Research on Construction Project Management: Take Nanchen

Community Construction Project in Xingcun Town, Sishui County as

an Example

Yichi Jia

School of Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing, China

Keywords: Construction Project Management, Critical Path Method, Construction Efficiency, Project Quality.

Abstract: Project management is of great value in practice in many industries. In the construction process of the

construction industry, it has a key impact on the entire construction project to effectively analyze the critical

path and manage the construction schedule. This paper takes the Nanchen community construction project

as an example to study the construction project management, applies critical path method to the project

process to find the critical tasks in construction. It is found that almost all construction tasks are critical

activities and some problems affecting the progress of project need to be solved. Finally, there are some

suggestions given to help to improve the construction efficiency and quality, and finally complete the

project within the schedule time and funds.

1 INTRODUCTION

Construction project management is the general

term for supervision, coordination, and guidance

throughout the entire construction process of a

construction project. The construction contract is

used as the management basis to comprehensively

control the resource allocation, cost, schedule

arrangement, and construction safety of construction

projects. Construction project management of

construction projects mainly includes four aspects:

construction quality, construction progress,

construction safety and project investment,

respectively. Construction quality is the basic goal

of construction project management; construction

progress is its important aspect; construction safety

is its essential requirement and project investment is

its key indicator (Zhu 2021).

In the past 30 years, China's project management

has made great achievements and initially formed a

set of systematic management theories and methods.

There has been a series of construction-related

regulations being formulated. In 2018, the Ministry

of Housing and Urban-Rural Development approved

the technical standard of construction site

supervision information system for construction

projects as an industry standard, helping to

supervise and manage the quality, safety,

environment, and workers on-site (JGJ/T434-2018).

In 2016, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural

Development updated the construction quality

evaluation standards for construction projects and

put forward strict quality evaluation standards for

each part of construction projects (GB/T50375-

2016). However, due to the influence of traditional

management models, many problems exist in project

management in China. It is still common to

underestimate project quality and delay the project

in many projects. Especially in recent years, the

more frequent occurrence of major engineering

accidents has brought a great threat to the safety of

life and property of the country and people. The

important reasons for the quality problems of

construction projects are inadequate management,

imperfect market, unprofessional managers, and

imperfect legal system.

So far, many scholars have conducted research

and discussion on construction project management

methods. Zhu Lei has introduced the concept of

construction project management, analyzed the

problems in construction project management in the

new period, and finally given improvement

strategies (Zhu 2021). Both Chen Liangming and

Wang Juan have done research on the problems in

the site management in construction project

management and correspondingly proposed

Jia, Y.

Research on Construction Project Management: Take Nanchen Community Construction Project in Xingcun Town, Sishui County as an Example.

DOI: 10.5220/0011305200003437

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Public Management and Big Data Analysis (PMBDA 2021), pages 125-132

ISBN: 978-989-758-589-0

125

optimized measures to improve the management

level (Chen, Wang 2021)). Wang Xiong has studied

the technology application of project management in

construction, analyzed the important technologies

needed in construction, and given application

methods (Wang 2021). While, Yang Yu has

proposed an intelligent management method for

construction projects, explained the construction and

control methods of an intelligent management

system in detail, and proposed an innovative

application of intelligent management methods to

transform old urban communities (Yang 2021). It

can be seen that in the above journals, except for the

application examples mentioned by Yang Yu in the

paper, most of the current researches are

comprehensive and theoretical. Still, there is less

analysis about real projects.

This paper discusses the construction project

management of construction projects with a real

project. The organizational structure is as follows:

The first part introduces the meaning of construction

project management, the research background and

current research status. The second part takes the

Nanchen Community construction project in

Xingcun Town, Sishui County, as an example for

construction schedule planning analysis. The third

part analyzes the results from the data analysis and

gives the suggestions of optimization measures to

avoid delaying the construction progress.

2 RESEARCH METHODS AND

DATA ANALYSIS

This paper adopts scientific research methods in the

process of engineering case research, such as case

analysis method, quantitative analysis method,

comparative analysis method, and literature research

method. In addition, this paper also uses the critical

path method for data analysis.

2.1 General Methods

The case analysis method refers to the method of

analyzing a single object in combination with

literature data and deriving the general and universal

laws of things. This paper analyzes the Nanchen

community construction project.

The quantitative analysis method refers to the

method of appreciably, systematically and

quantitatively describing the obvious content of

various documents. This paper quantitatively

analyzes and describes the construction progress of

the Nanchen community construction project.

Comparative analysis refers to the method of

comparing objective things to understand the nature

and laws of things and make correct evaluations.

This paper compares the planned construction

progress and actual construction progress of the

Nanchen community construction project.

