Civil Engineering: Project Management



Executive Summary

In a competitive? capitalist society is such that your engagements will always entail some degree of pressure to perform that engagement as efficiently as possible using the minimum number of man-hours? relying on just enough information? just enough research? and just enough review? checking? and validation of your designs to prove their adequacy. That same competitive marketplace may tempt some to accept engagements that are only marginally withtheir skill? experience? and comfort level. The wake of a failure? the jury will not be impressed by the Owner's refusal to pay for peer reviews that would have detected the flaw in a structural element with which your firm had little prior experience.

Civil Engineering: Project Management

Discussion

The lexicon of construction industry participants? the words "roles and responsibilities" have come to be inextricably linked.[1] When used together? these words serve to encompass the collection of tasks? duties? obligations? level of service performance and quality that the various participants undertake to complete a residential 3 storey complex project.[2] Unfortunately? misunderstanding of each participant's respective role or responsibility often results in failures or commercial disasters. Civil engineers embarking on a new engagement would be well served by taking the time to contemplate exactly what role they were retained to fulfill?[3] and in a similar but separate exercise? to assess their potential risks and responsibilities arising from the engagement.

The not-so-distant past? the design professional and constructor were the same entity - often the same person. The so-called "master builders" did it all for the owner? creating bridges? cathedrals and other inspiring structures relying on the precedents of failure and successes of prior residential 3 storey complex projects - without always understanding the reasons for said outcomes.[4]

Today's constructed residential 3 storey complex projects are the result of a much more complex organizational ...