Constructability

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Constructability (or buildability) is a concept that denotes ease of construction. It can be central to project management techniques to review construction processes from start to finish during pre-construction phase. Buildability assessment is employed to identify obstacles before a project is actually built to reduce or prevent errors, delays, and cost overruns. [1]

Contents

CII defines constructability as “the optimal use of construction knowledge and experience in planning, design, procurement, and field operations to achieve overall project objectives”. [2]

The term "constructability" can also define the ease and efficiency with which structures can be built. The more constructible a structure is, the more economical it will be. [3] Constructability is in part a reflection of the quality of the design documents; that is, if the design documents are difficult to understand and interpret, the project will be difficult to build. [4]

The term refers to:

Principles

There are 12 principles of constructability which are mapped on to the procurement process: [9]

  1. Integration
  2. Construction knowledge
  3. Team skills
  4. Corporate objectives
  5. Available resources
  6. External factors
  7. Programme
  8. Construction methodology
  9. Accessibility
  10. Specifications
  11. Construction innovation
  12. Feedback

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References

  1. The Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand Incorporated (IPENZ). Constructability. Archived 2011-10-18 at the Wayback Machine Practice Note 13. April, 2008.
  2. Construction Industry Institute (1986). Constructability: A Primer. Research Summary 3-1.
  3. Schwinger, Clifford W. (March 2011). "Tips for Designing Constructable Steel-Framed Buildings" (PDF). Modern Steel Construction. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  4. Gambatese, John A.; Hinze, Jimmie; Behm, Michael (May 2005). "Investigation of the Viability of Designing for Safety" (PDF). CPWR - The Center to Protect Workers' Rights. p. 5. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  5. Construction Industry Research and Information Association
  6. McGeorge, Palmer & Kerry London. Construction management: new directions, 2nd ed. Blackwell Science, 2002, p. 54.
  7. Construction Industry Institute (CII), based at The University of Texas at Austin. CII Best Practices: Constructability
  8. Construction Industry Institute, Australia.
  9. 1 2 Singh, Amarjit (2001). Creative Systems in Structural and Construction Engineering. Balkema. pp. 96, 97. ISBN   9058091619.

Further reading