construction week 5

what is an architect

a design professional who’s primary role is the complication and analysis of information and the creation of a detailed design for a project to meet the specific needs and desires of a customer

what is an engineer

a design professional who’s role is dependant on the engineering discipline

what is meant by the term design professional

a collective term that refers to a person or firm who has the education, training and experience to meet prevailing laws that offer registration as a professional

what is the registration in Quebec for engineers

OIQ and the engineering institute of Canada

what do engineers say about architects

they complain that architects design in circles, re examining ideas which were thought to be resolved which leaves everything negotiable until late into the design process

what are the two categories of buildings which engineers can design

buildings accessory to engineering works and work done in collaboration with an architect on foundations, framework and electrical and mechanical systems

what are 4 engineering challenges

climate crisis, responding to environmental concerns, working to imposed budgets and deadlines, adaptability to change

what are 4 architectural challenges

working to imposed budgets and deadlines, greater collaboration, stiffer competition in design services, sustainability challenges

what are the 6 management styles

customers force, customers management, construction by general contractor, design/build and turnkey, construction management, project management

what does turnkey imply

financing is provided by the design/ build firm

what factors contribute to poor quality design by architects and engineers

having a lack of information (failing to get facts before stating, lack of knowledge of the full requirements, decisions based on educational guesses) or habitual thinking (doing things the same why you always do them, reusing what worked before) or reluctance to ask for advice (designers are often very reluctant to seek advice, failure to admit they may not know) or time pressures (need to provide design ASAP, accepting first workable solution, no time to sit and contemplate) or negative attitudes (reluctant to consider a change regardless of its merit, designers feel they always provide the best the first time) or rapidly changing technology (development of processes products and materials, technology is changing constantly, no one can be completely current in any field)

what are most design change requests a result of

a customer stake holder request, an error in scope, change from operational requirements, change in site conditions, a code change

what are the real costs of design changes for architects and engineers

time and effort to discover situation, time to re evaluate situation, time to correct, time to review correction, time to inspect correction, delays in work schedule, cost of rejected and new work

what do architects do and control

consultation, schematic design, design development, construction document, bid process, construction

what do engineers do and control

perform required studies, interpret relevant codes, perform preliminary designs, participate in bid document prep and bid technical evaluation, coordinate design with architect, prep and document design calculations, perform commissioning activities

what should be identified and mitigated during the feasibility stage

significant regulatory obstacles because they can terminate a project quickly

what is the contingency of cost estimates of the actual value

+- 15%

what makes a feasibility study bankable

if it has been prepared in enough detail and with enough objectivity that a client could submit it to investors or lenders when seeking financing for the potential project

what are the deliverables for a feasibility study

reports, drawings, equipment lists, WBS, milestone schedule

what must you analyse to determine the feasibility of a project

finance, technical, social and stakeholder, economic, risk, environmental

what are three types of feasibility

operational, technical and economic

why do you need to do a feasibility study

to provide a thorough examination of all issues and assessment of probability of project success and identify any reasons not to proceed

what is meant by hurdle rate

rate at which the project is mandated to return

what is net present value (NPV)

the difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows over a period of time

what is NPV used for

to estimate CAPEX and investment planning to study the profitability of a projected investment or project

what is return on investment used to evaluate

efficiency of an investment

what is the equation for return on investment (ROI)

current value of investment - cost of investment / current value of investment

what does it mean if the ratio of benefits to costs is greater than 1

the project is feasible