Construction Management: Assessment 2, Issues and Developments

This report, prepared as part of an MSc Construction Project Management module, provides a comprehensive overview of critical issues within the construction industry. It delves into challenges such as labor shortages, safety concerns, technological adoption, rising material costs, budgeting difficulties, and sustainability management. The report further explores medium-term developments including digitization, 5D building information modeling, digital collaboration, the Internet of Things, autonomy, and sustainability initiatives. It also outlines the role of the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) in ensuring quality standards, health and safety measures. A personal development plan, incorporating career aspirations, a SWOT analysis, and short/long-term goals is also included. Finally, the report discusses learnings from the project and its potential application in future personal and professional contexts, concluding with a summary of findings.

Construction
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Assessment 2..........................................................................................................................1
Issues in construction management...............................................................................1
Future medium term developments...............................................................................3
Joint Board of Moderators............................................................................................5
Gantt chart.....................................................................................................................6
Personal Development Plan..........................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
References:.....................................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Construction management is defined as the management of the construction process
where buildings, bridges, roads and many more things are constructed by various companies in
order to gain revenues and income taking care of safety and sustainability of an environment
(Ulubeyli, Kazaz and Arslan, 2017). It also involves the basic management behaviours which are
also applied in other industries like leadership and motivational theories. The following
discussions are made on various current issues that are faced by the construction industry, what
can be the future medium term developments and recent trends of construction industry, concept
of joint board of moderators along with the considerations of safety, security and sustainability
points, personal development plan which includes career aspirations, SWOT analysis, various
long term and short term goals with proper drafted resume, learnings from this construction
management project and how it can be well used in future personally or professional by a person
with an appropriate findings and conclusion.
MAIN BODY
Assessment 2
Issues in construction management
There are various issues that are faced by the construction industry like labour shortages
which means that there is a lot of shortages of labour in the construction industry and especially
the high skilled labours which are highly needed to manage such construction in an organization.
There is a deficiency in workers due to low wages provided because high skilled labours demand
high salaries and low skilled workers are not that much proficient in working, therefore there is a
shortages of labours in construction management. Low productivity levels which means there are
low chances in gaining profit or revenues initially and later on as well. Because of various issues
that are raised in this industry, productivity level level decreases as instead of focusing on the
proper management area in an organization, staff needs to focus on construction sites and many
other things which hampers the management and operational strategies of the company (Harris,
McCaffer, Baldwin and Edum-Fotwe, 2020).
Safety and security which means that there lot of dangers while working on the
construction sites like working at height, moving objects, slips, trips, and falls, noise, hand arm
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vibration syndrome, material and manual handling, collapsing trenches, asbestos, electricity and
airborne fibres and materials. It is difficult to work on construction sites because of such dangers
are associated with safety and security and thus these are the issues which are to be cleared it out
soon. Adoption of technology which means construction industries are facing difficulties in
adoption of advanced technologies which are related with the construction management because
there is low income now a days of an organization and advanced technology is highly expensive
in using and moreover, it also costs the maintenance which takes time, energy and money.
Therefore, adoption of technology is a major issues in construction industry due to the highly
expensive nature and low income generation out of it.
Rising cost of materials and insurance which means that there are highly expensive
nature of raw materials and construction materials that are being used in the construction
industry. Because the materials used must be of good quality and if low quality materials are
used then it can be dangerous for the building constructed and as well as for the people living
there. Moreover, insurance cost is also high like building insurance, life insurance and many
more that are associated with the safety of constructing building and anything else. Therefore,
rising cost of materials and insurance is considered as a major issue in construction management
(Turk and Klinc, 2017). Budgeting which means there is a difficulty in managing finances in an
organization. This is because it takes all the small and bigger expenses analysis which is
problematic initially but then later on it sorts but then too problem occurs in budgeting because
of irregular expenses of lot of raw materials, construction sites, wages and many more.
Sustainability management which means that if construction of a building is to be done,
then it is important to look into it's sustainability management for better and valuable
construction of a building. It is an issue because it is not that easy to maintain sustainability
because it needs a lot of business planning and a proper structure and this can be only done by
the highly skilled people who have intelligence in analysing such sustainability of an
environment (Halpin, Lucko and Senior, 2017). Communication lacking which means there is a
lot of communication gap between employers and employees in an organization because of the
differences in low skilled and high skilled workers in an organization. Because construction
industry consist every type of staff working for them and that is why there is a communication
difficulty they face.
