Building A House With The Methodology

BUILDING A
HOUSE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PRINCE 2 METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................1
Starting Up a Project (SU)..........................................................................................................1
Initiating a Project (IP)................................................................................................................4
Directing a Project (DP)..............................................................................................................7
Controlling a Stage (CS).............................................................................................................8
Managing a Stage Boundary (SB).............................................................................................11
Managing Product Delivery (MP).............................................................................................12
Closing a Project (CP)...............................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Project Management refers to a detailed planning, organising and overall managing and
controlling the implementation as well as execution of the overall project. It is a highly essential
activity which is appropriate in context with enhanced and effective accomplishment of set
activities at pre-set standards (Hornstein, 2015). The project below is based on development of a
project management plan in context with building a house. It includes a detailed application
PRINCE 2 Methodology and includes a stepwise development of the overall project of
construction of the house.
PRINCE 2 METHODOLOGY
It is an effective project management framework which means PRojects IN Controlled
Environments. It is inclusive of several principles and processes which must be adopted by
individuals which are associated with developing and executing a construction process.
The project development plan below is about building a house, which would be a
basement, along with 5 rooms. This project requires a keen insight on the implementation of
each resource and technique, which would be contributing in achieving a better as well as
sustainable design of the house. Thus, it is required to essentially apply PRINCE 2 Technique in
order to build an effective house.
Starting Up a Project (SU)
This is the very beginning of the whole project, which requires to set up a work frame for
the construction of house to take place upon. It requires the project manager to lay down certain
appropriate and effective layout of the project to develop a business case on which the
construction would take place (Joslin and Müller, 2015).
There are certain essentials which takes place within this stage in the project
management. These aspects are laid down below:
Appointment of the Project Management Team:
The first step in this stage is to appoint a project management team that would be
undertaking the building of this house.
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Illustration 1: Project Management Team
As showcased above, there are several individuals who would be undertaking the overall
project of building the house. However, below are the key personnels who would be actively
engaged in the construction process.
PERSONNEL ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Project Managers
This entity is the most prime and important member of the overall
project. They are responsible for carrying out the management of
the complete project and regulate each resource for its optimum
utilisation (Kerzner, 2017).
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Contractors
These are the individuals who would be supplying the required raw
materials like cement, electrical equipments, aluminium, etc.,
which would be used by the company in giving a sustainable
design to the house.
Lead Consultants
This individual is responsible for heading up the design and
construction department who would be working on building the
project.
Architects Another essential team members are the architects, who would be
physically working on the sustainability and design of the building.
Development of a Business Case:
Another aspect associated with this step is preparation of a business case. A proper and
effective business case for construction of the house is developed below:
STEPS DESCRIPTION
Summary A project management plan has to be developed concerning building a
new house, with a basement and five rooms.
Objectives
The objective which the construction firm is willing to accomplish
through building this house is to provide a sustainable, effective and
essential design along with long term durability in the structure
(Meredith and et. al., 2017).
Research
The firm would be undertaking both external and internal research for
the construction project. As for secondary research, the engineers and
architects of the company would be undertaking knowledge regarding
the overall construction technique and equipments to construct the
house. As for primary, geothermal analysis would be performed to
understand the condition of the ground fit for construction.
Funding
The plan of this project is to generate funding through bank loans as it
would be a viable option to generate such a high funding for the
project.
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Initiating a Project (IP)
The next step of the overall procedure calls for initiating the whole project. This is a very
important stage which is to be considered by the project management team in order to provide a
pathway for the whole building project (Klein, Biesenthal and Dehlin, 2015). There are several
essential elements which the team would be accomplishing at this stage, which are discussed
below:
Project Scheduling:
To successfully initiate the project, it is very important that a schedule is developed along
with the activities and time required for the company to build the house in a sustainable manner.
Below are the essentials of this stage:
ACTIVITIES TIME
Site Preparation and Grading 3 Weeks
Construction of Foundation 2 Weeks
Framing 2 Weeks
Development of Superstructure 20 Weeks
HVAC, Insulation and Drywall 3 Weeks
Painting and Electrical Finish 2 Weeks
Flooring, Plumbing and Finishing
Installations 1 Week
 Gantt Chart:
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Illustration 2: Gantt Chart
Illustration 3: Gantt Chart
 Critical Path:
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Illustration 4: Critical Path
Defining the Scope:
Another crucial aspect associated with this project is defining the scope of the whole
construction plan (Samset and Volden, 2016). Thus, it is required by the project management
team to define several aspects appropriately within this project that are discussed below:
 Requirements:
There are several requirements which are associated with the overall project and that are
very much needed to be defined at this stage for a smooth and essential execution later on. Some
of the essential requirements of the project are described below:
▪ Construction Documentation: The very first requirement within building the
house is all the associated documentation which are related to executing the
project in a legally bound manner. Some of the essential documentation include
site map, legal description of the project, architect information, legal contracts
binding the project, official government permissions and client agreement form.
