performance and monitoring and closure. In relation to micro planning within the construction industry, it requires lots of intricate details in order to schedule the work done. Planning techniques like making schedules in tabular format helps in micro construction projects. However, in micro construction planning is something where the employees desire to acquire experience. However for the construction professionals, through micro-panning they get the message of not trusting the employees with the jobs they are doing on their own. This might also have a chance of weakening the relationships within professional context. There is a strong possibility of micromanagement which might negatively impact the managers in acquiring a big picture scenario for the planning (Won and Cheng, 2017). Thus, dependency by the employees might result in burn out, all these reasons collectively might contribute that micro-planning might not be impactful in construction projects including the techniques used for its planning. In relation to macro planning, it requires different planning techniques other than scheduling; it undertakes different techniques like critical path, line of balance techniques and precedence diagrams. This is observed to be an effective planning within construction as it helps in breaking down the activities and reaching their goals, also they are inclined towards being more focused in completing their construction activities. With the help of batch process, repeating tasks can also be completed within a particular timeframe.
P8 Impact of BIM upon operations and construction companies
BIM is effective for architects, engineers and construction professionals in visualising regarding what is to be built in a particular environment. This also contributed towards mitigating construction and operational issues as it has a new paradigm which encourages the integration of different roles from the end of the stakeholders within a project. BIM data is effective for illustrating different activities and its breakdown. With the help of BIM, construction of different buildings is done as it supports a simulated environment, this helps to identify design, operational and construction issues. On a further basis, BIM also encourages potential design and can be used in different purposes like, visualisation, fabrication, code reviewing, cost estimation, forensic analysis, and facilities management. Along with this, there are certain other benefits of BIM as well. It supports faster and effective processes, better design, better production quality, appropriate customer service and automated assembly. BIM also contributes towards being cost and time effective (Cheung et al., 2018). Most importantly, BIM is observed to contribute towards decreasing project cost, increasing product quality and reducing the product delivery time as well. Building BIM is considered to be the best option for construction professionals as this stimulates the potentiality of the construction professionals to enhance their working apprehension. BIM also helps in acquiring relevant and appropriate data to use in the practical aspects with greater accuracy. Within the product life-cycle, the mentioned method is also useful for operations and maintenance of construction projects.
Also read: Access fundamental concepts related to Building Information Modelling through Unit 14 of HND in Construction and the Built Environment.
M3, D3
BIM is effective in different scenarios regarding construction projects; it also includes analysing and understanding physical and functional characteristics which is effective for generating and managing digital representations. This respective model is not only inclined towards building a 3D computer model but also verifies the configuration to produce better buildings. This is used by the construction professionals in order to increase collaboration and support effective performance towards the completion of successful construction projects. It is important to ensure that the designers and subcontractors work in collaboration so that the work pressure can be reduced (Alomari et al., 2017). Considering the interrelationship of the construction professionals like estimators, architects and designs, BIM has a lot to present like, for architects and designers, it contributes towards reducing conflicts and reworks which are quite beneficial for the construction workers. As they are responsible for all the phases of a construction project, it is important to reinforce the modern methods in order to acquire a final building outcome similar to the concept. For estimators, BIM works as a database of information in which information regarding cost is stored along with different elements. This makes the job of an estimator quite easy. However, BIM cannot replace an estimator, they use this model as a step for verification where the designers. Through this model, different knowledge can be acquired regarding the estimation and plan. For project managers, it is important to analyse the benefits of BIM, this has also supported a wide range of improvement within construction projects. With the passage of time, it is observed that various organisations have been adopting BIM technology and it has resulted in a better outcome. The mentioned technology is also effective for subcontractors as well; however they are the ones having the majority of the benefits of BIM technology. It is effective for handling change management processes as well which contributed towards sporting any improvements required in the construction process (Han and Golparvar-Fard, 2017).
Access support for your Construction Information assignments for Unit 6 of Pearson Higher Nationals in Construction and the Built Environment.
LO4
P9 Indulgence of Health & Safety as an integrated part of constriction process
Health and safety is considered to be the most significant aspect within the construction industry, this is because the industry is prone to hazardous incidents and lives of workers may be at risk. From different statistical tools from Health & Safety Executive (HSE), it has been observed that the construction industry is responsible for occurrence of most fatal incidents within the workplace. Almost 10% of the work-related injuries occur by resulting in falling of the workers from a height or being struck by heavy or moving objects like machines or vehicles. Construction workers are susceptible to different work-related injuries like deafness, carpal tunnel syndrome, vibration white finger or dermatitis (Fargnoli and Lombardi, 2019). These incidents are observed to be developed by using vibrating tools or intaking dust or being exposed to loud noises for a longer period of time like at a construction site. Occupational cancers are another fatal condition tpo which the workers are highly exposed to and this might occur by being exposed to silica or asbestos (for example). Thus, these are considered to be intense reasons for which maintaining health and safety concerns have been important and in order to deal with these, appropriate health and safety processes and practices would be maintained at all construction sites. This has made it important to protect the well-being of the passer-by quite significantly to protect the workforce and focus upon their safety within the workplace. Also, if proper health and well-being of the workers is not maintained, it might negatively impact the construction business as if the workers are unwell, productivity might be less and possibilities of risk might also increase (Samuel et al., 2016).