The literature research method refers to the

method of collecting, identifying, and collating

literature and forming a scientific understanding of

facts through the study of the literature. This paper

researches construction project management through

the study of industry standards and academic papers.

The ideological line that formed this paper is

shown in Figure 1. Because project management is

widely applied in the construction industry and the

technology is more complex, this paper takes

construction project management of construction

engineering as the research object, based on an

actual engineering case. First, determine the

research goal, which is to analyze the factors and

reasons that affect the project's construction

progress, and give advice. Then, understand the

research background through the study of literature

and industry standards. Then, analyze the project

case information, analyze the problems occurring,

analyze the reasons for the problems, and finally

give reasonable advice for improvement.

Figure 1: Idea flow chart.

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2.2 Critical Path Method

2.2.1 Definition of Critical Path Method

The critical path refers to the logical path with the

longest delay from input to output in the design.

Optimizing the critical path is an effective way to

increase the speed of design work. Generally, the

delay from input to output depends on the path with

the longest delay the signal traverses and has

nothing to do with other paths with short delays. In

the optimisation design process, the critical path

method can be used repeatedly until it is impossible

to reduce the critical path delay (Zakia and Febrianti

2021).

2.2.2 Data Sources

The project discussed in this paper is constructing

resettlement buildings for villagers in Nanchen

Village, Xingcun Town. The planned total

construction area is 49,200 square meters, including

46,200 square meters for residential buildings and

garages, 2,000 square meters for commercial

buildings and 1,000 square meters for public

buildings. After the completion of the project, it will

greatly improve the current living standards and

improve the appearance of the village and the living

environment of the villagers.

This project is an EPC(Engineering Procurement

Construction) project (Qi 2021). The construction

enterprise is a member of the EPC project general

contracting consortium. The construction enterprise

needs to cooperate with the design enterprise to

complete the bidding, design, construction and

management of the whole process of the project.

Due to the large scope and complex content of the

whole process management, this paper selects the

important part, construction project management,

for analysis. The data is obtained from on-site

surveys and interviews with managers.

The project will be constructed for 672 days,

from January 28, 2021, to November 30, 2022. The

schedules for different parts of the construction

process are shown in the table below. And the

sequence is shown in the figure 2.

Table 1: Construction Time Schedule. (Unit: day).

ID Activity Duration Predecessor

Construction Preparation 30 -

Pile Foundation Construction 60 A

Earth Excavation 40 B

Cushion Construction 20 C

Scaffolding 262 D

Hydropower Reserve and Pre-

urie

262 D

Foundation Construction 35 D

Underground Structure Construction 65 E

Construction of the Main Structure 1-6 Floors 56 F

Foundation Acceptance 30 F

Backfill Construction 30 G1

Construction of the Main Structure 7-13 Floors 56 G

Masonry and Secondary Structure Construction 56 G

Spring Festival Holida

30 H, I

Masonry Structure Construction 20 J

Main Body Maintenance and Acceptance 30 D1,K,G2,D2

Roof Construction 30 L

Installation and Construction of Water, Electricity and

Heating

115 L

Plastering of Interior Walls 40 L

Floor Construction 40 L1, M

Door and Window Installation 110 L1, M

External Wall Insulation 45 L1, M

Exterior Wall Finishing Construction 65 N2

Wall and Ceiling Scraping Putt

35 N

Ceiling Installation 35 O, L2

Research on Construction Project Management: Take Nanchen Community Construction Project in Xingcun Town, Sishui County as an

Example

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Outdoor Water Dispersing and Step Construction 35 O, L2

Roof Surface Construction 20 N1,N3,P,P1

Final Cleanup 30 Q

Installation and Debugging 30 Q

Completion Acceptance 30 R, R1

Figure 2: Process flow chart.

2.2.3 Critical Path Analysis for Schedule

This paper uses the critical path method to analyze

the above data. The formula used in critical path

analysis is as follows.

EF=ES+Duration (1)

Where ES represents the earliest start time, EF

represents the earliest finish time. Duration

represents the time it takes to finish the task based

on experience.

If the activity is a merge activity, the ES of the

activity is the longest finish time among all the

preceding activities.

LS=LF-Duration (2)

Where LF represents the latest finish time, LS

represents the latest start time.

If the activity is a burst activity, the LF of the

activity is the shortest start time among all the

subsequent activities.

Slack=LF-EF (3)

Slack=LS-ES (4)

Where Slack represents the maximum amount of

time, a task can be delayed beyond its early start

without delaying project completion.

For example, there is no predecessor of A, so the

ES of A is 0. The EF equals 0 plus 30 days, which is

30 days. The last task is S, so the LF equals its EF,

672 days. The ES equals 672 days minus 30 days,

which is 642 days. The Slack of G1 equals 382 days

minus 280 days or 352 days minus 250 days and

finally equals 102 days.

