The Importance of a Code of Ethics in Construction Companies
It has been said that the cause of ethical failure in an organisation can often be traced to its organisational culture and the failure on the part of the leadership to actively promote ethical practices
Discuss why it is important for a Construction company to have a Code of Ethics?
Every construction company should have its own code of ethics for the purpose of fairness promotion in the workplace, the handling of the staff members, salary and allowance allocation to the workers, hiring and firing process. Some of these activities are controlled by the laws and regulations enacted by the government but employing an internal work ethics is critical for creating a sense of goodwill towards implementing such policies (Prabowo and Mulya 2018)
Every construction company should create its work ethics so that it creates a good public image enhanced by showing how significant are good practice and values in that particular workplace. Some of the codes of conducts are aimed at mitigating negative actions such as bribery, poor documentation, cover pricing and late and short payments. Every construction company having positive image on good ethics implementation is likely to be a key benefactor of future business relationships.
The NEC form of contract has been designed to be simple and flexible, designed around a concept of a common purpose. The NEC sets out to achieve this by ‘Stimulus of good Project Management’.
Discuss how the three key NEC principles within ‘Stimulus of good Project Management’ is achieved in creating a simple and flexible environment for Civil Engineering projects.
The NEC3 is very flexible in the sense that it can be constructed from six main options, nine sections of the core clauses, two dispute resolution options and seventeed secondary options. It is made flexible with the intention of minimizing disputes occurrences as much as possible, minimizing negotiation durations and also helping in avoiding unnecessary customized modifications.
This contract is equipped with more supporting materials such as the flow charts which are detailed in nature and notes meant for guidance. This New Engineering Contract (NEC) is written in simple plain English in the present tense and made easy to use, simple and clear. The clarity and simplicity of NEC is however at times put to test by the possibility of being ambiguous and the fact that some of the terminologies used in the contract do not yet have clear meanings outlined in the court of law.
The main concern of the NEC3 is the actual time management and not the previous occasions where the parties would have instead initiated a better move. It does not deal on past actions. For the NEC3 to be a success, it is important that the contractor and the employer work closely enough with full understanding of the procedures at stake and enough resources put in place. Its very demanding on the administration side of the contract.
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is a collection of processes and knowledge areas accepted as best practice for the project management profession. There are 10 knowledge areas which are typical within almost all construction projects.
NEC Stimulus and Project Management Principles for Civil Engineering Projects
Analyse 5 of the 10 knowledge areas, detailing the processes which should accomplish proven project management functions and drive project success.
It is the role of project intergration management to hold the project together through the use of signed agrrements such as the project charter. This charter is developed during the initial stages of the project inception and is used for project’s setting up and designation of the project manager.
It is also the project integration management that is used to ensure that the project succeeds through the use of a project roadmap. This scheme is set and approved by the stakeholders in the project and continuously checked to ensure that the project is being carried on as stipulated. Some softwares such as the ProjectManager can be used for this purpose.
It is also within this area that change control is conducted through the use of request forms with the stakeholders’ approval (Angarita, and Gallardo 2018).
This can be simply put as the project’s work and is an inclusion of the plan scope management. At times, it functions hand in hand with the project management plan. The term scope is used to refer to anything picked from a list that thoroughly entails how the major risks in the project can be minimized, these includes graphic breakdown of project work such as the work breakdown structure (WBS).
Scope validation is conducted while observing and benchmarking the possible deliverables approved by the project stakeholders. Scope management might at times be altered so that the project’s scope can still be controlled usually in scenarios where the project lags behind in comparison to the schedule.
This is the most time consuming area and is usually divided into various tasks well scheduled with start and end dates and each task’s budget. This project area is oftenly revised due to its dynamic nature.
It is in this area where the assigning of duties is done, with a schedule created showing every activity and the individual responsible for that particular activity. Every aspect of the project is covered in this scheduling, usually referred to as plan schedule. The tasks designated are usually put in an order either in the form of start to finish, start to start, finish to start or finish to finish. They are always put in a sequencial manner with deadlines.
This area is all about planning of the funds to ensure that cover the whole project. It is in this area where good estimation tools are used to ensure that the funding is neither too thin nor too much (Abd Elhameed 2018). All resources required for task completion such as labor, equipement, and materials are estimated in terms of cost to ensure that the budget meets it and necessary adjustments made where there is inadequacy.