P10 Government legislations which has benchmarked Health & Safety within construction
There are certain legal legislation and processes which are required to be followed by the construction industry. Legislation like Health and Safety at Work act 1974 (HSWA) is required to be implemented so that the employers Are able to ensure that appropriate health and safety aspects are practiced within the workplace for all the employees and individuals who ate working within their premises. Different other legislations are Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 and Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 (Croner-i, 2020). All these legislation collectively can be concerned as appropriate in focusing upon maintaining the health and safety aspects. Further guidelines are present which ensure the success of Health and Safety Management by embracing PDCA (Plan, Do, Check and Act), through this it would be effective to reinforce the concept of risk management and proofing. Furthermore, there are certain specific legislation as well, this includes The Building Act 1984, Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 and Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) in order to deal with noise at work, asbestos and vibration. All these legislation are effective for ensuring that the employees and workers are safe and protected from the possibilities of getting exposed to any fatal accident at the construction site (Jaafar et al., 2018).
Explore various types of construction information essential for construction projects, including drawings, detailing, and specifications, within the framework of HND in Construction and The Built Environment.
P11 Role of collaboration and communication to ensure safe working practices
Collaboration and communication within the construction industry can be signified as working together in order to acquire a common goal. Working together with effective communication is observed to encounter a shared effort and interest in order to accomplish an activity by the group of people within the construction industry. It is important to analyse the individual contribution. Different organisations have understood the significance of developing building information management programs which would contribute towards promoting design information sharing. This helps the organisations to ensure "construction collaboration", this can be enhanced through construction collaboration software which can be considered as the primary supplier of the mentioned technology. In the year 2003, different vendors across the UK formed the Network for better collaboration and promoted efficiency in the working procedure within the workplace. Implementing collaborative models is observed to be of higher significance in order to acquire success of a project in order to acquire better communication and performance of the employees. Additionally, good communication is observed to be adopted in order to handle flaws and reduce changes within orders. It has been analysed that improved communication results in innovation and technical solutions which would ultimately help in quality enhancement and better decision making through collaboration and communication (Nyantakyi et al., 2020). The decision making is observed to be appropriate in case of identifying product defects and ensuring the satisfaction of the client. Focusing on the benefits of collaboration within construction projects on a further basis, higher profits for contractors, early completion of projects and less contract disputes might be the result of effective collaboration. However, continuous improvement and maintenance of long-term relationships is highly significant in order to have successful long-term projects.
M3
Health and safety legislation have also contributed towards different construction activities, this is also considered to be a priority for the managers which is required to be embedded into almost every construction plan. It is highly significant for them to maintain health and safety aspects for the workers within the construction industry. Provision confidence and empowering the workers is of higher importance and maintains flaws regarding health and safety aspects which help to ensure that the staffs are safe. However, adopting different health and safety measures have helped to adopt different advanced safety measures. The managers are able to assess and avoid, that is, the risk assessment process is considered as the first stage of construction projects, herein, the safety and health practices are highly required. Through the risk assessment process, it is important to analyse the extent of a risk, its likelihood and impact. Involvement of the stakeholders is also considered to be significant which would also help to reduce potential risks which have higher possibilities to reduce the impact of the risks on the workers. Like, within the UK, Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) is considered to be significant in analysing the probabilities of risks which occur. In addition to this, construction workplaces also ensure involvement of qualified Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) officers in order to handle dangerous situations which can also be handled through advanced technologies like identification of an app-based solution (Suresh et al., 2018).
Need professional assistance with Advanced Building Information Modelling assignments for Unit 36 of Pearson BTEC Level 5 HND in Construction and The Built Environment.
D3
Referring to the mentioned legislation, this has been effective for construction workplaces to maintain effective health and safety procedures and has been successful in making protective equipment habit of the workers. This includes that the workers are required to be well-equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE) which would support them to eradicate occurrence of risks. Additionally, it has also assisted in adopting right tools for their job; this would include using machineries which is effective in maintaining safety and security of the workers. Additionally, maintaining robust service and maintenance is highly significant.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above study that the construction industry is observed to be adopting different modern aspects like BIM and health and safety aspects in order to take care of the wellness and safety of the employees and workers working at construction sites. It has been explained about the benefits of BIM and its positive contributions towards enhancing construction related activities. For the health and safety concern for the workers has been undertaken by explaining different legislation and the role of communication and collaboration. Along with this, it has also been delineated about the impact of the mentioned regulations towards the betterment of the workers.
FAQ: Construction Project Stages and Building Information Modelling (BIM)
- Q: What are the key stages in a construction project?
- Q: How does Building Information Modelling (BIM) inform the different stages?
- Q: Why is collaboration important for health and safety in construction?
- Q: How has the construction industry developed collaboration strategies for health and safety?
- Q: What are the benefits of these collaborative strategies?
- Q: Are there any challenges to implementing collaborative safety strategies?
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