Civil Engineering Practice: Case Study Analysis and Recommendations

This report examines civil engineering practices through a case study analysis of a proposed commercial development. The report identifies ethical issues such as zoning violations, land contamination, and the impact on the residential community. It outlines the development process, including preapproval, concept design, application, review, working drawings, preconstruction, construction, and completion phases, emphasizing legal compliance. Furthermore, the report explores the Green Star rating system in Australia, highlighting categories, compliance methods, and sustainable building techniques like modular construction and the use of environmentally friendly materials. The analysis underscores the importance of ethical conduct, legal adherence, and sustainable practices in civil engineering to ensure responsible and environmentally conscious development.

RUNNIND HEAD: CIVIL ENGINEERING PRACTICE
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RUNNIND HEAD: CIVIL ENGINEERING PRACTICE
Question 1:
The construction industry is one of the most profitable industries in not just Australia but the world
generally and it has drawn many individuals to it. It is however one of the industries with the most
unethical practices and this has led to a lot of legal challenges regarding this sector. In the case study
about Lot 2 Greenhills Rd, Mount Helen, things are not that different. The first red flag with this
development would be the developer, Ms. Q who has a reputation for malpractice as she is known to
police. Some of the ethical issues that might come up are addressed below.
The first issue would be the issue of local zoning. The advertisement clearly advertises the property as
being in an area designated as a farming zone. This would mean that the development would be in
direct violation of the land Use act and the planning system developed by the Victorian government
council (Lexis Web, n.d.). The area is also surrounded by schools and residential property meaning
that commercialization of that lot would automatically be a violation of the residential comfort and
privacy. It is worth noting that, owing to the fact that zoning is both a national government and state
government regulation, any breeches of the regulations would mean immediate liability for legal
action (Lexis Web, n.d.).
The second issue would be the contamination of the lot. In this matter, the information may not be
necessarily true but then the gravity of it necessitates proper testing. This would enable the technical
team to come up with ways of regulating the effect of the contamination and reducing the risk to the
proposed occupants. In some instances, the contaminations are too significant to work around
necessitating the area to be put under different use where the effects of the contamination would not
directly affect the users. In this case however, the alleged tests have been carried out without the
engineer or contractor’s knowledge or input and it is therefore difficult to ascertain the validity of the
acceptance (Victoria State Government, 2017).
The third issue would be the effect of the development on the area’s residential community. The first
two issues have highlighted some legal checks which must be carried out before construction. While
they have a legal bearing, they directly affect the residents and projected occupants making the risk
very significant if they are ignored. The contamination threat poses a direct risk to the local area
residents opening them up to the risk of health problems and this would mean a likely legal litigation
directed at the developers. The zoning also affects the residents’ comfort especially considering it
would lead to more noise due to the proposed commercial activities, increased traffic and this would
also reduce the area’s security. There is also the possibility of urban blight owing to a projected
increase in population (Forte, 2014).
The final ethical issue is the shrewd way in which some legal processes have been conducted. The
acquisition of permits even though already granted may have been acquired in some shrewd manner
and this is evidenced by the legal infractions committed in the development of that property. While a
contractor, engineer or architect may not be directly charged with the falsification of documents or
bribery, they are liable to criminal charges on ethical grounds if they helped develop such a property
in the full knowledge of the wayward status of the development framework.
Question 2:
The development process is a process that has heavy legal involvement because of the gravity that a
development has on both the surrounding community but the land use itself. As such, there are a lot of
checks in place to ensure that developers follow a well laid out system of development that is not only
safe for humans but for the local environment too while maintaining the proper land use stipulated by
the legal frameworks. As Ms. Q has already bought the land, the process of development in this case
will skip the initial buying steps and will focus on explaining what else needs to be done in order to
fully comply with the local authorities and planning bodies (Davine, 2011).