▪ Budget Estimates: Another crucial requirement of building the house project is
the requirement of financial assets that would be used within the plan to execute
the construction (Ramazani and Jergeas, 2015). The budget for this plan is
mentioned below:
EXPENSES AMOUNT (£)
Hard Construction Costs
Foundation, Drywall, Framing, Roofing,
Flooring 468000
Plumbing, Security System, Electrical 60000
Furnishings, Equipment and Fixtures 53200
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HVAC 68000
Landscaping 14500
Site Operations 17000
Sub-total Hard Costs 680700
Acquisition of Land 66150
Soft Construction Costs
Engineers and Architects 28000
Salaries and Fees 3900
Sub-total Soft Construction Costs 31900
Contingencies 14000
Total Expenses 792750
 Stakeholders and Communication:
Another essential element related to defining scope of the project is determination of
stakeholders and ways to communicate them (Svejvig and Andersen, 2015). It is again necessary
for the project management team to determine the individuals that are associated with building
the house. Some of these individuals and ways to communicate them are described below:
STAKEHOLDERS COMMUNICATION METHOD
Suppliers and Contractors Letters
Architects Telephones
Client E-Mails
Government Officials Circulars
Directing a Project (DP)
The next stage calls out for directing the project in an effective and essential manner.
This stage requires to set up the human resources and provide them day to day roles and
responsibilities under which they would be performing (Sánchez, 2015). Moreover, this stage
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also undertakes development of a project plan which would be showcasing the key deliverables
from the project. This plan in association with building the house is discussed as under, which
would be appropriately be contributing to the business case developed above:
Cost
The project management team estimates the overall cost to be around
£800,000, which would be including all the activities like purchasing,
hiring equipments, employing human resource and so forth (Walker,
2015). This would coincide with the funding option of Bank Loan
which was mentioned in the case above.
Communication
The company would be adopting all sorts of communication like
lateral, horizontal, vertical as well as linear communication in order to
ensure appropriate and necessary flow of information during the
research carried out by the project team and in the overall construction.
Quality
To ensure effective quality, the firm would be using techniques like
Lean Production and Total Quality Management in the process of
construction of the house. However, this stage also requires monitoring
of standards, for which, Key Performance Indicators and
Benchmarking analysis would be used (Todorović and et. al., 2015).
Scope
The scope at this stage would be quite effective as new technologies
and equipments that would be used to execute the construction.
Moreover, the firm would also be implementing techniques like
Automation which would be reducing errors within construction.
Project Deliverables There are several deliverables which would be provided by this project.
For instance, the engineering reports would be informing about the
current status and required construction aspects of the house.
Moreover, design documentations would be weighing on the kind of
design required by the clients. Another deliverable would be
investigation report, that would be informing about the quality
standards of the overall project, which in this case is building the
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house.
Controlling a Stage (CS)
It is highly essential to appropriately controlling the project and measure as well as
monitor the progress of each stage of the given project. It allows project managers to effectively
and essentially enhance the scope of success and better management of the overall project. At
this stage, controlling the project risks and quality standards is very important. Thus, it is
essential to examine the risks within the overall project and to take corrective actions associated
with the same. Thus, risk management plan within this stage is showcased as under:
RISK SEVERITY RISK OWNER CORRECTIVE
STRATEGY
Safety Hazards HIGH Project Manager One of the most fatal
risks which might be
faced by the project
management team is
the hazards related to
safety. In order to
essentially mitigate the
same, the strategy
which must be
developed would be a
detailed training to the
employees regarding
several type of
technological and fatal
risks associated with
working from different
equipments.
Moreover, a detailed
assessment and
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analysis of the
equipments is another
strategy which must be
adopted.
Ineffective
Technological
Equipments
MEDIUM Project Sponsor
Another prime risk
which might risk the
durability of structure
and finishing of design
is absence of effective
tools and machinery to
work. Thus, the
project sponsor must
formulate contracts
with renowned and
accountable suppliers
which provide the firm
with top quality
equipments and
technologies to work
with (Golini,
Kalchschmidt and
Landoni, 2015).
Labour Shortage LOW Lead Consultant However lower this
threat on severity, it
might cause a serious
delay to the whole
project. Thus, in order
to effectively cope up
with the risk, the lead
consultant must
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employ effective
human resources that
maintain the regularity
of work. Moreover,
effective recruitment
and selection practices
must be implemented
in context with hiring
apt and effective
individuals only.
Moreover, in terms of controlling the quality, there are several methods which would be
implemented in order to ensure that the work is being done in a safe and effective manner. Some
of the quality control techniques are discussed below:
Testing and Inspections:
The first and most appropriate technique used in this stage is testing and inspections.
Several government officials would be contacted who would be coming and assessing the quality
of material used in construction, methods utilised as well as equipments employed in building
the house. The inspection could be on the grounds of safety, quality, reliability and feasibility
Key Performance Indicators:
Another appropriate technique which would be utilised within the same is KPI. Several
indicators in terms of design and durability would be chosen, which would be showcasing the
effectiveness in the project management.
Benchmarking Analysis:
This technique is associated with setting up several benchmarks to achieve to ensure
utmost quality and feasibility in the structure and design of the new house (Fleming, and
Koppelman, 2016). This technique would be allowing the team to measure their success based on
the benchmarks set before starting up the project.