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Unreliability of subcontractors which means that construction industry is full of
contractors and subcontractors working for many organizations in order to support for the site
management and costing but the problem is that they cannot be trusted because of the lot of
commission charges the companies faces in an industry. This becomes more expensive for the
firm to hire any contractors or subcontractors but they are important for the construction
management. Changing regulations which means that there is not al all consistent regulations
stated in the books of code of conduct or books of laws in terms of construction management or
industry. Therefore it is difficult to manage for the company to review again and again the
changes and apply the same in an organization (Jackson, 2020).
Low risk management which means that there is a high risk in a construction industry due
to the site working by the labours and the machines and equipments used by them. There is a
huge risks available for each and every member in an organization who are working at the
construction site and they need full safety and security while working. Inaccuracy in estimation
which means there is a lack in business planning done by the professionals in an organization.
Reason behind inaccuracy and lacking in business plan is that, there is not sufficient data
available by the firm due to the contractors as they charge high for proper estimation and
business cost the company has to bear thus business plan estimation suffers due to such problems
(Harty and Leiringer, 2017).
Future medium term developments
There are various future medium term developments in construction management like
digitization which means technology advancements that makes the construction management
easier like for example, HD surveying and geolocation is a technique which supports the firm in
reduction in getting delayed due to the dependencies of ground conditions. It includes high
definition photography, 3 D laser scanning and geographic information systems which can
improve the speed and accuracy in working. 5 D building information modelling which
maintains the project's life cycle that is physical and functional aspects of the projects
representing the characteristics of the construction plan. Digital collaboration and mobility which
manages the construction organization in terms if designing, materials management, scheduling,
tracking and many more in context of mobility feature. Internet of things and advanced analytics
which means that it allows the construction materials, equipments, machinery, structure and
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many more to communicate to a central data platform. Future proof design and construction
which means that is consist aerogels, self healing concrete and nanomaterials which are
responsible for lowering the cost and improving the speed of construction, quality and safety.
Autonomy can be defined as the self management from setting goals to the
implementation process in construction industry. This is also associated with the technology.
Because autonomy function is highly dependent on the technology the company is using in it's
operations management. It has a perfect analysis of budgeting and performing various functions
of construction management. This development includes the auto culture systems in an
organization which supports the firm in gaining the effectiveness in it's management (Menegaki
and Damigos, 2018). Sustainability can be defined as the environment friendly construction
either it can be business internal or external environment. It includes the improvements in future
usage of the electricity, water, energies and many more resources which are highly used in
construction. It is important to save them to maintain the sustainability in an environment.
Sustainability has a greater development procedure in construction management. Therefore, this
is considered as one of the future medium term developments in construction management.
New business models can be defined as the innovation of newly models of management
process and business plans which involves the low cost production and high income generations
methodologies. These models are to build up for the construction industry so that it can again
start gaining expected revenue generations in their fields. Such models provides the deep study
on the various theories which are already been stated in the management concepts benefiting the
construction industry. Social trends can be defined as development of society's perception
regarding the construction management and industry. If expected developments takes place in
terms of technology and sustainability, then it can be the automatic procedure that a society can
be well favoured the materials used by the construction industry are safe and secure and cannot
harm the environment and them as well. Therefore, it is observed that there will be a positive
development of societal trends in construction management (Erdogan, Šaparauskas and Turskis,
2019).
Economic trends can be defined as the development of the country because of the growth
of construction industry. It involves the gross domestic product rate and employment rate of the
country, it will be improved if developments will take place efficiently. Therefore, it is also
considered as a future medium term developments in construction management. Better safety
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equipments will be developed in future and it is important to develop for safety and security of
the workers who are working on the sites of construction and can work freely without any fear of
damage on their health or body. Equipments are being modified to a more safer level for both the
employees and the employers.
Better investment in infrastructure can be defined that previously the infrastructure and
the business plan was not accurate but by adopting the better investment techniques in future for
the infrastructure and the business plan can help the company in better budgeting of finances so
that investments and expenses can be done in a more better way (Park, Lee, Choi and Lee, 2019).