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Step 1. Preapproval phase: in this phase, the developer, having bought the property, recruits all the
necessary technical professionals to both, prepare plans for them advise them on the application
procedures. A developer also needs to identify all the by-laws that are native to both the state and the
territory in order to prepare every piece of documentation that is required to achieve compliance and
get approved. Here, tests are also carried out to identify the site conditions which would be important
in the construction process. A detailed survey is usually carried out in this phase to clearly demarcate
the allotment and title boundaries which would be necessary in ensuring the development stays within
the limits of the boundaries (Davine, 2011).
Step 2. Concept stage: this is the stage that involves rational decision making in order to get a
development plan that will produce a most profitable business solution. This includes evaluating the
type of project one has in relation to the marketability in that area, the expense compared to the
amount of money that the developers are bound to recover once it is business-ready, decide on what to
propose when thinking about zoning changes and how to propose them. The concept design is usually
decided on by the developers and it is usually amendable at any stage of the construction (Davine,
2011).
Step 3: Application of development: this stage is where all the local government applications are
made before approval for any development. In this stage, the documents needed include technical
drawings, site investigation reports, concept design plans and all land ownership documentation. It is
in this stage that zoning changes are proposed. In the case study given, Ms. Q can, in this stage, seek
to have the zone where the proposed development is changed in order to allow her to build the
commercial building. In this phase, technical drawings and designs will need to be checked for
compliance and any fee payable for approvals should be paid at this stage (Chivers, 2012).
Step 4. Application review: this is the stage where the proposed development will be thoroughly
scrutinized for any compliance failure issues and deliberations are made by the local government
staff. Here, the applications can take up to 12 months and in this process, amendments might need to
be done for the overall building in order to facilitate full compliance. Any negotiations with the local
authorities takes place here and developers are allowed to negotiate for lower fee cuts if they qualify
or if the metric measurement method might be unfavourable for their development (Davine, 2011).
When discussing zoning changes, this is the phase in which all changes are discussed within the
council with the local authority seeking the opinion of the local area residents. The documents needed
in this case are still the same as those required in the application stage though amendments may occur
more than once to the design, purpose and zoning change application (Chivers, 2012).
Step 5. Working drawings and developments: in this phase, all drawings are now received from the
local authorities with all the changes and amendments proposed and they can now be reproduced into
various construction drawings. All sub-trades to be considered in the development are considered and
the architect and engineer make working drawings for each of them. These are usually filed and
distributed to the sub-contractors if there already are some of kept until the tendering stage. They also
have to be approved but they do not require a similar waiting time as they only act as reproductions of
the preapproved documents (Davine, 2011).
Step 6. Preconstruction phase: this is the stage in a construction where all tasks are legally assigned
and the developer enters into a legally binding agreement with the employees. This phase is where the
tendering and bidding happens. The developer has to first have a technical team comprising of an
architect, engineer and quantity surveyor who come up with the quantities, prices and all the legal
documents for the tendering process (NSW Government Fair Trading). A tender is then marketed
either via the local papers, television channels or via selective invitation and the contractors are
invited to express their interest. Documents involved in this stage are the technical drawings, bill of
quantities, specifications sheet, tender documents and bank documents. In some projects, the contract
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may be a design and build model and therefor no tendering is involved. This stage, however would
still be in effect but at an earlier part of the process (Chivers, 2012).
Step 7. Construction: in this phase, the contractor takes up the responsibility of the employee having
agreed to the terms and conditions of the contracts. They now take over the site and begin
implementing the working drawings and their specifications on the ground in the pursuit of a finished
product. A contractor may choose to subcontract some responsibilities in this phase where it is either
cheaper to do so or where they do not have the capacity to handle all the work. Subcontracting is also
applied when a contractor urgently needs the project completed within a given schedule. This is
because most subcontractors specialize in one area of the construction and are independent of each
other and this would lead to faster completion of the specific areas within the construction (Chivers,
2012).
Step 8. Completion: this is where a development is handed over to a client after successful
construction and is commissioned for use. A complete construction needs to be structurally sound,
safe and environmentally friendly.
