you are ready to start construction. This chapter deals with organizing the job site and coordinating all of the manpower, materials, and equipment needed to get the work done.
Chapter 11 This chapter stresses the importance of good project planning and identifies the various tools used to schedule all of the activities associated with moving the project from startup to completion.
Chapter 12 The only way to know whether your project has met its goals for cost, time, and quality is to monitor and track individual components of performance. This chapter gets into the details of project control and explains how to get a job back on track if it should start to go off course.
Chapter 13 In this chapter, you will learn the importance of quality control and safety management throughout the construction process. No project can succeed without well-established quality and safety plans.
Chapter 14 Bottom line: Construction management is all about managing risk. In this chapter, you will learn about a standardized process for identifying, analyzing, and quantifying project risks so plans can be made to mitigate their impact.
Chapter 15 This chapter introduces you to building information modeling (BIM) and how it is commonly used in the design and construction process. BIM is expanding way beyond the 3D dimension to a whole new level by applying 4D, 5D, 6D, and even 7D dimensions to the building model. The chapter will also introduce some of the newest technologies being applied in construction such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and holograms.
Chapter 16 This final chapter discusses the impact that green building and sustainability is having on the entire building industry. The key principles of sustainable building design will be presented, along with the concept of achieving triple bottom line results associated with the economic, environmental, and social performance of building projects.
Making the Most of This Book
At the beginning of each chapter of Construction Management JumpStart, you'll find a list of the topics that I cover within the chapter.
In addition, several special elements highlight important information.
To help you absorb new material easily, I've highlighted new terms in italics and defined them in the page margins.
New terms
provide explanations of important concepts in the margin of the page, where you can easily spot them.
NOTE
Notes provide extra information and references to related information.
You'll also find a list of “Terms to Know” near the end of each chapter to help you review the new terms introduced in the chapter. These terms are compiled in the Glossary at the end of the book. In addition, in Appendix A you'll find a list of the many acronyms commonly used in construction and mentioned throughout the book.
At the end of each chapter, you can test your knowledge of the chapter's relevant topics by answering the review questions. You'll find the answers to the review questions in Appendix B.
Chapter 1 The Construction Industry
In This Chapter
The economic impact of construction
How construction was transformed from a craft to an industry
The five primary sectors of the construction industry
The roles of the project participants
How the construction industry is transforming
The advancement of technology in construction
The construction industry's impact on sustainability
Opportunities in construction management
The construction industry is vast and varied. Just take a look around—from homes to highways to hospitals—and you see the results of this industry. Starting with the need for shelter, we first built primitive huts and houses. Then we constructed buildings for assembly and churches in which to worship. As our needs expanded, so did our building capabilities. We eventually built political capitals, great cities bustling with business and commerce. Though the means and the methods have changed over the centuries, the construction industry is still about building communities that serve people.
Construction is big, big business—reaching $10.6 trillion in spending worldwide in 2017, and projected to reach $12.7 trillion by 2022, and $15.5 trillion by 2030, according to the Construction Intelligence Center, Orbis Research, and other sources. And there appears to be no slowdown in sight. The industry employs more than 7 million people directly (plumbers, carpenters, welders, and so on) and hundreds of thousands more indirectly. It gives rise to the steel industry, the lumber industry, the carpet industry, the furniture industry, the paint industry, the concrete industry, the paving industry, and so on. It goes even further than that if you consider the trucking, shipping, manufacturing, and mining industries. Architects, engineers, drafts people, building inspectors, code officials, and other professionals would not have jobs if it weren't for construction. As construction projects become increasingly more complex, the challenges associated with managing these projects become more complicated. The need for qualified construction managers is tremendous, and opportunities abound for those interested in the work.
Let's take a closer look at the construction industry and the position it has in our economy and our lives.
The Scope of the Industry
Let's first make sure that you understand what construction is really all about. I have found that most people, including many who are already engaged in construction, do not understand the significance of the industry. So, let's start by considering the scope and the magnitude of construction and take a look at its impact on our society and our economy.
“It's Just Construction”
In my experience, the average observer of construction regards the process as rather insignificant and inconsequential—nothing special, nothing unique, not an industry of any major importance—mostly filled with non-influential blue-collar macho types. After all, when compared to medicine or law or even architecture, the common notion is “it's just construction.” This is why our great buildings and structures are typically identified only with the designer, and not with who built them. The contractor is incidental. Let me give