Improved labour shortages can be develop by giving proper training and development sessions
like for example hiring the freshers in low wages and providing them learnings that what exactly
they have to do on construction site. This is a manual process but moreover, there is a technology
based process as well in which shortages of labour can be minimised. Adopting dynamism can
be defined as the developments according to the dynamic environment will also be introduced so
that company can easily adopt any changes happening in the technology or regulations as per the
laws stated in code of conducts (Pellicer, Yepes, Ortega and Carrión, 2017).
Joint Board of Moderators
Civil Engineering programme has been authorised by the Joint Board of Moderators, UK,
consisting the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Structural Engineers, Institute of
Highway Engineers and the Charted Institution of Highway and Transportation, in place of
Engineering Council UK, as amply gratifying learning base for an Incorporated Engineer. The
certification has been acknowledged for the time play of 2019-2023. This certification also
covers the time play of 2012-2018 proportional company. This certification also means that
MEC can now refer to the Engineering Council for the EUR-ACE Label for this course of study.
This is the European choice label for Engineering Degree curriculum at Bachelors and Masters
level that is granted by the European Network for certification of Engineering education
(ENAEE) via accredited authorities, of which the Engineering Council, UK, is one. (Zhu, Zhang
and Gao, 2018).
Health and safety measures are to taken before going on to the site, such as providing
proper training to the employees before using the tools and heavy equipments while working in
the construction site. It is important to assess each site management so that dangers and risks are
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to be minimised at the time of working. It is essential to wear safety clothes and equipments so
as to avoid the risks associated in the construction management. It is necessary to first visit the
sites that are to be constructed, evaluating the same in terms of risks related to that site or not. It
is significant to install various types of signs of risk and danger which depicts that stay away
with a particular things. It is important to invest in safety equipments so that employees can feel
more safe while working and can work even more harder with full potential by adopting the
suitable security measures. One of the most important point is weather hazards, it is necessary to
estimate the weather so that working could be minimised or stopped accordingly. Therefore, it
important to establish the safety culture in an organization because safety practices by the
company results in success in the marketplace.
Sustainability in construction are formulated by various practices that is to be taken into
consideration by an organization such as using alternatives for the materials which cannot harm
the environment in any way. Applying just in time production process which states that
manufacturing can be done by reducing the time and energy and gaining more productivity out
of that. Using sustainable methods which can be alternative in favour of environment can also be
achieved. For more sustainability techniques, usage of paper blueprints, drawings and specs are
to be reduced on a prior basis to gain sustainability in an environment (Zhang, Xie, Schmidt and
Skitmore, 2019).
Gantt chart
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Personal Development Plan
Short term goals can be defined as the goals which are achieved from the time period of
one month to one year. Examples of such goals are earning some course certifications, time
management and many more. Benefits of such goals are that they are less time consuming, easily
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achievable and many more. Medium term goals can be defined as the goals which are achieved
from the time period of one year to three years. Examples of such goals are earning the degree of
particular course, improving communications skills and many more. Benefits of such goals are
that they are achievable with good relevancy, aims at the career growth and development and
many more. Long term goals can be defined as the goals which are achieved from the time
period of three years to ten years or more. Examples of such goals are leadership skills,
maintaining life standard by gaining proper experience and many more. Benefits of such goals
are that they are of long term, it gives career as well as life enhancement and many more (Grit,
2019).
Personal development plan
Skill Current
Proficiency
Target
Proficiency
Course of Action Time period
Communication
skills
9 10 This can be built by
rehearsing more and
more writing and
speaking on a any subject
on a daily basis.
15 days
Time management 9 10 This can be built by
noting down the whole
day work routine
somewhere on the notice
board to make sure that it
is being followed or not.
15 days
Leadership skills 8.5 10 This can be built by
forming a group and
managing it from task
management to conflict
management.
30 days
SWOT analysis
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Strengths includes that I can work in any kind of conditions, in any environment, and I
don’t have any problem to work with physical conditions. My nature is to live in harmony with
all. Mentally and physically fit. Weaknesses includes lack in anger management which is a very
essential feature in every human being, I need to improve this because this results in spoiling
relationships and people. Opportunities includes that I can do even more good in my career by
taking practical studies on construction management using my skill sets. Threats includes that I
usually feel that my age group people are doing more good than me and I am lacking in
somewhere that is why I am not matching at their level (Tattum and Tattum, 2017).