Question 3:
The green star rating system in Australia is the benchmark system of rating buildings according to
their environmental friendliness based on the sustainability models implemented in the development.
It is totally voluntary meaning that there is no requirement for a contractor to seek for a rating score of
official documentation. It is however carried out as an assurance measure that the development is
indeed green and has followed all the right mechanism to protect the environment. It is a good
marketing tool and commercial developers may benefit highly from seeking a good green star rating
as it increases the popularity of their development (Broad Sustainable Building).
There are nine Green Star categories which include Land Use & Ecology, Energy, Transport, Water,
Management, Materials, Emissions, Innovation and Indoor Environment Quality (GBCA, 2015).
These are measured and rated on a scale of 1-10 for each building being developed and it is the target
of developers to achieve good scores in all the subcategories in order to count as a green and
sustainable developer. These rating scales apply to both completed buildings and are measured both
indoors and outdoors to measure for the level of green optimization (GBCA, 2015).
Some of the ways a developer can achieve this compliance is the use of green building techniques. At
present, there are numerous green building techniques which have reduced the impact of construction
activities on the surrounding environment. Some of these techniques include the use of modular
construction systems which significantly reduce wastes and promote recycling. Another technique
Ms. Q would use for her development is ensuring that environmentally friendly practices of waste
reduction e.g. formwork reuse, recycling rubble etc. and environmental conservation are followed
during construction (Broad Sustainable Building).
Another approach Ms. Q would take is getting environmental friendly materials for use in the
construction of the development. The materials may range from the structural members i.e. structural
steel which may be recycled although not advisable for members bearing heavy very loads. She could
also opt to use a variety of interior finishing materials which are environmental friendly e.g. cladding
and coverings made from reclaimed wood, steel and ceramics (Broad Sustainable Building). The
cladding materials significantly contribute to environmental degradation as they are some of the most
extensively used materials used in the whole construction process. Reducing the effect would make a
green statement (Mashable, 2012).
Another means of ensuring a 6 green star rating would be the use of sustainable energy and optimized
energy management systems. One of the ways to achieve this is to install reliable and energy efficient
appliances and installations. These may be expensive but they also guarantee lower life cycle costs in
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the future. At present, there are a wide variety of environmental friendly energy sources that would
provide a suitable alternative to electricity and this include solar powering and heating, wind power
and natural biogas cooking and lighting connections. While biogas technology in itself might not be a
direct product of the building, the area is a farming zone and it is highly likely that there would be
enough animal waste around to provide alternative lighting and heating power to the construction
(Broad Sustainable Building). Alternatively, sanitary production of such a gas system using the
development occupants’ waste would also suffice. Waste water could also be reclaimed for use in
watering the plants and any other landscaping activities.
A good green star rating is important as it indicates compliance with the environmental conservation
policies and this enables easy indexing of the efforts put into environmental conservation. A good
green star rating also means that a development has passed all health and safety checks and that no
environmental pollution would be expected. In the case of Ms. Q, she would need to clear the
mysteries regarding the apparent contamination of the development site. Such a rating would also
need to ensure that no disturbance to the residents is experienced owing to the development going on
(Forte, 2014) (Davine, 2011).
The benefits of a good green star rating include high market value and insurance valuation. When
looking at the market value, future customers and investors would be drawn to an area because of the
environmental friendliness in a bid to provide a contribution of their own and such a development
may be attractive to such buyer. Such a development would also be attractive to families who would
want to raise their children in an environmental friendly community as it also means less health
problems. On the overall, the market value would be very attractive (Broad Sustainable Building).
Insurers would also be willing to offer higher premiums for such developments and this is attractive
for developers. To the insurers this essentially means that developments have lower risks of functional
failure resulting in insurance claims and developers are assured of high value premiums if anything
were to happen.
Developing a structure to a good green star rating also guarantees lower life cycle costs. This would
mean that, past the initial investment, the developer would have little to worry about financially in
terms of maintenance. This enables a developer enjoy good value for their money as a higher initial
investment cost, in the end means paying less for maintenance.
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