Managing a Stage Boundary (SB)
Within this stage, the house building process would be appropriately divided into
management stages, plus, the boundaries would be set on which the project performance would
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be reviewed. There are several stages which would be accomplished within this step. All these
stages are discussed as under:
Next Stage Planning:
In this stage, the current project performance would be evaluated and alteration would be
marked to be performed to keep up with the objectives of the project plan. This requires a
detailed review of the project initiation documentations.
Updating Project Plan:
After calculation of actual results, project plan would be altered to suit the new criteria
and alterations. These modifications could be on the terms of quality which is yet to be achieved,
or the changes in cost, or the deliverables from the project.
Updating Business Case:
Current adaptations in the results would also embark certain changes in the business case
in this stage, which would be inclusive of the risks, tolerance level and delivered benefits of the
project.
Reporting Stage End:
At this step, authorisation from the project manager is very necessary and thus, each stage
would be reported on terms of performance, general progress, current situation of risk, project
forecasts and alterations in business case.
Exception Plan:
After the desired modifications are authorised, project management team would be
developing an exception plan with the needed changes and would start progressing towards the
same effectively.
Managing Product Delivery (MP)
In this stage, the project manager would be acting as a supplier, who would be working
on the deliverables of the project. There are three effective steps of this stage, which must be
followed by the manager, which are discussed below:
Accepting Work Packages:
This is towards the end of the whole project, where definite deliverables would be
decided by the manager, along with the risk factors, constraints and resources. This stage also
would be witnessing creation of a team plan where all the activities would be crafted for the
human resources to carry out (de Carvalho, Patah and de Souza Bido, 2015).
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Executing Work Packages:
This means a continuous execution, where all the plans would finally be executed. In this
stage, the project manager would oversee that the work is being performed by the team as per the
set standards and all the modified activities are being carried out appropriately.
Delivering Work Packages:
In this, the package could be referred to as the design and overall construction of the
house. Thus, it includes accomplishment of the construction process, along with aspects like
flooring, roofing, HVAC finishing and setting up of furnitures and furnishings.
Closing a Project (CP)
The last stage of overall house building project requires a definite closure to the
construction of this house. A detailed evaluation is expected at this stage to make sure that the
house has been built with utmost effectiveness and sustainability. Moreover, revisions would be
performed to check as to whether the construction is at par with the plans and whether some
modifications are to be done (Costantino, Gravio and Nonino, 2015). If not, the house would be
declared available for the clients to move into, along with signing up of final documentation of
finishing up the project of building a house.
CONCLUSION
Thus, it is concluded by the information above, that project management is quite essential
in terms of appropriately enhancing the scope of success of a particular project. PRINCE 2
technique is very crucial to be implemented, which would be providing the project management
team with a framework to work upon. Lastly, each stage of the process must be accomplished
appropriately with regards to providing essential design and sustainability to the project, to
ensure a complete success.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Costantino, F., Di Gravio, G. and Nonino, F., 2015. Project selection in project portfolio
management: An artificial neural network model based on critical success
factors. International Journal of Project Management. 33(8). pp.1744-1754.
de Carvalho, M. M., Patah, L. A. and de Souza Bido, D., 2015. Project management and its
effects on project success: Cross-country and cross-industry comparisons. International
Journal of Project Management. 33(7). pp.1509-1522.
Fleming, Q. W. and Koppelman, J. M., 2016, December. Earned value project management.
Project Management Institute.
Golini, R., Kalchschmidt, M. and Landoni, P., 2015. Adoption of project management practices:
The impact on international development projects of non-governmental
organizations. International Journal of Project Management. 33(3). pp.650-663.
Hornstein, H. A., 2015. The integration of project management and organizational change
management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management. 33(2).
pp.291-298.
Joslin, R. and Müller, R., 2015. Relationships between a project management methodology and
project success in different project governance contexts. International Journal of
Project Management. 33(6). pp.1377-1392.
Kerzner, H., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and
controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Klein, L., Biesenthal, C. and Dehlin, E., 2015. Improvisation in project management: A
praxeology. International journal of project management. 33(2). pp.267-277.
Meredith, J. R. and et. al., 2017. Project management: a managerial approach. John Wiley &
Sons.
Ramazani, J. and Jergeas, G., 2015. Project managers and the journey from good to great: The
benefits of investment in project management training and education. International
Journal of Project Management. 33(1). pp.41-52.
Samset, K. and Volden, G. H., 2016. Front-end definition of projects: Ten paradoxes and some
reflections regarding project management and project governance. International
Journal of Project Management. 34(2). pp.297-313.
Sánchez, M. A., 2015. Integrating sustainability issues into project management. Journal of
Cleaner Production. 96. pp.319-330.
Svejvig, P. and Andersen, P., 2015. Rethinking project management: A structured literature
review with a critical look at the brave new world. International Journal of Project
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Todorović, M. L. and et. al., 2015. Project success analysis framework: A knowledge-based
approach in project management. International Journal of Project Management, 33(4).
pp.772-783.
Walker, A., 2015. Project management in construction. John Wiley & Sons.
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