Career aspirations includes seeking a valuable position that offers growth opportunities
and allows me to utilize my skills and enhance my knowledge. My work experience includes
Social media marketing for 2 years, Task flow Answer Private Ltd. – Medical Insurance,
Assistant Teacher- Part Time (R J Vision Vadodara, India) for 6 months and Off license shop in
Greater Manchester. My soft skills includes leadership quality, good communication skill, verbal
as well as written skills, good acknowledgement skills, positive attitude, problem-solving and
believe in Team Work. My hobbies includes passionate about learning new things, sports
enthusiast and play tennis and football.
Learnings from this report I got is various management theories related to the
construction management which mainly involves leadership theories and motivational theories
along with the decision making and risk assessment processes followed by the social ethics for
the same. I also got to know about the various current issues in construction industry, future
medium term developments, joint board of moderators and personal development plan that is self
analysis with the help of SWOT analysis and studying about the long, medium and short terms
goals followed by examining career aspirations (Shaheen and Hameed, 2020).
CONCLUSION
It is concluded that construction management is an important concept to study for a
person who is interested in this area of field because it involves a very deep and knowledgeable
learnings of organizational management internal as well as external environment of the
company. It also helps a person to study about the maintenance in sustainability of an
environment. This report covers the analysis of current issues that is faced by the construction
industry, examining the future medium terms developments resolving the issues by construction
companies, determining the joint board of moderators by observing it's concepts, health and
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safety and sustainability in an environment in construction industry, interpreting personal
development plan by identifying self skills and area interest in a particular field by performing
SWOT analysis, various goals that are to be achieved, career aspirations related to it by drafting
resume and learnings gained from this report.
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References:
Books and Journals
Erdogan, S.A., Šaparauskas, J. and Turskis, Z., 2019. A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Model
to Choose the Best Option for Sustainable Construction
Management. Sustainability. 11(8). p.2239.
Grit, R., 2019. Managing your competencies: personal development plan. Routledge.
Halpin, D.W., Lucko, G. and Senior, B.A., 2017. Construction management. John Wiley &
Sons.
Harris, F., McCaffer, R., Baldwin, A. and Edum-Fotwe, F., 2020. Modern construction
management. John Wiley & Sons.
Harty, C. and Leiringer, R., 2017. The futures of construction management
research. Construction management and economics. 35(7). pp.392-403.
Jackson, B.J., 2020. Construction management JumpStart: the best first step toward a career in
construction management. John Wiley & Sons.
Menegaki, M. and Damigos, D., 2018. A review on current situation and challenges of
construction and demolition waste management. Current Opinion in Green and
Sustainable Chemistry, 13, pp.8-15.
Park, K., Lee, H.W., Choi, K. and Lee, S.H., 2019. Project risk factors facing construction
management firms. International Journal of Civil Engineering. 17(3). pp.305-321.
Pellicer, E., Yepes, V., Ortega, A.J. and Carrión, A., 2017. Market Demands on Construction
Management: View from Graduate Students. Journal of Professional Issues in
Engineering Education and Practice. 143(4). p.04017005.
Shaheen, S. and Hameed, M., 2020. Personal Development Plan (PDP). Middle East Journal of
Family Medicine. 18(4).
Tattum, D. and Tattum, E., 2017. Social education and personal development. Routledge.
Turk, Ž. and Klinc, R., 2017. Potentials of blockchain technology for construction
management. Procedia engineering, 196, pp.638-645.
Ulubeyli, S., Kazaz, A. and Arslan, V., 2017. Construction and demolition waste recycling
plants revisited: management issues. Procedia Engineering, 172, pp.1190-1197.
Zhang, J., Xie, H., Schmidt, K. and Skitmore, M., 2019. Integrated experiential learning–based
framework to facilitate project planning in civil engineering and construction
management courses. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and
Practice. 145(4). p.05019005.
Zhu, Y., Zhang, J. and Gao, X., 2018. Construction management and technical innovation of the
main project of Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge. Frontiers of Engineering
Management. 5(1). pp.128-132.
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