PLANNED RESOURCE CONTROL AS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL TO PROJECT DELIVERY IN BUILDING INDUSTRY

PLANNED RESOURCE CONTROL AS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL TO PROJECT DELIVERY IN BUILDING INDUSTRY

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge PM BOK (2004) defined project to be a temporary human effort which has definite start and finishing date and also has clear objectives. Henry (2006) identified project to be made up of group of interrelated activities constrained by specific scope, budget and time to deliver specified product or service. Example of projects are construction of a house, building a software and accomplishing a space mission. Hence, a project is characterized by time, scope and objectives. Construction activities also shares features of a project, this is because construction involve transforming raw materials, finished or semi-finished goods using management, manpower and technology with in an agreed specification of time, quality into a facility.

Abimbola (2013) defined construction as series of actions undertaken by an entity which produce, modify or altar building or infrastructure. Regardless of the nomenclature, every project involve accomplishment of distinct or interconnected stages, these stages are conceptualization, planning execution and completion, and they are termed the project life cycle. For a project to be successful, every aspect of it needs to be prepared or planned. Project planning was defined by PM BOK (2000) as that stage of a project which identify the project activities and how each of the activities will be accomplished. The purpose of planning project is to identify each major task, estimate time and resources required, and provide a frame work for management or owners to review and control its progress. Construction project planning involve defining the work to be done, its objectives and constraints, choice of methodology and technology on how the construction will be carried out. It also involves identifying key activities that must be accomplished, their sequence and any possible interconnection between activities. Construction project share similar life cycle with projects of other industries, but Emad (2009) indicated that construction project are unique, because most of the time construction project produce facilities that house or serve as means of future production, they deal with geographical differences, involve assembling of team hired for a specific purpose.