The data analysis is shown in the table below.

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Table 2: Critical Path Analysis. (Unit: day).

ID Predecessor Duration ES EF LS LF Slack

- 30 0 30 0 30 0

A 60 30 90 30 90 0

B 40 90 130 90 130 0

C 20 130 150 130 150 0

D 262 150 412 150 412 0

D 35 150 185 150 185 0

E 65 185 250 185 250 0

F 56 250 306 250 306 0

F 30 250 280 352 382 102

G1 30 280 310 382 412 102

G 56 306 362 306 362 0

H, I 30 362 392 362 392 0

J 20 392 412 392 412 0

D1,K,G2,D2 30 412 442 412 442 0

L 30 442 472 452 482 10

L 115 442 557 442 557 0

L 40 442 482 442 482 0

L1, M 40 482 522 482 522 0

L1, M 110 482 592 482 592 0

L1, M 45 482 527 482 527 0

N2 65 527 592 527 592 0

N 35 522 557 522 557 0

O, L2 35 557 592 557 592 0

N1,N3,P,P1 20 592 612 592 612 0

Q 30 612 642 612 642 0

R, R1 30 642 672 642 672 0

3 RESULTS AND SOLUSIONS

3.1 Results of Data Analysis

According to the analysis results, the Slack of most

construction tasks is 0. The Slack is 0 means the

construction task is a critical activity. The paths

excluding foundation acceptance(G1), backfill

construction(G2), and roof construction(L1) are all

critical paths during the entire construction process.

And the construction tasks except for these three

tasks are critical parts of the construction process,

which means they can not be delayed. However, in

view of the importance of foundation acceptance and

backfill construction, these two tasks are normally

not postponed. Therefore, it can be seen that the

construction process is tightly arranged, and more

efficient construction project management is also

required to ensure that the project is carried out in

high efficiency and high quality as planned. And the

problems affect the progress should be found and

solved in time.

3.2 Problem Analysis in Construction

Some problems are happening during the

construction of this project, which have a certain

impact on the progress and quality of the project.

Among the parts that have been completed currently,

the progress of the construction of 1-6 floors of the

main body was greatly affected by the problems.

The following will describe the problems in detail.

Research on Construction Project Management: Take Nanchen Community Construction Project in Xingcun Town, Sishui County as an

Example

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3.2.1 Shortage of Staff

It is still under the condition of the COVID-19

epidemic during the construction period, so the

progress of the project is affected by the epidemic to

a certain extent. The range of optional labor

subcontracting teams has been reduced, and most of

which are local teams, resulting in a reduction in

available workers. And their practical ability them

cannot be guaranteed. There are few on-site workers,

and some workers have the poor practical ability,

resulting in a lag in construction progress.

3.2.2 Lack of Communication between

Design Enterprise and Construction

Enterprise

The design enterprise and construction enterprise of

this project are not in the same city. Affected by the

epidemic, there are not enough staff of design

enterprise in the construction site. When the design

enterprise is needed, it is easy to be absent, which

leads to the lack of communication between the

design enterprise and the construction enterprise.

Sometimes the staff of the design enterprise at the

construction site cannot completely solve the

problem, so they need to connect the design

enterprise online to get the solution. Low

communication efficiency affects project progress.

3.2.3 Difference between the Design and the

Reality

Due to the lack of a sufficient investigation of the

building materials market, the design enterprise

changes some materials and related techniques, and

the construction difficulty and cost are increased.

The original design drawings plan to use non-

clay sintered bricks with strength MU20 in the

bottom frame structure of the multi-storey building.

But during the construction process, there are not

these types of bricks produced in local and nearby

cities. Then the construction enterprise

communicates with the design enterprise, after the

owner's consent, finally changes the strength from

MU20 to MU15, and at the same time increases the

size of the upper structural column and the number

of steel bars at the corresponding position of the

bottom frame column.

3.2.4 The Safety Awareness and Technology

of Staff Need to Be Improved

Some on-site workers have irregular construction

operations, and they misunderstand regulations and

safety signs. The failure to observe labor discipline

and safety regulations during construction operations

would endanger the personal safety of workers. In

addition, some workers are not professional enough,

and there is a phenomenon of focusing on the

progress and neglecting data at the construction site.

3.2.5 Quality Defects

Affected by the poor local woodworking technology

and other factors, some units had mold expansion

and slurry running during concrete pouring.

Honeycomb pitted surface, and rotten roots appeared

after concrete pouring, and then they were repaired.

Due to insufficient vibration, a honeycomb pitted

surface appeared in some parts. Because the bottom

is not cleaning thoroughly before pouring concrete at

the junction of the two parts of the stairs, the bad

connection and slag inclusions are caused. These

quality defects do not have much impact on the

building's bearing capacity, but it is still necessary to

avoid them during the construction process.