This analysis is reqularly conducted to ensure that the planned expenditure matches the actual expenditure.
The main measure of a project’s success is the quality of the outcome. This makes this area very critical during a project planning and execution.This area contains the service or product’s quality specifications which is done through quality assurance. This is best achieved by checking and ensuring that all the deliverables meet the stipulated standards as indicated in the quality management plan.
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and its Five Key Knowledge Areas
The NEC4 contract requires the Contractor to submit a program to the client’s Project Manager.
Why does the Project Manager require a program and what do they use it for?
What checks should the Project Manager make before they approve the program?
If the Contractor fails to submit a programme what should the Project Manager do?
Project managers administer gradual projects through the use of a program. This is done by first creating the project’s activity schedule indicating tasks, the individuals to carry out them and the time frames for their completion. This is known as a project roadmap. The project managers ensure that every team assigned a duty completes it within the stipulated deadline and ensures that all these are done in accordance to the program guidelines.
The project managers also use programs for tracking of their project’s contribution relative to the costs, tracking of risks, resource uses, budgets and schedules (Alvarenga et al 2018).
Before approving a program, the project manager should check the following;
The project program should be a result of a well coordinated research with proven facts, figures, stats and terms. Once the project manager confirms that the program is a result of credible project research, then it is a guarantee that the program’s baseline and metrics will positively aid the success of the project.
Before the program research can be approved, it is important to double check the credibility of the research documentation, industry reports and reading methodologies on other relating research fields and seeking clarifications where necessary.
For a proactive program, it is important that the needs of the project’s stakeholders are well understood and served. These stakeholders include the project leads, teams, managers, investors and clients. The approved program should well address their needs. When the project manager understands them then it will be most likely that any program approved will be in a better chance to address their needs. The factors to be considered regarding the stakeholders include their priorities, what type of stakeholders they are, and the influence they have on the project.
To avoid misunderstandings and confusions, it is better that the project manager understands his/her own roles and the influence he/she has on the approved program that will be inititated. This will help tame the project manager from approving programs of his/her own suit but also considering other stakeholders in the project and how they will be affected by that given program.
A project vision is purposedly for setting a benchmark for the project’s operation and success level. With a clearly set vision, the project manager will be able to approve a program that perfectly blends into and steer the project into achieving its set visions. The set vision should clearly indicate the project goals and objectives, the technology and people to be used, how the project will influence positive change in the market and how it will help the clients and other stakeholders.
The main aim of any project is to achieve its set goals. In cases where the project manager has clearly set out the project goals, it is likely that the manager will approve a program that will easiliy aid in the achievement of such goals without serious side effects. Smart goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-specific.
This is simply a broader document constituting the goals, objectives, vision, project scope and deliverables with a clear highlight of the activities, workflows and tasks to be carried out during the project. With a clearly set project plan, the project manager will be sure to approve a program that is most suitable for all the mentioned purposes and activities and that will not be ambigous to handle. A good project plan is made up of project scope, quality, tasks, workflows and schedules and resource management plan.
The program should be cost friendly and manageable by the planned project budget to avoid additional of excess expenses.
These program to be approved by the project manager should be that which resonates with the project’s direct and indirect costs to ensure that the project’s budget is not seriously interfered with. The direct costs include the material, labor and transportation costs while the indirect costs include expenses on licenses, office rentals and equipemnts.
The project manager before approving any program should ensure that the program is worth the resources allocated for that very purpose and do not exceed.
The program should be fast enough to operate within the project timeline to avoid lagging behind the project schedule which will lead to additional costs. The program should operate within the planned start and end date, actual start and end data and manual and automatic tracker.
The program should be easy and simple to follow through and be in accordance to the project communication plan. This helps in time management and cooperation among the various stakeholders.
The program to be approved should be in the capacity to manage and minimize the risks as much as possible. This will help avoid losses and maintain the firm’s reputation.
Should the contractor fail to submit the program then the project manager is bound to make his/her individual evaluation of the reimbursement incident. The project manager can also go ahead to personally evaluate what the program should be.
References
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