3.2.6 Mediation of Local Relations

Because this project is the resettlement house for

villagers in Nanchen Village, the original houses

need to be demolished. The demolition matters and

demolition compensation need to be communicated

with the villagers. Therefore, it takes some time to

negotiate, which affected the previous demolition

work and delayed the total duration.

3.3 Reasonable Solution

These problems have affected the construction

progress of the project, and also the quality of the

project to a certain extent. Therefore, it is necessary

to strengthen all aspects of management to ensure

that the project is carried out on schedule with

expected quality.

3.3.1 Strengthen Communication among All

Enterprises

The construction enterprise should strengthen

communication with the design enterprise. When

preparing detailed constructional drawings,

construction technicians should communicate with

the design enterprise to ensure that the nodes are

accurate and the drawings are feasible. Technicians

should check the finished drawings comprehensively

at the drawing review and confession stage, striving

to find problems in time and handle them properly.

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The communication among the construction

enterprise, the supervision enterprise, and the design

enterprise should be strengthened to ensure that the

project construction and coordinating the external

environment. The materials and machines should be

checked and accepted timely when entering the

construction site to avoid missing anything.

3.3.2 Construction Material Management

Construction enterprises should adopt effective

material management methods to avoid material

problems that will affect the construction progress.

They should conduct research in advance on the

building materials market where the project is

located to ensure that the building materials actually

purchased are the same as the materials in design.

The procurement link is the first link of material

management. Before purchasing materials,

construction enterprises must learn the supply

capacity and reputation of suppliers. At the same

time, construction enterprises must thoroughly check

the material specifications and qualification

certificates to not affect the construction progress

due to the difference between the actual and required

specifications.

When storing materials, workers must follow the

material storage specifications. In addition,

managers should timely sample the incoming

materials and submit them for inspection according

to the criterion. During the use of the materials,

managers should check the materials again, laying

the foundation for improving the quality of the

construction project.

3.3.3 Construction Safety Management

It makes sense to improve the quality of construction

only while ensuring the safety of workers.

Therefore, the construction enterprise should

improve safety education for workers so that

everyone can raise safety awareness and correctly

understand the terms and signs of the construction

management system.

Besides the workers, the managers should also

raise their safety awareness. Firstly, they should

improve their ability to manage, organize and

coordinate everything. Also, they should do the

security check on every construction procedure

workers do in a timely manner. Once there is a

safety hazard, it must be eliminated in time. Thirdly,

managers should check the situation of personnel

protective equipment worn by the workers on the

construction site. If some workers do not wear

personnel protective equipment at the construction

site, managers should remind them in time.

3.3.4 Construction Quality Management

To shift the post-inspection of project quality to pre-

control and achieve the goal of "prevention first", it

is necessary to strengthen the quality control of the

construction process.

To make the early quality control more

effectively, first, workers must strictly follow the

process. The process is the basis for construction

operations and the prerequisite to ensure quality.

Workers should be trained in advance and

supervised to strictly complete each process.

Second, the quality of conditions that affect the

process, including the operators, materials,

machines, methods and environment, also needs to

be controlled. And finally, on-site managers should

timely proofread the drawings, check the

construction quality and improve workers' awareness

of construction according to drawings. They should

count and analyse the quality data in time, eliminate

weaknesses of the project quality, and finally reduce

the phenomenon of focusing on progress and

neglecting data (Chen 2021).

4 CONCLUSIONS

This paper studies the application of project

management in the construction industry.

This paper applies the critical path method to the

construction management, analyzes the construction

schedule of the Nanchen community project, and

finally gets the following conclusions.

(1) Almost all construction tasks are critical

activities in the critical paths which means there is

little time for this project to delay, so the problems

affecting the progress should be paid more attention

to.

(2) There are some problems that affect the

construction schedule, such as the quality defects,

shortage of staff and poor communication in the

construction process.

(3) Nanchen community project should

strengthen the communication and improve material,

safety and quality management to ensure that

problems can be solves and project continues

successfully.

It is expected that the Nanchen community

project could improve the construction condition and

efficiency through the research in this paper.

Research on Construction Project Management: Take Nanchen Community Construction Project in Xingcun Town, Sishui County as an

Example

131

At present, there have been many studies on the

progress, cost and resource optimization of the

project at the early stage, but there are still many

problems about construction period and quality in

the actual construction process. The actual

construction situation is not exactly same as the

theoretical analysis. It is hopeful that there will be

more researches on reasons and solutions for the

differences between actual situation and theoretical

analysis, and also how to control cost and avoid

these problems during the construction process,

which can quote typical cases for illustration.

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